Editing Victim (1961 film) (section)

==Censor reaction==
===British censor===
An official of the [[British Board of Film Classification|British Board of Film Censors]] (BBFC) had set out its view of homosexuality in film: "to the great majority of cinema-goers, homosexuality is outside their direct experience and is something which is shocking, distasteful and disgusting". Relph said that in ''Victim'', by contrast: "What I think we want to say is that the homosexual, although subject to a psychological or glandular variation from sexual normality, is a human being subject to all the emotions of other human beings, and as deserving of our understanding. Unless he sets out to corrupt others, it is wrong for the law to pillory him because of his inversion." He said ''Victim'' was "a story not of glands but of love."<ref name=stafford/>

Although a number of controversial scenes were cut before the film's release during discussions with the BBFC, including scenes with teenagers,<ref>{{citation | last=Robertson | first=James Crighton | year=1993 | title=The Hidden Cinema: British Film Censorship in Action, 1913–1975 | publisher=Routledge | isbn= 978-0-415-09034-6 | page=120}}</ref> the BBFC nevertheless gave the film an [[History of British film certificates|"X" rating]]—that is, "recommended for adults only"—a classification which was then usually reserved for erotica and horror films. In a letter to the filmmakers, the BBFC secretary raised four objections to the film. First, a male character says of another man: "I wanted him". Second, references to "self-control" in the revised script were omitted from the filmed discussion of homosexuality, leaving the discussion "without sufficient counterbalance". Third, the film implies that homosexuality is a choice, which "is a dangerous idea to put into the minds of adolescents who see the film". Finally, the one blackmailer who unleashes a tirade against homosexuality is so unsympathetic that the views expressed will be discredited.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=PG Tips |magazine= [[Harper's Magazine]] |date=July 2012 |page= 17}}</ref>

===US censor===
In the United States, the [[Motion Picture Association of America]]'s [[Production Code Administration]], the film industry's self-censorship board that enforced the guidelines established by the [[Motion Picture Production Code]], denied ''Victim'' its seal of approval. A spokesperson cited the film's "candid and clinical discussion of homosexuality" and its "overtly expressed pleas for social acceptance of the homosexual, to the extent that he be made socially tolerable". He noted that the subject of homosexuality was acceptable under the recently relaxed Production Code if handled with "care, discretion and restraint".

The head of the US distributor appealed the decision and announced the film would be released in February even if the appeal was denied. He described ''Victim'' as a "tasteful film on a delicate subject".<ref name=denied/> A few years before the release of ''Victim'', the filmmakers of ''[[Suddenly, Last Summer (film)|Suddenly, Last Summer]]'' (1959) had persuaded the code censors to allow that film to use homosexuality as a plot device, but only by presenting it through cryptic innuendos, and the film had to illustrate the "horrors of such a lifestyle".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hadleigh |first= B. |date=2001 |title=The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films – Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics|edition=Revised |location= New York City |publisher=Citadel Press |isbn=978-0-8065-2199-2 |page=?}}</ref> ''Victim'', in contrast, was deemed to be too frank in its treatment of homosexuality, and not initially approved by the censorship code.

In 1962, the Hollywood Production Code agreed to lift the ban on films using homosexuality as a plot device. A few years later, the code was replaced by the [[MPAA film rating system]], which introduced an age-appropriate classification system for films. As attitudes became more liberal, the rating classifications for the film were revised, and when ''Victim'' was released on VHS in the US in 1986, it was rated [[PG-13 (Motion Picture Association)|PG-13]].