ShellShock 2 refused classification
You won’t be buying the Vietnam War era horror game ShellShock 2: Blood Trails off the shelf in Australia anytime soon. The Classification Board has refused classification and early reports suggest Atari (who publishes the game in Aus) won’t be resubmitting an edited version. That might change though as Atari has now retracted statements and...
Sexualisation report released today
I haven’t had time to fully read the Goverment’s report on Sexualisation of Children in the Contemporary Media, but at first glance it doesn’t appear they’ve fallen prey to the hysteria and scaremongering that was thrown around like a ragdoll by certain groups and moral crusaders. I’ll cover the good and bad from the report...
Classification Amendment Bill brings about changes to advertising and assessment
The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Assessments and Advertising) Bill 2008 passed the Senate this week. Here’s a brief look at some of the changes: The Bill allows unclassified films and computer games to be advertised before they are classified, providing they meet set conditions and are assessed as part of a new...
Gold Coast teen charged for wearing blasphemous T-shirt
Would someone please prick me with a virtual fork. A Gold Coast teen has been charged with offensive behaviour after police arrested him on Monday for wearing a T-shirt by metal band Cradle of Filth that reads ‘Jesus is a cunt’ and has a picture of a nun masturbating. It doesn’t look very classy, but...
SBS Insight: The Naked Eye review
When Bob Bain posted to the No Censorship mailing list that SBS would be airing a debate on the Bill Henson saga, I questioned whether their was anything left to add that print media hadn’t already covered. Bob reassured me that the people on the guest list could add more. I feared it might turn...
Upcoming TV shows about censorship
A quick list of upcoming TV shows about censorship: Insight: The Naked Eye SBS 7:30PM Tuesday, 24 June, 2008 Jenny Brockie brings the Bill Henson debate to our TV screens. Guests include The Incredible Hetty, Tony Bond from the Art Gallery of NSW, Tamara Winkoff from NAVA, Connie Petrill, and model, Zoe Bailey. Jennifer Byrne...
Anna Bligh not happy with Wicked camper vans
Queensland Premier and suit connoisseur Anna Bligh has lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Bureau over what she says are obscene slogans on camper vans operated by hire company Wicked. ‘I don’t think they’d be allowed on a billboard and therefore they shouldn’t be allowed on a van’ ‘These are often things that frankly...
Psychological Society calls for The Happening to be classified R18+
A few weeks back Simon Chapman, a Professor in Public Health at the University of Sydney, warned that health organisations were upping the ante to have smoking banned in films. He questioned whether movies, books, drama and entertainment should be seen as part of some ideological state apparatus for promoting health, to be appropriated at...
Australia signs onto free Net, forgets filtering plan (momentarily)
IT Ministers from around the globe converged on Seoul this week to discuss the future of big bucks on the Internet. Australia was just one of many countries to sign the Seoul Declaration for the Future of Internet Economy (PDF) and Senator Conroy was more than happy to put his name to this: WE ARE...
Controversial plastic surgery book for kids not so controversial
The Aussie Today Show wanted to get stuck into American plastic surgeon Michael Salzhauer this morning about his book My Beautiful Mommy, but the M.D left Lisa struggling for words. I get the feeling the Today Show was expecting a bedtime story for kids that advocated plastic surgery for 5 year olds, but Salzhauer’s book...
Naughty words, but a nice result?
The Senate Inquiry into Naughty Words on TV (or Senator Cory Bernardi’s quest to wash Gordon Ramsay’s mouth out with soap) has resulted not in calls for more censorship, but a recommendation that all digital televisions sold in Australia be fitted with a parental lock out system. The inquiry also recommended that stations review their...
R18+ and video games: A history of stupidity
NSW TAFE student Alexander Gabbot has produced a great video about game censorship in Australia that’s not only informative, it’s funny as well. Cheers to Bookbuster for the tip off and Kotaku. Great to see stuff like this, especially with the R18+ rating for games discussion paper on the table in the next month or...
