Film ratings law a small, positive step for mainland

In places like Hong Kong, a movie rating system aims to shield children from harmful material and satisfy community standards. On the mainland, however, film censorship is more an instrument of state control. It is used not only to enforce public morality but also to suppress political opinions and some forms of artistic expression. To a degree, the mainland's opening up has meant the loosening of control over various media, including movies, but state censorship continues to hang like the sword of Damocles over the work of artists and filmmakers.

A draft of the much-discussed motion picture industry law has been completed and it may be passed later this year. It includes a rating system, the details of which have not been released. But movies that would be rated category III in Hong Kong will be deemed illegal and banned on the mainland. This may sound draconian, but adopting a rating system is a positive step.

At the moment, Chinese or foreign-made movies must first obtain a licence from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television before being screened or sold in public. But its decisions often appear arbitrary, inconsistent and lacking in accountability. Practically every internationally renowned mainland director has run into trouble with state censors at one time or another. The result has been a straightjacket imposed on a potentially huge and lucrative movie market. It also means mainland audiences are often denied a chance to watch good-quality foreign movies.

With a more transparent rating system, censors can exercise judgment based on more objective guidelines and filmmakers will have a more reliable reference. Classification decisions should be predictable and based on transparent criteria. But there should be no illusion: any classification system is still controlled by the state, and ratings can easily be manipulated to serve a political purpose. The levels of censorship to which a society is subject are a reflection of its political system, and censorship is inescapable under the mainland's form of government. Introducing ratings for films is a step in the right direction. But it is not a panacea and does not signal a new dawn for artistic freedom on the mainland.