Certification

There was much deliberation about the certification of Pretty Popular and whether a 12A or 15 would be more suitable. We decided to do further research into the differences on the http://www.bbfc.co.uk to help the decision.

Differences between the 12A rating and 15

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

We also wanted to find out what out film opening was allowed to contain if it were to be a 12A. Although violence is unlikely for our genre, there is a possibility of it including strong language or sexual references. We also wondered if Scarlett's character smoking would have an impact on the certification. 

The BBFC's Guidelines:

12/12A

- There may be strong language (eg 'f***') at 12 or 12A, but it must be infrequent. The context is important.

- There may be moderate language (eg uses of terms such as ‘bitch’ and ‘twat’ at 12 or 12A).

- Any discriminatory language will not be endorsed by the work as a whole.
- Sex may be briefly and discreetly portrayed at 12 or 12A.
- Verbal sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers. Comedy may lessen the impact of sex references.
- There may be nudity in 12A films but sexual nudity should only be brief and discreet.
- Heterosexual and homosexual sex and sex references are treated the same.

15

- There is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (eg f***). - There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this. - At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category and may involve some nudity and movement. - There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. - There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour.

From these findings, we realised that smoking did not come up as an issue. We also noted that we were going to portray it in a negative light, in association to the rebellious and mischievous side to Scarlett. We wanted a lower rating to further our audience reach, especially as it has a high-school theme and would therefore attract a younger audience. Our final decision was to give Pretty Popular the 12A rating.