Winterbottom Spanks Ben Dover

Hot on the heels of last week's Kermode Uncut column comes the verdict of the Video Appeals Committee who have ruled that there is indeed a clear distinction between the sexually explicit films of Ben Dover and the equally explicit work of Michael Winterbottom. The distributors of nine porn tapes had claimed that it was "inconsistent" for the BBFC to slap them with sex-shop-only R18 certificates after granting an uncut 18 rating to 9 Songs, an 'arthouse' affair boasting nudity, penetration, masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, and copious ejaculation. The VAC, however, declared that "we do understand the Board's logic" in claiming that Winterbottom's film is "wholly different" from its porn tape counterparts on the grounds of "context" and "story". The VAC also gave the thumbs down to the suggestion of a new 18-X category which could have allowed depictions of "straight down the wicket sex" to become available in high-street stores, and which - according to Geoffrey Robertson QC - could even have helped provide a cure for cancer!

What's the Story, Porning Glory?

In an eleven page judgement, the seven-strong members of the VAC agreed that Lubed, The Secrets Of The Kama Sutra, Ben Dover - Cumming Of Age Volume Two, Heart Of Darkness, Queensway Trailers, Dungeon Diva 2, Semi-Detached, Catering For All Tastes - Finger Buffet For Six and L'Elisir D'Armour were "not suitable for distribution other than in a sex shop" because they contained "graphic depictions of a variety of sexual activities". According to the ruling, the Board's guidelines state that in general "if the video work shows simulated sex without graphic detail it will be classed as 18, but if it shows real sex the category will be R18." Yet both 9 Songs, and the Euro-shocker Baise-Moi, were passed at 18 despite containing images of "unsimulated sex", and this, according to the appellants, was proof of an "inconsistency" in the BBFC rulings. The VAC concluded that the Board were correct to assert that "the context in which the material is displayed [is] entirely different," and upheld their judgement that the "story" (or the lack of it) was a defining factor.

Referring to the porn tapes, the VAC concluded that they "contain no story line" and "are really nothing except a vehicle to show graphic sex." Viewers of 9 Songs, which consists of a series of graphic sex scenes intercut with rock concert footage and pretty views of Antarctica may be surprised to hear that Winterbottom's self-consciously arty movie actually had a "narrative". Indeed, many may argue that it has less of a story line than L'Elisir D'Amore, one of the tapes given an R18 rating by the Board, and which the VAC conceded does actually have something vaguely resembling a plot. But after ploughing through around sixteen hours of video shagging, the VAC concluded that it was possible to tell the difference between smut and art on the basis that smut contained "no story and no message". Thus, 9 Songs was 18 rated material, but The Secrets Of The Kama Sutra was R18. End of story.

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