Research: Age Certificates

What Is BBFC? 
They are the British Board Of Film Classification, they serve a function in the social society which protects us as an audience from watching films that are suitable to watch at certain ages, (U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18, R18). The BBFC provides the parents of the child with information of the age certificate so they know the age that they can watch a film with their child in the cinema. Also with the age certificates and the banning and cuts of films they can protect the vulnerable viewers of the society which have/are being protected because of the BBFC. 


Age Certificate: 
- U (Universal) 
This age certificate is suitable for all ages to watch, which means even pre-school children are able to watch this film as well, without the parents having to be afraid of what their child is watching and thinking if it may be harmful for the child to watch.




- PG (Parental Guidance) 
The age certificate PG is aimed for people that are 8 years old and above, with a parent when watching a film with this age certificate, a child that watches a film with this age certificate could disturb the child. With this age certificate it is the responsibility for parent to check if the film is suitable for the child when watching this film as the child may become disturbed when watching a film of this age certificate. 




- 12&12A 
With these two certificate is they both are for the audience 12 and above not below. The children at the age 12 may not become disturbed, but the children that are 12 and below may be disturbed when watching a film that isn't for there age. Also the difference between the two certificates you may be wondering is that the 12A is when a parent is advised to see if it suitable for the child, as the child may be sensitive and may not be able to watch that film. 

Also the reason why there is 12A, is because of the fist spiderman film because at first it was a PG and the audience complained that the film was to violent for that age group. Then they made it a 12 rated certificate, even after increasing the age group the audience has still complain about the film, so that when the BBFC decided to make the 12A as it would provide the parents with the power of their child being able to watch a film that they feel it is suitable for them, as the parents can advise the child if it is suitable for them. 



  - 15
This age certificate is for the audience of the ages 15 and above, because it isn't suitable for the audiences under the of 15, also with a 15 rated film no - one under the age of 15 wouldn't be able to buy or rent a film with this age certificate.



- 18
This age certificate is aimed at the audience 18 and above as the content is not suitable for the audiences that are younger because it has content on illegal drugs uses, criminal acts, sexual and sexualised violence. An 18 age rated film below. 


Thriller Age Certificate: 
The thriller age certificate is 12A and above as the storyline and the content can scared and make the audience think about the film, for example psychological thriller films make the audience think deep into the film to keep them interested but the storyline is confusing if the audience isn't used to figuring it out as it may confuse the audience, also the reasons that the thriller films are at the age rated 12A and above because of the illegal drug uses, sexual violence, criminal acts, and strong violence the BBFC rated thriller films at the 12A, 15 and 18 because the films can only suit these age certificate because of these content. 

Conclusion:
In my conclusion i have gain lots of knowledge about the age certificates and be able to judge on my own thriller to know what my audience it may be aimed to with the content that is shown. My personal opinion is i think that age certificates is great because it is able to separate films with a certain type of age groups because it can protect the audiences from what is shown, also with the content that is shown in the 15 and 18. If there was no age certificate i think that the young would be corrupt as they grow older if they can watch anything that is in the cinemas because the content that there is may influence the child and it could start the child's mind thinking that killing is fine and there is nothing wrong and the child grows up to be a murder for example. Because of the age certificates it protects the young from being corrupted at a young age until, the children understand that killing, drug use and sexual violence ETC is wrong and they would know the difference between the real world and the film world.