Straw Dogs: Censorship

[Sam@Cult Labs]

Check out the excellent Straw Dogs censorship article by author Stevie Simkin on the official Straw Dogs fan:

STRAW DOGS & CENSORSHIP




Feel free to share your thoughts on the censorship of this movie and censorship in general here...

[platostotal]

Opening up a can of worms there buddy, on the day that HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 got passed by the BBFC with 2 1/2 mins of cuts. Tho improving all the time, long way off before we could have an unrated release in the UK me thinks. By making that illegal, censorship's here for a while yet.

[Sam@Cult Labs]

I'm not an advocate of censorship, but I can't really get upset about the Human Centipede movies. Worthless and nasty, their the kind of movie that argues artistic expression but are only there to generate cash.

I know that applies to the exploitation movies of yesteryear that I love as well, but I tend to shy away from really sadistic modern stuff these days out of personal choice. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see anything banned or cut - adults free to make own choices, etc - but I won't be writing any stern letters about Human Centipede 2 getting trimmed either.

[platostotal]

I actually agree with ya, I used HC2 as it was banned outright then miraculously passed after cuts, illustrates just how pointless the word 'obscene' is without a definition, in my opinion no fake latex and rubber gore(however real it looks) should get the snip, but as I said elsewhere, I think I am less forgiving when the victims are clearly portrayed as young children(there is a line for censorship, and for me it's about there) Some Japanese/HK horrors sail close to the wind on that one. But all else goes(along as it's not real) tho I absolutely despise injuring and killing horses by the use of tripwires, I wouldn't just snip that, I would bring prosecutions against the film companies involved.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by platostotal

I absolutely despise injuring and killing horses by the use of tripwires, I wouldn't just snip that, I would bring prosecutions against the film companies involved.

Me too, it's shocking that people still use those methods especially when it can easily be simulated by using CGI.

[Sam@Cult Labs]

and Disneym because of those poor Lemmings...

[AsFlatAsTheEarth]

Originally Posted by platostotal

I actually agree with ya, I used HC2 as it was banned outright then miraculously passed after cuts, illustrates just how pointless the word 'obscene' is without a definition, in my opinion no fake latex and rubber gore(however real it looks) should get the snip, but as I said elsewhere, I think I am less forgiving when the victims are clearly portrayed as young children(there is a line for censorship, and for me it's about there) Some Japanese/HK horrors sail close to the wind on that one. But all else goes(along as it's not real) tho I absolutely despise injuring and killing horses by the use of tripwires, I wouldn't just snip that, I would bring prosecutions against the film companies involved.

I guess the BBFC would argue that the cuts they demanded resulted in a film that was no longer obscene.

On tripwires, the BBFC has a clear policy on this, in line with the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937: it is illegal to show any scene 'organised or directed for the purposes of the film that involves actual cruelty to animals'. And they adhere to that very strictly. A number of films that slipped under the net back in the 60s and 70s were cut for illegal horse-falls when released on home video.

Oh, and if it's not clear, my blog recapping the censorship of Straw Dogs is not advocating it, just explaining it.

[Daemonia]

Originally Posted by Sam@Cult Labs

I'm not an advocate of censorship, but I can't really get upset about the Human Centipede movies. Worthless and nasty, their the kind of movie that argues artistic expression but are only there to generate cash.

Fair enough. Then name one horror movie that wasn't made with the profit margin in mind...? In fact, name one movie that was made with the sole intention of losing money...?

[Daemonia]

Originally Posted by platostotal

I actually agree with ya, I used HC2 as it was banned outright then miraculously passed after cuts, illustrates just how pointless the word 'obscene' is without a definition, in my opinion no fake latex and rubber gore(however real it looks) should get the snip, but as I said elsewhere, I think I am less forgiving when the victims are clearly portrayed as young children(there is a line for censorship, and for me it's about there) Some Japanese/HK horrors sail close to the wind on that one. But all else goes(along as it's not real) tho I absolutely despise injuring and killing horses by the use of tripwires, I wouldn't just snip that, I would bring prosecutions against the film companies involved.

Those of us who are a bit older and a bit wiser realise that this kind of thing is unacceptable. But it takes time to get there. Most of the world is unfeeling and doesn't care. Ironically, it's the film enthusiast that cares, not the masses. They're unaware of it. And film fans want the fiilms preserved as they are. Removing all sight of animal mistreatment basically lets the filmmakers off the hook. Let's not sweep it under the carpet, folks...