18 Certificate - Sex and The 18 Certificate

Sex and The 18 Certificate

Until recently, 18 certificate films could not contain the depiction of actual sex acts. With the relaxation of restrictions on the depiction of sexual acts, the R18 certificate was created to allow the sale of these films in sex shops. Although the BBFC allowed the depiction of simulated sex scenes in 18 certificate films, actual sexual acts were still not allowed to be depicted in 18 certificate films until recently.

This precedent appears to have been set when the BBFC granted 18 certificates for films containing short scenes of unsimulated sex, such as Catherine Breillat's Romance (in 1999) and Patrice Chéreau's Intimacy (in 2001). In October 2004, a new precedent appeared to be set when the BBFC granted an 18 certificate for Michael Winterbottom's film 9 Songs, which featured a number of lengthy explicit scenes of unsimulated sex. This was followed by certificates for Shortbus and Destricted. In the statement justifying the latter decision, it was stated that there is no limit of the quantity of images that can be considered to be justified.

In 2004 the board was also challenged by pornographic video distributors to award 18 certificates to material otherwise falling under the R18 guidelines. This could have greatly diminished the role of the R18 certificate, but failed. This means there continues to be a form of artistic merit test requiring the work to be judged non-pornographic and the scenes in question "exceptionally justified by context" for a mainstream release.

In their 2009 report (available on their website) the BBFC updated their standards stating that: "When it comes to sex in films for adults,the Board's policy is that explicit images of real sex should be confined to the ‘R18’ category, unless such images can be justified by their context. However, contextual justification is irrelevant if the primary purpose of the work is sexual arousal or stimulation (i.e. a sex work). Under the new Guidelines the contextual justification for explicit images of real sex at ‘18’ no longer needs to be ‘exceptional’."

The main difference between this new policy and previous years policies is that contextual justification for images of real sex no longer needs to be "exceptional" in a 18 rated work.

In their 2010 report (available on their website) the BBFC updated their standards again stating that: "As in previous years, the Board's policy remains that explicit images of real sex should be confined to the ‘R18’ category unless such images can be justified by their context. Contextual justification, however, has less weight if the primary purpose of the work is sexual arousal or stimulation (i.e. a sex work)."

The main difference between this new policy and previous years policies is that contextual justification for images of real sex is no longer irrelveant if the primary purpose of the work is sexual arousal or stimulation, instead it merely reduces the amount of justification that context can provide.

In a sex work, any explicit and non-obscured sight of vaginal or anal penetration by any object whatsoever; any contact between the lips or tongue and genital/anal area; and ejaculation usually requires an R18. Any sight of a liquid resembling semen is also usually restricted to R18, even if the ejaculation is not visible: women licking sticky white liquid off a model of the World Cup and similar liquid splashing onto faces, breasts or being swallowed have all been censored from 18 certificate films. The R18 versions contained these images unaltered. Further reasons for R18 as opposed to 18 include vigorous and/or extensive genital touching (brief genital touching may be passed "18"), implied triple penetration, extreme close ups of spread female genitals or anuses (erections are now permissible at 18 however), and certain fetish material- especially urination and potentially dangerous sado-masochistic activities. However under the new 2010 guidelines explicit images of real sex can be passed 18 in a sex work provided there is exceptional justifying context.