Banning What You're Never Seen

Via Leg-Iron at Old Holborn's place I see there is a classic film review at The Daily Mail. A classic example of panic and ill-thinking hysteria, that is. 

It is about the film Antichrist - which looks marginally interesting to me, albeit in a depressing way. It doesn't so appeal quite so much to The Daily Mail's reviewer:

A film which plumbs new depths of sexual explicitness, excruciating violence and degradation has just been passed as fit for general consumption by the British Board of Film Classification.

And that's just the starter. From there, our reviewer tears into the film, calling for it to heavily cut and/or banned. Partly because it will one day be released on DVD. And parents might allow their kids to see it despite the 18 certificate. Although as a head's up, and 18 certificate doesn't make it open for general consumption.

Now, you could quite happily tear apart this sorry sack of shit bit by bit - which is pretty much what Leg-Iron does. But for me, the reviewer nicely demolishes his own argument with this statement:

I haven't seen it myself, nor shall I - and I speak as a broad-minded arts critic, strongly libertarian in tendency. But merely reading about Antichrist is stomach-turning, and enough to form a judgment.

Right, so by reading about a film that he has have no intention of seeing this "Libertarian" decides that it should be banned for all. Libertarian he sure as fuck ain't. Nor does he come across as broad-minded or even intelligent. Ignorant, ill-liberal twunt is probably a better description.