Introduction to the Critical Investigation

Have Hollywood attitudes towards content in 12A films become more liberal or have audiences’ film desires changed?

In my opinion both statements work hand in hand, so because of the film desires changing, the content in 12A films has become more liberal. This may be due to the growing acceptance of sexual and violence explicitly, the fact that it is become more ordinary and normal in our society the audience aren’t entertained or shocked by the extent of the explicitness on things other than films i.e. advertisements. This leads to the boundaries being pushed higher, which further leads to the BBFC considering desensitization on films.

However it may be arguable, that the audience’s desires have changed because of desensitization, again this may be because of the growth of exposure too. Because in the late 80’s and early 90’s it would be a shock value to see a female in her under garments however, now we have them on the walls of marks and spencer’s. Similarly, film directors took extra precautions towards violent scenes and not have them too intense in comparison to the 21^st century where the in movies have more explicit violence.

 A prime and more relevant example is fast and furious as the early sequels’ have more moderate and mediocre in contrast to the more recent fast and furious 7 where violent scenes have increased and the intensification of the action/ fighting scene has amplified.