The gutter press campaign against Crash was in some ways more intense than that waged against the video nasties. It was focused on one film only and lasted almost a year. In the end the BBFC held its ground and released it uncut. James Ferman was still in charge at the time.
I can't help thinking it was a turning point in censorship relaxation as it showed the BBFC could face down the press and not receive much of a backlash from the general public. I think it was 1999 when they changed their guidelines and concentrated on classification rather than censorship. The press seemed to realise the game was up and have never tried the same stunt again - at least not with the same intensity... or was it because they thought they could get more mileage out of frothing gammons with immigration scares rather than moral panics?
