BBFC Rating System

[ysabetwordsmith]

allbingo  recommends the use of the BBFC rating system. The introduction explains what kind of things are considered in rating a film and why. This system pays attention to how a work makes people feel (i.e. if it's likely to upset viewers) or act ("imitable behavior" covers unwise things that small children might copy). Scroll down and click the colored symbols in the left sidebar for a detailed description of each rating, what it may and may not include, along with analysis of other considerations. You should be able to read those guidelines and get a pretty clear idea of how to rate a work, unlike the American rating system which is a lot more vague. Because this system isn't as widely known in America, you might want to say "BBFC rating 12" or whatever and link the BBFC part.

If you're only familiar with the American rating system, that's okay too. It doesn't provide clear guidelines and the rating process is not as meticulous, but most people will recognize it.

Special thanks to lilly_c for tipping me to the BBFC resource.  It has been added to the Posting Template for future reference.

Comments

[elizabeth_rice]

(I'm not saying the following to make you change the rating system you'd prefer to use here. I'm saying it to give you a better understanding of rating systems for different media and to explain why I don't follow film rating systems.)

This system is useful but I believe, as an artist, that it's more useful for any kind of visual work but not for written or prose. For books, there is really only one kind of rating, which is always ignored in the fandom, and it's based on target audience.

It's divided into three categories -- children, young adults (12-20 years) and adults (20+ years). The reason is simple; reading comprehension depends on understanding abstract concepts and themes.

In children's books, words are accompanied with illustrations to make comprehension easier. And unless it's a sex manual, adult books are not accompanied with illustrations or pictures. So the adult reader requires a strong vocabulary to comprehend the text they're reading.

My target audience for fanfic is always adults so on AO3 I always choose "not rated". Works marked as such are treated the same as works marked "explicit" so it works for me.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> It's divided into three categories -- children, young adults (12-20 years) and adults (20+ years). The reason is simple; reading comprehension depends on understanding abstract concepts and themes. <<

The only people I know who use that rating system to pick books are picking them for other people -- teachers, etc. Readers trying to decide what to read themselves want an idea of content, i.e. genre and/or edginess. This is readily observed by looking at what kinds of systems people set up themselves when they are free to choose any system or no system. Tagging is really popular but folks seem to like something more concise in addition to it.

>>My target audience for fanfic is always adults so on AO3 I always choose "not rated". Works marked as such are treated the same as works marked "explicit" so it works for me.<<

That's fine here too. Rating is not required, it's just there for folks who find it useful.

Re: Well...

[elizabeth_rice]

Okay, first of all, tagging has nothing to do with rating. I volunteered as a tag wrangler in AO3 and my work had nothing to do with AO3's rating and warning system. AO3 has a separate committee for that.

I was actually talking about publishing industry. When Hollywood movies are rated, for example, it's an organisation that rates them. The audience doesn't rate movies. I was talking about the source.

Yes, when individuals are choosing what to watch and/or read, we rely on additional info like genre and summary or previews/trailers.

Rating and warning systems in media are broad-based and generalised. It's genre and sub-genres that we as individuals use to narrow things down. See, that's why it almost never works when people online come up with their own rating system. There needs to be proper criteria and guidelines like you say BBFC has.