PETER HITCHENS: Natasha Kaplinsky says it's 'important' to let children watch Bob Marley smoke marijuana... while Mary Poppins is upgraded to PG.
PUBLISHED: 13:06 EDT, 20 March 2024 |
So now we learn that a film showing the singer Bob Marley amid swirling clouds of cannabis smoke is fine for 12-year-olds, while poor old Mary Poppins - once a ‘U’ feature that anyone could watch - has now been upped to ‘Parental Guidance’, thanks to a racial reference that hardly anyone under the age 90 will even get.
Well, this is taking the wrong thing seriously, while treating a serious matter too lightly. Whenever anyone tells me marijuana is just a soft drug and nothing to worry about, I think of the grimmest and most wretched part of a big London prison I once visited.
It is the place where the mentally ill prisoners are kept. This twilight corridor is the dismal destination of many who were beguiled into thinking that dope is just a trivial pursuit, a bit of a laugh. It is completely empty of any kind of hope. The people here are so unwell that they ought to be in hospitals but there are no beds available, so they are incarcerated instead.
The Bob Marley biopic One Love treats cannabis use as more or less normal
I was shown this wretched corner once at a major London jail. The inmates were dosed with powerful antipsychotics to keep them placid. In one of their cells, I noticed that the occupant had glued to his wall a large poster of Bob Marley, adorned with the symbol of the drug he did so much to popularise, the unmistakable spiky silhouette of the marijuana plant.
I remember how angry this made me. This was a prison, for the punishment of crime, and possession of cannabis is a serious crime. And much of the mental illness we now see in this country affects long-term users of this drug.
This is not just some theory. Sir Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research at King’s College Hospital in London, concluded after a major study: ‘It is now well known that use of cannabis increases the risk of psychosis.’
His research suggested that ‘we could prevent almost one quarter of cases of psychosis if no-one smoked high potency cannabis. This could save young patients a lot of suffering and the NHS a lot of money.’
Mary Poppins - once a ‘U’ feature that anyone could watch - has now been upped to ‘Parental Guidance’, thanks to a racial reference that hardly anyone under the age 90 will even get
It is well-known to millions who live in streets where the stink of weed is now a regular feature of life. And yet it is not well-known among the cultural elite which decides so much about how we live.
Perhaps someone could inform Natasha Kaplinsky OBE, whose years as a newsreader, followed by a successful appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, were crowned in 2022 by admission to the ranks of the great and the good, and by her appointment as president of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
For it is in this role that she has just revealed that a film biography of Bob Marley has been given more relaxed treatment than it would once have been . The film, One Love, would in the past have been classified as a ‘15’, which nobody under 15 would be allowed to watch. But thanks to an alleged softening of public opinion on the issue, it was awarded a much more commercially relaxed ‘12A’.
Ms Kaplinsky explained: ‘The public have told us that there is an easing, there is a greater tolerance of dope, and the message of One Love is essentially about peace. Marijuana is completely essential to the Rastafarian religion so it felt important to give that a “12A” rather than a “15”.’
She explained that: ‘There is a slight lessening of anxiety around dope and weed and solvent abuse in the younger categories as well’. Her claim was based on research done by the BBFC, which is said to show that people are now 'slightly more accepting of cannabis misuse at "12A/12"', so long as it is not detailed, glamorised or frequent.’
Natasha Kaplinsky co-hosted News At Six from 2005 to 2007 with the late George Alagiah
I have not been able to find out what ‘slightly’ means. But this is another triumph for the marijuana legalisation campaign, which will be delighted by the special treatment given to their drug of choice.
For 60 years they have been trying to claim that marijuana is in some way soft and harmless. By saying it will ‘maintain its current standards on other drugs’, the BBFC will help to spread that falsehood.
Film ratings guide
U – Suitable for audiences of all ages
PG - Suitable for general viewing - should ‘generally not unsettle a child aged around eight’
12A/12 - Cinema content classified 12A and video content classified 12 contains material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. But children younger than 12 may be permitted to attend a 12A cinema screening if they are accompanied by an adult
15 – Suitable for people aged 15 and over
18 – Suitable for people aged 18 and over
R18 – Only to be shown in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied licensed sex shops, and to adults only
But is society really becoming more relaxed about marijuana, especially as the culprits in so many violent criminal cases turn out to have been long-term users of it?
Certainly the Marley film treats its use as more or less normal. And of course such a film cannot avoid glamorising Marley himself, the great Jamaican national hero with the beautiful voice, who died tragically young after throwing himself into radical politics.
As for how drug-soaked the film is, even the liberal Guardian newspaper, notes ‘the billowing clouds of ganja smoke that constantly fill the frame’.
The Times agrees, saying it has ‘copious depictions of cannabis smoking’, though like most reviewers it dismissed the film itself, saying it was ‘a particularly uninspired and deferential plod around the life and legacy of the Jamaican reggae star’.
I am not quite sure how this squares with the BBFC’s own website’s description of its grading. This says that in a ‘12A’ film: ‘Misuse of drugs or other substances will generally be infrequent. There should be no glamorisation or instructional detail.’
Whereas in a ‘15’ production, it advises that ‘Drug and substance misuse may be shown, but should not be promoted or encouraged by the content as a whole.’
There are good reasons for this. In the long battle to discourage the young from smoking tobacco, a lot of effort went into explaining to adults that children copy what they see. DM.
