"Censorship is motivated by fears surrounding new technologies"
Discuss this statement referring to video nasties and the impact of technological, social, political contexts of the early and mid 80s.
Censorship is only partly motivated by fears surrounding new technology; there are many other factors which need to be considered in to what motivated censorship.
Mary Whitehouse, who was head of the pressure group National Viewers and Listeners Association (NVLA.) She had very Christian views on video nasties as a whole, wanting to ban them completely. These views were blown up by the media to create a moral panic and explain social moral decline. The NVLA put pressure on the government to ban video nasties as they believed it was a way to protect society. Throughout 1984, there was a country-wide recession and unemployment was high. The Conservative government, headed by Prime Minister Margret Thatcher used the violence portrayed in these video nasties as a "scapegoat." As the public protested about job cuts and the recession, levels of violence were high. As the protests later turned into riots, the government needed an excuse. In 1984, the video recording act was put in place to regulate what films were bought. They put both age restrictions on films but also banned them completely. Before this, nothing was in place because the VHS was new technology and, firstly, no one was aware of the repercussions.
However, despite the campaign against video nasties, they were in popular demand. The audience having a range between twelve and sixteen were excited by the new trend in entertainment; so much so that it became a theme in parties. The younger audience were thrilled by the forbidden which came with the video nasties. The audience was so young because the films were not regulated, this was another motive for the BBFC to ban them.
