British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

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British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by expressman33 » Tue Dec 22 2020 11:44am

Flash Gordon's Ming the Merciless is a 'discriminatory stereotype', says UK film censor
The BBFC said having Swedish actor Max von Sydow as a villain of East Asian appearance could be deemed 'downright offensive'

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/1 ... type-says/

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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by kevinchess1 » Tue Dec 22 2020 1:52pm

Best avoid all the early Bond films then
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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by regulator » Tue Dec 22 2020 8:19pm

Anyone would think James Ferman had risen from the grave.
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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by pabenny » Wed Dec 23 2020 1:26pm

BBFC have not publicised any recent pronouncements about Flash Gordon, so what's the origin of this 'news' item?

The BBFC website says that Flash Gordon has "moderate violence, language, sex references, discriminatory stereotypes". It goes on to say:
An alien character is coded as 'Asian' due to his hair and make-up, although he is portrayed by a Caucasian actor. The character derives from the film's dated source material, but some viewers may find the depiction offensive.
The 'news' story sounds to me like it's trying to discredit (rather as Boris did with his constant half-truths about the EU. The Telegraph article is behind a paywall so I can't see what it actually says.

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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by Sarah » Wed Dec 23 2020 3:26pm

pabenny wrote:
Wed Dec 23 2020 1:26pm
The Telegraph article is behind a paywall so I can't see what it actually says.
The BBC have this story:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55409194

So, apparently Flash Gordon was classified 12A for its recent reissue, having previously been passed as A or PG. This is unlikely to have much effect since almost nobody is going to be watching it at a cinema and the new releases on disc will mostly be purchased by collectors (adults) on BD or UHD which are both rated 15 anyway (presumably there are extras with higher classification than the film itself). There's still a PG rated DVD available if anyone should prefer it.
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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by im184156 » Wed Dec 23 2020 3:42pm

An alien character is coded as 'Asian' due to his hair and make-up, although he is portrayed by a Caucasian actor. The character derives from the film's dated source material, but some viewers may find the depiction offensive.
Anyone would think the hand wringing bedwetters at the BBFC were desperate for people to find this offensive. It's a tragic indictment of the culture we live in.

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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by Chadwick » Wed Dec 23 2020 6:28pm

Whoops, I googled Flesh Gordon instead.

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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by kevinchess1 » Wed Dec 23 2020 6:41pm

Also, all Slasher films are banned because no black guy ever survives and all women are betrayed as dumb because they run down into the cell instead of out into the street.
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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by kevinchess1 » Wed Dec 23 2020 6:41pm

Chadwick wrote:
Wed Dec 23 2020 6:28pm
Whoops, I googled Flesh Gordon instead.
'Ming the Merciless' all ready sounds like a porn star.
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Re: British film censor warns about the 1980s movie Flash Gordon

Post by gle1975 » Fri Dec 25 2020 10:31am

Can they still show Fu Manchu with Christopher Lee?

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