The Censor and the State in Britain

Abstract

In its vision statement, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) describes itself rather confusingly as both a “statutory designated authority” and an “independent, self-financing regulator.”1 Meanwhile the Board’s Student Guide calls the organization an “independent, non-governmental body.”2 Matters are made even more complicated by the fact that the BBFC changed its name from the British Board of Film Censors in 1985, but still carried on censoring as well as classifying films. This chapter will attempt to clarify the status of the BBFC, and in particular, its relationship to the wider apparatus of the state.