Industry Regulation part 2: Violence

Depending how violence is displayed on the screen depends on what classification a film gets, for example if a film just shows a gun fire followed by a person falling or a slight splatter of blood (like what is showed in most westerns) then it will most likely be given a PG rating. The more intense the scene and the portrayal (i.e. more realistic), the higher the rating; although in recent years more intense sequences have creeped into lower classifications, for example the torture sequence that features in "Casino Royale", which is fairly strong considering the classification (12a); however this could be put down to the fact that the scene doesn't go on for long, it's shot mostly in long shots so you don't see fully what is going on and the sequence holds back on gore or any graphic depictions.

But what is interesting is how two similar films, that deal with the same subject matter, with similar sequences of violence get different classifications based on how they portray these sequences; like "Kick-Ass" and "Super", both focus on the idea on a "homemade superheroes", but both take this concept in different directions, whereas "Kick-Ass" glamourises it to an extent by playing it mostly for laugh, whilst the fight scenes, though graphic, are done in an over-the-top over choreagraphed kung-fu style that disconnects the audience from it, to the point where they are just looking at it and going "that's cool". This then removes the scene (shown below) from reality to such an extent that you can only look at it in that respect and revel in the black humour of a little girl slicing drug dealers up.

This is quite a contrast to the stark realism of "Super" that strips back the most of the modern glamour of superheroes, to leave us with a story about an man who has a few problems who fights crime (although this has been visted before in a few comics), and so it's approach to violence is therefore far more realistic than "Kick-Ass", and is more shocking as apposed to humourous (well it is funny, but to most people it's harder to laugh at). This is reflected in it's classification, whereas "Kick-Ass" is a 15, "Super" is an 18; this is because the film dwells more on the injury of the participant moreso that it's 15 rated counterpart.