January 7, 2008
When last seen by readers of GamePolitics, the Irish Film Censor's Office was in the process of banning Manhunt 2 from the Emerald Isle.But the Irish Independent reports a name change is in the works for the IFCO, which feels it no longer does much censoring. Said IFCO head John Kelleher:
The Minister (for Justice) is planning to change, at my request, the name of the office. I understand that an amendment is in the pipeline which will change our name from the Irish Film Censor's Office to the Irish Film Classification Office. I think for most people, that would be a very welcome change.
In 2007 the IFCO reviewed more than 8,000 items and only Manhunt 2 and four porn films got the chop. Speaking of the Manhunt 2 ban, Kelleher said:
You are doing the stabbing, the mutilation and the killing. With this particular game it's non-stop.
Films banned or forced into edits by the IFCO over the years include Casablanca, Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers...
Comments
Tbh I'm glad Manhunt 2 was banned - not only does it give anti-game lobbyists another stick to beat us about the head with but it's also a REALLY bad game. But then again I'm painfully aware of the precedent banning it sets, which doesn't sit too easy.
Thanks for taking an interest in us over this side of the pond GP.
What did get me very angry however, was the reasons they gave for it's banning. They stated that the reason it was banned was due to the violence having no context, where strong violence is sometimes permissable if it has a context within a story. Manhunt 2 was never going to win any fiction awards for story telling, but the fact remains, it did have a plot and story, no matter how trite or poorly done, and therefore a context within that story. It seemed to me that they had banned it simply because Britain had, perhaps to make it seem like "If it's unacceptable to them, it must be the same to us".
What made me even angrier still was the response I got from them when i enquired about the ban and the reasons behind it. I quoted their reasons for the ban, and pointed out that the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had very little plot (just like Manhunt 2), featured callous and gruesome violence (just like Manhunt 2) and was an example of violence out of context (just like Manhunt 2), yet the IFCO saw fit to release it with an 18's certificate. I asked them why had Manhunt 2, which is very similar in many ways to this movie, not been released with the same, appropriate 18's rating.
In answer, they repeated to me the very same reasons I had already brought up and quoted in my mail. No explanation of why one example of violence with little or no context is given a pass while another is banned outright. No effort to explain further their reason. It felt like a form response letter which had been sent without reading mine and simply going by the subject header.
If a GOOD game had been banned, I would still be writing to them. But even though it was a pretty poor game, their reasons and replies to me has made me see them in a very bad light.
When you change the name of a pile of crap to 'fluffy marshmallow pies' it's still a pile of crap.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
refusing to classify something is practically a ban (though not in theory). therefore, so long as they do their job of 'classifying' stuff properly, i've no problem with this change.
though the moment they refuse to classify something, then its a lie.
I agree wholeheartedly. There is no reason to ban Free Speech on the sole basis that it is offensive and nothing else. I despise censorship and i am glad that where i live in Ontario the film ratings board here can no longer outright ban films, just classify them.
I'm sure by now we can get this movies uncut, I mean Casablanca came out in the 40's around the time Ireland was beyond prudish, Any bans and edits that where placed than are long and truely dead.
I bet I can go to the local Xtra Vision and rent any of them films without edits. And was the banning of Manhunt 2 really that bad you can still buy the original game for 15euro in Virgin.
The ESRB and the PEGI have never refused to classify a game nor do they have the ability. That is the difference. The BBFC and the IFCO have the ability to refuse classification and have used that to bar the games from release.
So to say that all these organizations have the same function is a little naive on your part.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
Crap by any other name is still crap.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
I guess, "Here's looking at you kid." was simply to tasteless for them.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
Sorry Zach, gotta steal your idea.
Paint a turd pink and stick flowers in it, it's still a turd.
Well, if you then cloak it with a SEP field, then no one will notice.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
A spade is a spade. Change the name all you want it still doesn't change what you're doing it just confuses what you do. For those who disagree I ask this, what exactly does a Sanitation Engineer (aka garbage collector), engineer?
god bless you for the Douglas Adams ref. I had to mouse over the link to verify that was what you were really talking about :)
Oh come on, our own MPAA was a lot stricter early on and has gradually grown less strict (or so it seems), and I've heard the BBFC was the same way.