Critics of film censorship in the United Kingdom often claim that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is biased in favour of foreign arthouse films, especially regarding depictions of sex. This article explores that claim by examining how ideas of ‘Frenchness’ – understood in Britain as a signifier of cinematic quality and of a serious approach to eroticism – have interfaced with the censorship of sexual imagery from the BBFC’s establishment in 1913 to the present day. I argue that the extent to which Frenchness played a role in BBFC censorship decisions evolved over time, and was determined by a confluence of factors, such as: parliamentary legislation, central and local government priorities, the personalities of individual BBFC secretaries and changing public attitudes to sex. I discuss the trajectory of the BBFC’s approach to sexual imagery by distinguishing four main periods: a period of political and moral propaganda, the post-WWII period during which film censorship was a balancing act, a brief period of crisis and the post-1977 period characterised by censorship decisions being guided by a statutory framework. Analysing censorship trends across historical periods, and drawing on the BBFC’s own explanations (found in internal as well as published documents), this article traces the evolution of approaches to censoring sexual imagery in the UK, and the extent to which claims of leniency towards French films can be evidenced throughout the BBFC’s history.
Oliver Kenny (Thu,) studied this question.