The Australian Classification System
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The Australian Classification System: Practices and Policies Regarding Adult Animated Films by Sean Mosely For the degree of Master of Arts by Research Faculty of English, Media and Performing Arts University of New South Wales 2011 2 Abstract This thesis investigates the Australian classification system’s practices and policies regarding adult animated films. It examines various legal documents to show how the system adheres to a model of film aesthetics that privileges live-action over animated film when it comes to gauging the capacity of films to impact emotionally and psychologically on viewers. This attitude is evidenced in the Classification Review Board’s reports on the review of the original classification of four adult Japanese anime films in August 2008. These Original Animation Video films – Bondage Mansion, Sin Kan, Shino Sensei’s Classes in Seduction and Holy Virgins – all had their original R18+ rating scrutinised by the Classification Review Board. Upon review, Holy Virgins had its rating changed to RC, or refused classification. However, the Review Board noted in their review reports that all of the films may have required an RC rating had they been live-action. These cases indicate that animated adult films represent a challenge for the Australian classification system regarding the extent to which the animated form mitigates a film’s impact. This distinction between live-action and animated film is most clearly evident in the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games, which offers a series of examples demonstrating how the aesthetic properties of a film can impact on viewers. This thesis argues that when considered collectively, these examples imply an aesthetic model that responds to the photorealistic properties of film, while also acknowledging the extent to which formal cinematic techniques can influence a film’s impact. This model influences how classifiers evaluate a film from an aesthetic perspective, which in turn contributes to the overall rating a film receives. The aesthetic model implied in the Guidelines can be productively compared to particular academic theories of film: specifically, the models of film put forward by Siegfried Kracauer in Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality, and Christian Metz in his essay ‘On the Impression of Reality in the Cinema’. This thesis argues that these models have a restricted capacity to understand the emotional and psychological impact of film. Furthermore, corresponding restrictions are to be found in the Guidelines. These limitations are the primary influence in the discrepancy of classification ratings between live-action and animated films. This thesis also considers the potential of more recent theories of film aesthetics to influence classification processes. As well as the later psychoanalytic film theory of Christian Metz, it examines work by Tom Gunning, Lev Manovich and Noël Carroll. Ultimately, this thesis proposes that an alternative model based on the psychoanalytic concept of identification could be applied to the Australian classification system and would be better able to comprehensively address the challenge presented by adult animated films than the current aesthetic model. 3 Contents Frequently Used Terms 6 Introduction 7 Methodology 10 Literature Review 14 Chapter Outline 24 Chapter One: Case Studies of Anime Films 29 Bondage Mansion 34 Sin Kan/ “T&A Teacher” 40 Holy Virgins 47 Chapter Two: Overview of the Australian Classification System 52 Structure and Role of the Current Classification System in Australia 55 The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 59 The National Classification Code 65 The Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games 71 Chapter Three: The Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games and the Australian Classification System’s Aesthetic Model of Film 77 Siegfried Kracauer’s Theory of Film and Christian 4 Metz’s On the Impression of Reality in the Cinema 80 The Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games Revisited 86 Alternative Aesthetic Models of Film 94 Conclusion 102 Books, Articles, Chapters and Websites Cited 108 Legislation Cited 114 Films, Television Series and Original Animation Video Series Cited 115 Appendix 1: Excerpt from the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games Regarding Classification Ratings 117 5 Frequently Used Terms “The Act”: Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Commonwealth) “The Code”: The National Classification Code (Attorney-General’s Department, 2005) “The Guidelines”: The Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games (Attorney- General’s Department, 2008) 6 Introduction In August 2008, four animated films were brought before the Australian Classification Review Board. These films, all originally rated R18+, were further scrutinised in order to establish whether this original rating was appropriate. One of these films, Holy Virgins (2001), had its rating amended to RC (Refused Classification). The other three films, Bondage Mansion (2000), Shino Sensei’s Classes in Seduction (2004) and Sin Kan (AKA. T&A Teacher) (2004) retained their original R18+ rating. This thesis asserts that these films were brought before the Classification Review Board because they employ animation in a way that is different to the historically typical use of the form commonly seen in Australia. The films in question are all examples of Japanese anime. Although anime has become increasingly popular in Australia over the past couple of decades, its consumption is still relatively new. As a nation, Australians are more exposed to the cartoons of the United States (and to a lesser extent Western Europe). The animated films of Disney or Warner Brothers, especially those produced during the twentieth century, targeted young children and families. While there was often violence (especially in Warner Brothers films), it tended to be highly exaggerated and unrealistic. As for sex, the most risqué content tended to be Bugs Bunny dressing up as a ‘seductive’ woman or Pepé le Pew coming on to an unsuspecting female cat that had a stripe of white paint down her back. Anime, or Japanese animation, does not limit itself to such family-friendly depictions. While many Japanese animated films and series are wholly appropriate for children, there are also plenty of examples that target a more mature audience. Some of these adult anime are released on DVD in Australia, before which they must pass the evaluation of the Australian classification system. Unfortunately, as this thesis will show, the Australian system is not well structured to accommodate many of these films and series. 7 If one looks at the legislation and the guidelines for the Classification Board and Classification Review Board, it starts to become clear why adult anime is problematic. Some anime films contain drawn or digitally rendered depictions of human sexual penetration. Typically, films of this type are rated X18+. However, the X18+ rating, as it currently stands in Australia, is a special and exclusive category. It allows for sex but it does not allow for violence, assaultive language or coercion. This dramatically limits the types of stories that can be told in films that depict sexual penetration. While some films containing sexual penetration have been classified R18+, such films are exceptional. Normally, the R18+ rating only allows for simulated sex where sexual penetration is not displayed (the Guidelines, p. 11). Many ‘anime’ films, including the four anime films which were brought before the Classification Review Board in 2008, contain depictions of sexual penetration as well as violence, coercion or assaultive language. This means that they cannot be accommodated by the X18+ rating. Because of this, the four films in question were rated R18+ for their original classification. This rating was potentially appropriate for a few reasons. First, it could be argued that a drawn (or otherwise contrived) image of sexual penetration is merely a simulation of the act, regardless of whether the penetration is clearly visible on-screen. Secondly, the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games draw a distinction between “realistic” images and “stylised” images (the Guidelines, p. 6). The Classification Board and Classification Review Board define “stylised” as images that do not look like live-action photographs or film (Guidelines for the Classification of Publications, p. 16). While X18+ is, as already stated, a special category, there is still a general assumption that it is a more severe rating than R18+. After all, X18+ rated films cannot be shown in cinemas, and their DVDs cannot be legally purchased in the states (they are only available in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory). So, if an animated film shows sexual penetration, and non-realistic animation is considered to have a lesser impact than live-action film, then it appears reasonable to classify films showing animated sexual penetration as R18+. 8 However, sexual intercourse is not the only classifiable element within these animated films. The four anime films in question also contain other elements that can potentially augment their classification rating. For instance, Bondage Mansion depicts fetishes that would not be allowed in an X18+ rated film. Regarding the X-rating, the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games state that “Fetishes such as body piercing,