R18 certificate
796746
220615471
2008-06-20T18:44:26Z
Garyms1963
3273174
[[Image:BBFC R18 2002 onwards.png|100px|right|R18 category symbol]]
The '''R18 certificate''' represents a film or video classification given by the [[British Board of Film Classification]] (BBFC). It is intended to provide a classification for works that are within British obscenity laws, but exceed what the BBFC considers acceptable for its [[18 certificate]]. In practice, this means [[Hardcore pornography|hardcore]] [[pornography]].
Under the terms of the [[Video Recordings Act 1984|1984 Video Recordings Act]] all videos sold or distributed within the UK must either be given a certificate by the BBFC, or ruled exempt by them. Uncertificated recordings are not illegal, regardless of content (except where the content is actually illegal itself), but supply (i.e. sale, rental, loan or gift) of them is. The R18 certificate is the most restrictive of the certificates, and videos given this certificate may only be shown in licensed cinemas,<ref>[http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_R18.php bbfc - the official website of the bbfc. classification for entertainment, movies and video games<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> or sold direct to the buyer in person in licensed [[sex shop]]s, and not by [[mail order]] or other remote means such as by [[telephone]] or over the [[Internet]].<ref>[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmcumeds/509/6110706.htm] Hansard, paragraph 25: "'R18' video works can only be sold to adults who visit a licensed sex shop and must not be supplied by mail order."</ref> According to the BBFC there are currently around 250 such licensed shops.<ref>[http://www.bbfc.co.uk/downloads/pub/Policy%20and%20Research/Knowing%20it%20when%20you%20see%20it:%20The%20difference%20between%2018%20and%20R18%20video%20works.pdf Knowing it when you see it:<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Since the boundary of [[Censorship in the United Kingdom#Obscenity law|British obscenity law]] is vague, the BBFC deliberately errs on the side of caution{{Fact|date=January 2008}}. It specifies in detail what kinds of acts are permitted to be depicted in works receiving an R18 certificate, and which are not. In particular, it prohibits the depiction of acts which are illegal, degrading, violent or non-consensual. However, apart from these restrictions, it allows the depiction of most sex acts, including vaginal [[sexual intercourse]], [[oral sex]], [[masturbation]], and [[anal sex]], between any combination of men and women. It also has recently allowed the depiction of visibly consensual [[Bondage (BDSM)|sexual bondage]] and very mild [[BDSM]] activities.
There has been some controversy about the prohibition of the depiction of [[female ejaculation]], which the BBFC considers to be the same as [[urination]] during sex, the depiction of which it regards as "degrading or dehumanising". As of 2005, the BBFC still appears to regard the depiction of urination on oneself or others, "urination accompanied by sexual activity", or "immediately before/after", sexual activity, or with licking of urine, as prohibited by the [[Obscene Publications Act 1959]]. Nevertheless, the BBFC appears to have R18-rated a number of videos based on the theme of urination (presumably without any of the acts referred to above).
[[As of 2008]], the [[broadcasting]] of R18 material is prohibited, even on encrypted digital channels.
== History of the R18 certificate ==
The R18 classification was created in 1982 in response to the recommendatations in 1979 of the Home Office Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship chaired by Sir [[Bernard Williams]]. Originally it was only used for films featuring simulated sex only, but the BBFC found itself forced to award R18 certificates to hardcore films in [[2000]] after a series of legal appeals and a [[judicial review]] of those appeals.
The introduction of the R18 certificate for hardcore films is widely seen by observers as a reaction to more liberal attitudes in British society to pornography, the ''de facto'' legalisation of the import of hardcore pornography (but not its sale) across the EU because of customs law harmonisation, and the widespread availability of unregulated pornography over the Internet.
== Recent developments ==
The BBFC has previously granted 18 certificates for movies containing short scenes of unsimulated sex, such as [[Catherine Breillat]]'s ''[[Romance (1999 film)|Romance]]'' (in 1999), [[Virginie Despentes]]'s ''[[Baise Moi]]'' (in 2000) and [[Patrice Chereau]]'s ''[[Intimacy (movie)|Intimacy]]'' (in 2001).
In October 2004, the BBFC granted an 18 certificate for [[Michael Winterbottom]]'s movie ''[[9 Songs]]'', which features a number of explicit scenes of unsimulated sex which at the time was thought could either mark the end of the R18 certificate or perhaps result in the BBFC applying an "[[artistic merit]]" test to distinguish between films which are acceptable for 18 certificates and those which receive only R18 certificates. However, the DVD extras for this film were given an R18 certificate.
In late 2004 a group of video distributors appealed to the [[Video Appeals Committee]] (VAC) against the BBFC's decision to award R18 certificates to 8 films that the distributors wished to be reclassified as 18 (considered at the time as a challenge to the future continuation of the R18 certificate) but a [[press release]] issued by the BBFC on 20 July 2005 announced that the VAC had dismissed that appeal. The R18 certificate is thus here to stay for the time being.
As of 2006, the BBFC rated the film ''[[Destricted]]'' an 18 certificate on the understanding that all copies include a warning that it contains real sex has been seen by some to be liberalisation of BBFC granting of 18 certificates as the film contains many unsimulated sex scenes.
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_R18.php BBFC R18 guidelines]
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592651/ Screen Online article about the R18 certificate]
* [http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arloh01.htm The Melon Farmers article about the R18 judicial review]
* [http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1330745,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704 ''Guardian'' article about 18 certificate for ''9 Songs'']
[[Category:British Board of Film Classification]]
[[Category:Pornography]]