The ACMA is investigating claims by extreme-right Christian group Festival of Light (FoL) that the Nine Network crime series Underbelly breached television classification guidelines on five different occasions.

Festival of Light really doesn?t like Underbelly

According to News Ltd, the FoL complaint suggests strong coarse language, drug use and nudity have all been aired at an inappropriate time. They want Underbelly reclassified from M to either MA (shown after 9PM) or AV (shown after 9:30PM).

That’s fair enough if Nine is in breach, but I reckon they’ve probably been pretty careful with this one. Even when a leaked teaser caused a stir before the show aired, Nine was adamant the show was (and would be) correctly classified.

I’m certainly not in favour of television stations skirting the rules in order to reach more viewers, so it’ll be interesting to see what the ACMA decides.

As I haven’t watched any episodes (Aussie crime dramas aren’t really my cup of tea), I’ll leave it up to Underbelly regulars to decide whether it meets the guidelines.

Here’s what’s required for an M rating on TV:

Violence: May be realistically shown only if it is not frequent or of high impact, and is justified by the story line or program context. Violence should not be presented as desirable in its own right. Any visual depiction of or verbal reference to violence occurring in a sexual context must be infrequent and restrained, and strictly justified by the story line or program context.

Sex and nudity: Visual depiction of intimate sexual behaviour may only be implied or simulated in a restrained way. It must be justified by the story line or program context. Verbal references to sexual activity should not be detailed. Visual depiction of nudity must be justified by the story line or program context, and must not be detailed if in a sexual context.

Language: The use of coarse language must be appropriate to the story line or program context, infrequent and must not be very aggressive. It may be used more than infrequently only in certain justifiable circumstances when it is particularly important to the story line or program context.

Drugs: Intravenous use of illegal drugs may not be shown in detail. The program must not promote or encourage the use of illegal drugs.

Suicide: Suicide must not be promoted or encouraged by the program and methods of suicide must not be shown in realistic detail.

Adult themes: Most themes can be dealt with, but intense themes should be handled with care.

What’s your verdict: M or is FoL right?

If your keen on browsing the Industry Code of Practice, you can download it from the ACMA website. It’s reasonably straight forward and often eye-opening to read (eg. the section on the portrayal of people with disabilities).

– Mike