Is the video recordings act a morally legitimate law?

Thesis:

The Video Recordings Act was brought about in 1984 to censor, regulate and ban films that were seen as being immoral; containing images such as pornography and violent behaviour. The law was sought to protect society from this, as these so called video nasties introduced imitable behaviour, and attracted a youth audience. The Video Recordings Act enforced age restrictions and banning of films. However, there is controversy throughout the topic of the VRA being a legitimately moral law. Some argue that the VRA protects a certain amount of society. The VRA were set up by the conservative government and therefore it holds the traditional, middle class views of how moral society should be. Whilst others believe that the VRA does not protect society, and that it should be down to individuality and choice. In my opinion the VRA is a moral legitimate law as these video nasties were being viewed by vulnerable audiences that could commit an imitable behaviour. I believe that the VRA are legitimate and moral for banning and censoring films as age restrictions only account for a particular part of society's vulnerable groups. Video nasties were produced on VHS, meaning that anyone could purchase and watch these films.
The teenage audience that these video nasties were attracting, was because of the controversy and status that came along with the viewing of the film. Therefore if the VRA were to only age restrict these films, I believe the youth audience would view these films in another way, and therefore be even more attracted to them due to their further restriction.

Video Nasties

Political:
-Conservative government sought to protect
-Government censorship and VHS police raids on dealers
-Mary Whitehouse, Margret Thatcher, BBFC and the media scapegoated the video nasties for immoral behaviour which led to a moral panic
-Video Recordings Act 1984 - 72 banned list
-Moral campaign against video nasties ; Mary Whitehouse (NVLA), Margret Thatcher, BBFC and the media
-Regulated videos have age restrictions by BBFC
-Video nasties were exploited to explain responsibility for moral decline in society
-Watching video nasties helps put in context of narrative, the campaigners did not actually watch them

Social:
-Videos being distributed by corner shops, market traders and garages
-The covers on the boxes were often more gruesome than the content
-Moral panic created by media the term 'video nasties'
-Riots, civil unrest, unemployment and recession
-Video nasties were niche films and popular with teenagers due to their controversy
-Video nasties were exploited to explain responsibility for moral decline in society
-Censorship or individual judgement

Economic:
-Riots, civil unrest, unemployment and recession
-Video nasties like Evil Dead were realistic because they were low budget

Technological:
-Cinema attendance declined massively due to the rise of VHS
-Video nasties were made for distribution for VHS

The rise of the blockbuster mutliplex and homevideo

1973/4 - 1984/5

Blockbusters
Rise of the multiplex
Home video and video nasties 



2000 - post 

• Technological (internet piracy)/ new special effects CGI/3D = less likely to be illegally downloaded
• Social
• Economic (internet piracy = formulaic movies = safe)
• Political 

Entitlement = audiences do not expect to pay
AVATAR -> spectacle; the way it looks vs. the narrative / quality of the CGI vs. quality of the narrative/ style over substance


What is the significance of home video and the format wars for audiences?
Home video did not have to be regulated, therefore these video nasties could be produced without restricting any images.

What were the concerns around home video and regulation/censorship?
Home videos were not censored or regulated as these video nasties were being produced illegally. This therefore created a concern and moral panic, that these video nasties were influencing crimes, etc. The government, and the media blamed these video nasties for imitable behaviour, influencing the ongoings in society.

What is a video nasty and why did they become popular?
A video nasty is a low budget horror film that were banned, they became popular as people wanted to watch these for the status of being banned.

What did these films have in common? 
Low budget, horror genre, appealing to a teenage audience, similar narrative/storylines

Who were Margret Thatcher and Mary Whitehouse and why were they significant?
They campaigned to ban these video nasties and blamed things going on the in public as an influence of these films, for example rise in crime rates. NVLA was a campaign set up to ban these video nasties, and to restrict audiences from viewing these films, whilst regulating and censoring graphic images.

How did video nasties become political and how was this moral panic being exploited by the government?
The media exaggerated and created the moral panic around these video nasties, blaming these video nasties as an influence for crime, etc. The government also used video nasties as a scapegoat to explain crime, riots etc.

"Censorship is motivated by fears surrounding new technologies" Discuss this statement referring to video nasties and the impact of technological, social, political contexts of the early to mid 80s.

The NVLA created a moral panic around video nasties. Their main concern was 12-16 year olds getting hold of these films and being influenced under imitable violence. It was said that they replaced party games. Because these video nasties were banned, this created a hype and a status to get hold of and to watch these films. These films were banned but illegally sold by video dealers in garages and sweet shops. Therefore these films were still accessible to 12-16 year olds, even though they had been banned. Pressure groups and activists such as Mary Whitehouse wanted video nasties such as Evil Dead to be censored, due to the concern of imitable violence. However, this became clearly corrupt when the police began to converse with these pressure groups, whilst Mary Whitehouse befriended Thatcher over similar interests.
Campaigns by the NVLA and Mary Whitehouse were put out into the media, in conservative newspapers such as the Daily Mail.

Video nasties created a moral panic and were used by the government and the media as a scapegoat. They targeted the recession, riots and protests as a result of the influence of these video nasties.
As well as political, there was also religious conflict. These video nasties incorporated demonisation and possession, which the religious upper class opposed. The media portrayed video nasties as 'evil' through forms of propaganda. Video nasties were used as an example for everything evil in society.

However, companies and advertisement discovered that the censorship and banning of a film resulted in an increase of demand. For example, Evil Dead was deliberated constructed to be banned and therefore increase the demand and it's number of viewings. With censorship, along came a sense of the thrill of the forbidden.

Home video was unregulated, meaning that anyone could get hold of a particular film. This created a fear of who was watching and being influenced by these video nasties, resulting in a mass censorship of 80 films.

Banning a film increases the demand

What years are we looking at?
1974-1984
What makes Evil Dead significant to video nasties?
It was the first film that was banned and started off the video regulation act
What role did Mary Whitehouse have in this period?
She was an active christian who thought against video nasties, fighting to ban and regulate films such as Evil Dead.
What was the role of the BBFC at this time?
They were in charge of regulation, restrictions and banning films
What is the VRA 1984?
Video Recordings Act, 1984