THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 Banned In Australia

I am pissed.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (FULL SEQUENCE) was released in Australia with an R18+ rating, meaning that it could only be seen by adults over the age of 18. Perfect, I completely agreed with that decision. Yesterday however the film went back up for review and was consequently banned from public viewing anywhere in this country. It's the exact same story as A SERBIAN FILM. It was also released as R18+ in Australia but when reviewed it too was banned. Why? Because apparently the classification board has the right to speak for every rational adult in the country.

I understand that the classification board is there for a reason, but I don't think that should include the ability to tell consenting adults which content is and isn't appropriate for them. They should remove illegal content from films, rate them accordingly, and even slap warnings about graphic violence or sex all over them if need be. But banning a perfectly legal piece of film shouldn't not be within their abilities.
Are they worried that somebody is going to accidentally wander into a movie like A SERBIAN FILM with absolutely no idea of what to expect? That's ridiculous. Anybody and everybody who goes to watch a movie like ASF or THC2 is going to have at least some idea of what they're getting themselves into.
Are they worried that young children will have access to these films? Completely stupid, of course they will. But young children also have access to anything and everything thanks to the Internet. It's not the classification board's job or right to prevent kids from viewing this depraved filth. Parents should be responsible, just as they should be responsible from preventing their young children from viewing anything inappropriate on the Internet.

So why exactly was THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 banned?

“In the Review Board’s opinion, The Human Centipede II (full sequence) could not be accommodated within the R 18+ classification as the level of depictions of violence in the film has an impact which is very high."
“In addition, the film must be refused classification because it contains gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of violence with a very high degree of impact and cruelty which has a high impact.”

So that's high impact scenes of violence which are gratuitous, exploitative, offensive or cruel. And just why were these violent scenes included in the movie? Because the fans of the first film asked for them. The fans. The people who enjoyed the first film and would make up the majority of viewers of the sequel. So apparently the very people who wanted the extra violence and gore, now aren't allowed to see it. They asked for it, but it's not appropriate for them. And don't the censors realise that by banning a film, all they're doing is making people want to see it more? And if the only way to then see it is by illegally obtaining it, then that's what people will do. So even though the classification review board may not realise it, they are effectively encouraging movie piracy.

Now I don't want you to think that this rant is all thanks to these two recent films being banned. I enjoyed both of these movies, but even if I thought they were terrible you would still be reading this. The point I'm trying to make is that NO film should be banned from viewing by rational, consenting adults unless it contains illegal material. Even then it should only be the illegal scenes which are removed rather than banning the whole film entirely.

Another thing that really gets to me is that whenever a film goes up for review it is always at the request of a small minority. You could have 90% of the country backing the release of the movie, but as soon as some tiny religious or parent group raises their voice it's all over. This was the case with THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2. The appeal was lodged by the NSW Attorney General and supported by a few Christian lobby groups such as Family Voice. And to make things even more fucking ridiculous, these groups were protesting the film BEFORE it was even released in Australia. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but how can you find a film offensive or immoral if you haven't even seen it?
Making everything a little crazier is the fact that the Classification Review Board (who made the ultimate decision) is made up of only four people. Three lawyers and a family therapist who represent Australian public values and make decisions which the entire country has to live with. And they are all women. I'm not trying to sound sexist, I just don't understand how a board made up of entirely one gender can make decisions for an entire nation made up of men and women.
Although I will admit that distributor Monster Pictures Australia probably didn't make the smartest move by advertising THC2 as "Banned in Britain, cut in the US and unleashed in Australia"
I'm sure that would catch the interest of those Christian fun-police instantly.

Yes films can be depraved, disgusting, offensive, immoral, shocking, violent and a whole lot of other verbs and adjectives which I can't think of at this moment. But I think deep down we all need a little depravity in our lives. And I think we all would like the right to make our own choices when it comes to cinema, instead of being coddled by a small group who think they know what's in our best interest.

See my review of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 here.