The Controversial Clenched Buttocks of Timothy Spall are Cause for Consternation

Timothy Spall is one of the only actors who's not afraid to play irredeemable creeps, so it's fitting his clenched buttocks should be at the center of a controversy. Apparently a scene from the film Mr. Turner featuring Spall's (clothed) clenching buttocks had the most complaints filed with the British Board of Film Classification last year. 

According to the Plymouth Herald (link below), a sex scene from the film—which received a 12A certification, the British equivalent of a PG-13—caused many a pearl to be clutched by decent folk just hoping to see a nice film about a painter from the director of Naked.

The BBFC said there were 19 complaints, but said the scenes had passed as a 12A because there was no nudity and because of the scene’s “relative brevity” and “importance in terms of narrative”.

The report reads: “The film Mr.Turner, classified 12A, generated the most feedback in 2014: nineteen members of the public complained about a sex scene in the film, though it needs to be kept in mind that this is a very low figure for most complained-about film, and is a tiny proportion of those who will have seen it. In the scene in question, Turner's clothed buttocks are seen clenching vigorously, before the scene cuts to a close-up of his face and his thrusting head and shoulders. The scene is relatively brief and does not contain any nudity, but Turner does appear rather distressed. The act ends with shots of Turner sobbing, almost in an exhibition of self-loathing. The scene is therefore important in terms of the narrative of the film. Context is central to the question of acceptability of film and video content.When considering context we take into account issues such as public expectation in general and the expectations of a work’s audience in particular. Given the lack of nudity, the relative brevity of the scene and its importance in terms of narrative, and the audience appeal of the film, the scene is acceptable within the BBFC’s Classification Guidelines for sexual content at 12A.”

Far and away, the most damning statistic of all is found in the very next paragraph...

The next most complained about film was the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave, which included a scene where a slave was raped.

That's right, people would rather see the sexual assault of an African-American woman by a white man than see a clothed Timothy Spall have consensual sex.

Via Plymouth Herald