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Brazilian Advisory Rating and Criticism of Objective Classification - Adventure Time Analysis Based On Violence Rating Criteria (6º CONFIA) 2018
Brazilian Advisory Rating and Criticism of Objective Classification - Adventure Time Analysis Based On Violence Rating Criteria (6º CONFIA) 2018
Abstract
Keywords
Brazilian, advisory, rating, This paper discusses the role of the Brazilian advisory rating system and
children, media, animation, the application of this method. To this end, childhood perspectives are
adventure, time. debated with a focus on the agents involved (Brazilian state, TV stations,
entertainment enterprises, etc.). The Brazilian advisory rating scenario
is presented, followed by an investigation of the classification method
and a visual analysis of the advisory rating guide (Guia da Classificação
Indicativa, in Portuguese). This guide provides criteria to analyze six
episodes of the cartoon, Adventure Time, which was chosen due to its
mainstream reach, narrative, and visual complexity. The research sug-
gests two critical points. The first point is difficulty and inconsistency in
the selection of inappropriate images for children. Results show it is not
possible to establish fixed and straightforward relations between image
(the cartoon) and verbal text (advisory rating criteria) since the verbal
and visual elements suggest multiple meanings. Moreover, the polysemy
aspect of language allows the naturalization of different interpretations.
The second point is the importance of looking at the subjectivity of
children. Children are not conceived as agents, but as passive subjects
and their thinking and opinion of improper content are not part of the
rating process. It is important to gain insight into what children think of
the media to raise critical thinking in the face of mass communication.
Consequently, children should not be considered as responsive objects,
but the active agents of their own education. Since images can indicate
multiple meanings (polysemy) also become part of the senses of shared
reality, they should be key to understanding how children interact with
media and what they think about it. In that sense, this paper reveals
problems in the Brazilian advisory rating system and endorses media
literacy actions as the best solution for the issue of children and media.
1. Introduction
In the context of children and the media, this paper analyses application
of the Brazilian advisory rating system and reveals difficulties in obtaining
an objective classification. As an alternative solution, it proposes the pur-
suit of actions that can empower children to criticize media from a literacy
given its characteristic age level classification, dual perspective (proper and
improper), and view of children from the context of protection.
Neil Postman’s studies [2] discuss another historical period. In
the twentieth century, technologies such as radio, TV, and the Internet
enabled widespread access to information. TV stations, for instance,
broadcast the same TV shows on prime time and both children and adults
watch the same content. Furthermore, new technologies increase access
to information. On the Internet, children can browse a massive amount of
data with possibly improper or negative content. Thus, Postman suggests
our sense of shame has been undermined. Here, shame is our sense of
embarrassment in the presence of children, often leading adults to refrain
from talking about certain subjects in front of them or not allowing chil-
dren to see certain books, TV shows, and games. As technologies provide
greater access to information and fiction, more children are exposed to
originally improper content and our sense of shame becomes weaker. In
his thesis, Postman states the disappearance of childhood, which is also
the name of his book. This statement, however, shows an inconsistency
since it implies full integration between infantile and adult cultures,
whereas media products (with different target audiences) and the current
habits of children indicate the opposite.
In the twenty-first century, the studies of Sonia Livingstone [3] point
towards another direction, whereby children’s digital rights and the
changing trends are related to the internet age. According to Livingstone, it
is vital to investigate the needs and desires of children in order to enhance
their media literacy skills. In other words, they must be encouraged to
become critical subjects and individuals who know how to deal with media
influence in a healthy way. In that sense, standard childhood is undermined
and opens a new space for others perspectives: contemporary childhood is
understood according to the current practices of children, in which broad
access to originally improper content becomes a critical issue.
The Brazilian advisory rating deals with these two childhood con-
cepts and the advisory rating manual (Manual da Nova Classificação In-
dicativa, in Portuguese) [4] explains the goal of this mechanism, which is
to provide educative tools that empower society (parents, educators, etc.)
in relation to the mass communication industry. Moreover, the advisory
rating manual proposes mediation of two important principles and related
legislation. Firstly, the Brazilian statute for children and adolescents (Es-
tatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, in Portuguese) ensures the protection of
youths from unsafe conditions, including access to inappropriate content.
Secondly, freedom of speech, assured by the Brazilian Constitution of
1988, ensures the expression of opinions and freedom of the media to pre-
vent censorship. These principles arose from a dispute between advisory
rating (representing the Brazilian state) and TV stations. Advisory rating
advocates the protection of children and discourages their widespread
access to information. This view is integrated with the standard childhood
concept. In contrast, TV stations and associated entertainment enter-
prises view children as a growing audience and an expanding consumer
public, meaning they require broader media access and no legal restric-
·
[Animação / Animation] BRAZILIAN ADVISORY RATING AND CRITICISM OF OBJECTIVE CLASSIFICATION: ADVENTURE TIME ANALYSIS BASED ON VIOLENCE RATING CRITERIA 115
Pedro Sarmento, Nilton Gamba Junior and Paula Tavares · pedrofsarmento@gmail.com; gambajunior@gmail.com; ptavares@ipca.pt
tions. The more time children watch TV, the greater the potential profit.
This view is integrated with the contemporary childhood concept.
In 2016, a legal dispute involving advisory rating was initiated. Based
on this dispute, the advisory system recommended suitable age ratings to
parents and society and established a daily schedule during which certain
TV show cannot be broadcast. For example, a TV show rated as “inap-
propriate for people under 18” can only be transmitted after 11 p.m. The
outcome of the legal dispute favored no hour restrictions based on the
argument that the advisory rating can only recommend and not censor
[5]. Indeed, there is no censorship in the media. The real issue is about
consumerism and the threat of reducing TV audiences. Communication
researchers Marina Carvalho and Gésio Passos state, “What TV stations
desire is ‘freedom’ to broadcast any TV programs at any time. TV stations
do not comply with their side in the ‘social contract’ of child protec-
tion.”[6]. Other studies suggest similar problems with advisory rating
systems at international level. Thomas Hammarberg [7], ambassador of
the Swedish government on humanitarian issues, indicates difficulties in
the application of advisory rating and states, “TV orientations in several
countries, including a restriction on broadcast hours, may not be fulfilled.
In addition, there seems to be no control over the vast amount of violent
broadcasts each hour.”[7]. These observations reveal a tension between
standard and contemporary childhood. The Brazilian advisory rating
system complies with this requirement and functions as a mediation
mechanism to build a better relationship between TV and children. In this
regard, this investigation looks into this mechanism and its application.
(free)
10 1 4 21 11 4 51
Fantasy violence
(10+)
3 0 0 3 2 0 8
Weapons with violence
(10+)
0 0 1 13 2 3 19
Fear/Stress
(10+)
0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Anguish
(10+)
Bones and skeletons 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
with traces of violence
(12+)
6 1 4 20 10 7 48
Violent act
(12+)
2 0 0 3 0 0 5
Bodily harm
(12+)
Natural or accidental 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
violent death
(12+)
3 0 0 0 0 1 4
Corpse exposure
(16+)
1 0 2 2 0 1 6
Mutilation
(16+)
Gratuitous violence/vio- 6 1 4 18 9 4 42
lence normalization
(18+)
0 0 0 3 0 1 4
High impact violence
naries do not define how words are created, the advisory rating guide does
not define how inappropriate content for children is socially established.
This reflection enables a better understanding of the matter; that is,
the polysemy aspect of language allows different naturalization of inter-
pretations. The relationship between verbal and visual is not completely
stable or predictable. As seen above, different meanings can be attributed
to the same visual sign. Furthermore, naturalized violence representa-
tions may not be perceived in less critical contexts. In this perspective, the
establishment of completely fixed and straightforward relations between
image (cartoons) and verbal text (advisory rating criteria) is not possible.
Interpretations can dramatically change regarding different people and
contexts, which is the basis of the disagreement between our analysis out-
come and the results of the advisory rating system. In order to reinforce
this conclusion, two examples are presented below.
The first example is the mutilation topic. Figure 1 shows a more specific mu- Fig. 1. Representa-
tilation type (beheading) in several audiovisual contents, namely Adventure tions of decapitation
Time, The Horror of Party Beach, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and an SHOA in animated cartoon
reportage. As shown in the images, all representations are connected to muti- (Adventure Time),
lation but portray different understandings of context and genre. In Adven- terror movies (The
ture Time, it is probably assumed the images do not harm children. Despite Horror of Party Beach
the beheading, the animation genre is usually naturalized as appropriate and A Nightmare on
content for children and some people may not explicitly detect decapitation Elm Street), and SHOA
because animations are perceived as light content. In both horror movies, reportage.
beheading representations are considered inappropriate for children and
this genre is normally naturalized as improper for this audience. In the last
case, the news explicitly shows a real decapitation and it has crossed the line
between fiction and reality. It will probably be considered improper content
although the Brazilian advisory rating cannot classify it since, as already men-
tioned, journalistic programs are not rated due to the freedom of speech act.
In summary, the same topic of mutilation is represented in content consid-
ered both proper and improper for children. This criterion is not a distinctive
mark of differentiation. In each visual representation, it suggests not only
different meanings but an extreme variation of violence.
120 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Esposende . Portugal . July 2018 . ISBN: 978-989-99861-6-9
Fig. 2. Violence For the second example, Figure 2 presents the violence of Adventure
similarities in different Time next to violence representation of others genres. Viewing these
genres. Top: animation images side by side creates a visual link, where terror, martial arts and
(Adventure Time). anime (Japanese animation) are often naturalized as inappropriate
Bottom: horror film for children. However, this similarity proposes a continuity as if these
(Hannibal), anime themes can slip into the children’s genre. Access to violent images
(Call me Tonight and in cartoons suggests children have implicit contact with the visual
Elfen Lied) and martial elements of inappropriate genres and the borders between proper
arts film (Bruce Lee’s and improper genres are thin and reveal similarities. Language, as a
The Game of Death). continuum network, allows children to make comparisons and build a
path of correlation. In this perspective, mediation mechanisms should
focus on relations children create in the media scenario. Emphasis on
isolated content, as made by the Brazilian advisory rating, does not
seem sufficient to resolve the problem.
This reflection agrees more with the thinking of Rancière [13]
about intolerable images in arts. For him, showing or not showing
horror images is not the main point since an image never stands
alone. The image is viewed not as the duplicate of a thing, but as an
element of a certain sense of reality. In addition to representative
aspects, images are integrated into a system of visibility related to
common sense into shareable sensible data. Rating a unique au-
diovisual content as if it were secluded from other themes assumes
children do not link multiple content and genres in social practice.
In fact, children are known to be agents of creating meaning and
they correlate different content with their own reality. Therefore, the
main point should not be whether to show or not to show improper
content, but whether to ask important questions such as what kind of
children’s habits and moral issues do media images propose? How do
we create better realities for children?
In this sense, Sonia Livingstone’s perspective, “If children
remain invisible in research and policy debates, nothing much is
likely to change”, is endorsed [3]. The idea is to listen more care-
fully to children in order to create better mediation mechanisms.
In other words, children should be included in the process of their
own protection. Rather than depending on adults to prevent children
from accessing unsafe content, we should teach children to deal with
media in a healthy way. This is possible by enhancing the critical
perspective in children.
·
[Animação / Animation] BRAZILIAN ADVISORY RATING AND CRITICISM OF OBJECTIVE CLASSIFICATION: ADVENTURE TIME ANALYSIS BASED ON VIOLENCE RATING CRITERIA 121
Pedro Sarmento, Nilton Gamba Junior and Paula Tavares · pedrofsarmento@gmail.com; gambajunior@gmail.com; ptavares@ipca.pt
5. Conclusion
The discussion presented in this paper indicates the rating process is
not the key answer to the issue of media and children. Focusing not
on improper representations, but on children’s behavior and thinking
seems an alternative solution. The Brazilian advisory rating system gives
priority to preventing children’s access to inappropriate content rather
than evaluating children’s opinion on this content. Indeed, what children
really think about violence representation is not part of the classification
process. Contradictorily, the final objective is to provide better education
to children while protecting and excluding children.
Evidently, this discrepancy disturbs the whole process. Children
will continue to create relations with media content and have their own
ideas and emotions regardless of the suggestions of the Brazilian advisory
rating. The disparity in the results of the Brazilian advisory rating and this
visual analysis indicates objectivity is being undermined and the impor-
tance of looking at children’s subjectivity is being ignored. It is important
to know what children think about media to raise critical thinking in the
face of mass communication. Otherwise, the process eventually becomes
self-centred and socially inexpressive.
This paper suggests the main point should be how children naturalize
behavior, understandings, and opinions in their relation to media rather
than focus on improper access to content. In this sense, it is important to
view children not as responsive objects, but as active agents of their own
education. Since images can indicate multiple meanings (polysemy) and
they are also elements of reality senses and part of the naturalization pro-
cesses, the main objective should be to understand how children interact
with media and listen to what they think about it. In other words, the key
is to not enhance prohibition. On the contrary, the key is to resignify the
media signs by promoting mechanisms that critically empower children
to deal with media influence.
Europe has achieved great results in media literacy projects and the
European Audiovisual Observatory report [14] revealed a main focus
on critical aspects. A wide range of media literacy approaches related to
different contexts in several countries puts emphasis on teaching critical
aspects, namely the significance of enabling children to question the
influence of media. Two important international projects worth mention-
ing are Safer Internet and EU Kids Online. In contrast, studies of Monica
Fantin [15] reveal heavy investments on technical issues in Brazil and the
teaching of ICT (information and communications technology) to en-
hance children’s operational skills, but a failure to enhance critical skills.
Furthermore, Fantin explains, “The fact that it does not ‘officially’ exist as
a mandatory class or transversal theme means that media education con-
tinues to be regarded only as a pedagogical resource and not as an object
of study that is articulated with other fields of knowledge. This is reflected
in delays, in comparison to other countries where media education is
more consolidated and in the distancing between the current curriculum
and the emerging questions of contemporary culture.” [15]. Thus, instead
of enhancing prohibition mechanisms (as preferred by the Brazilian advi-
122 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Esposende . Portugal . July 2018 . ISBN: 978-989-99861-6-9
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