I was flicking around the channels last night and came across the film 'Hostel: Part II' on Channel 5 at about 10pm. I watched a scene where a naked young woman is hung upside down in manacles, then another, older woman lies naked underneath her, and repeatedly slashes at her from below with a scythe, for the perverted pleasure of bathing in her blood, before cutting her throat. This isn't very pleasant, I thought to myself, lets see what else is on.
A couple of hours later I started watching the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'Kindergarten Cop' on ITV2 HD - the film started at 12.25am and I saw it at the cinema, where it had a 15 certificate. I found that the film had been censored. Specifically, the words 'asshole' and 'son of a bitch' had been muted out, and a scene where the antagonist knees someone in the groin in order to steal a kid's toy from him was gone. The continuity of the film was damaged.
Why is it OK for Channel 5 to show torture porn at 10pm but ITV won't allow the word 'asshole' at 1am? WTF?
I think we'd all agree there should be some sort of watershed, be it 9pm, 10pm or whatever. But beyond that, is there any need for television censorship in this day and age? People with children in the house have access to parental control options and they should take responsibility for their childrens' viewing habits, I wanted to watch some old bloke being kneed in the bollocks over a Scalextric and I couldn't, thanks to exaggerated sensibilities designed to protect the precious darlings of irresponsible parents.
A couple of hours later I started watching the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'Kindergarten Cop' on ITV2 HD - the film started at 12.25am and I saw it at the cinema, where it had a 15 certificate. I found that the film had been censored. Specifically, the words 'asshole' and 'son of a bitch' had been muted out, and a scene where the antagonist knees someone in the groin in order to steal a kid's toy from him was gone. The continuity of the film was damaged.
Why is it OK for Channel 5 to show torture porn at 10pm but ITV won't allow the word 'asshole' at 1am? WTF?
I think we'd all agree there should be some sort of watershed, be it 9pm, 10pm or whatever. But beyond that, is there any need for television censorship in this day and age? People with children in the house have access to parental control options and they should take responsibility for their childrens' viewing habits, I wanted to watch some old bloke being kneed in the bollocks over a Scalextric and I couldn't, thanks to exaggerated sensibilities designed to protect the precious darlings of irresponsible parents.