An in-depth look at Getting Crap Past the Radar, and how censorship varies by territory and time period.
A writer of an innocent work — often one that is for children — may want to attract an audience beyond their target demographic. Maybe they want to say, "Hey, this isn't a Sugar Bowl where everyone acts super good!" However, one thing they have to think of is what the censors will catch.
For starters, let's look at the US rating systems for most content.
- TV-Y is the lowest age rating a children's series can get. It generally means "It doesn't contain the slightest bit of content that would offend or frighten the youngest of children or the strictest of parents." In the early days of the US television rating system, most children's cartoons (including series such as SpongeBob SquarePants) were given TV-Y ratings, but as Avoid the Dreaded G Rating is starting to take effect, these cartoons are usually assigned TV-Y7 ratings, and if you do see a TV-Y rated show nowadays, it's definitely an Edutainment Show.
- TV-Y7 shows, as the name suggests, are deemed appropriate for children ages 7 and up. They can include some cartoon or slapstick violence and some mild innuendo, and include most modern non-educational children's cartoons and Kid Coms. Despite still being aimed at kids, mild swearing like "crap," "hell," "damn," and "ass" is permissible.note If a TV-Y7 show contains fantasy violence with magic or guns (family-friendly or not), then it gets the TV-Y7-FV (TV-Y7 with fantasy violence) content descriptor.
- TV-G means "The show isn't necessarily targeted at kids, but it's appropriate for all ages to watch." This seems to be a catch-all rating for several types of shows, as several Nickelodeon and Disney Channel sitcoms carry this rating. Several TV shows that existed decades before the rating system was introduced (such as I Love Lucy) in the late '90s also have this rating. Like the TV-Y7 rating listed above, profanity has been able to find its way into shows regardless of its intended all-ages demographic.note
- TV-PG shows generally allow slightly more innuendo and violence than TV-Y7 shows, and are where the content descriptors D for dialogue, L for language, S for sex, and V for violence start to be used. Casual recreational consumption of alcohol and tobacco (and cannabis in shows from the 2010s and later) sometimes show up in shows with this rating. As Avoid the Dreaded G Rating starts to creep into TV-Y7 and more animation starts to be targeted at teenagers and adults, more cartoons, such as Cartoon Network originals Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Steven Universe are being rated as TV-PG. Some adult animated series such as The Simpsons has this rating. But more adult animated series get...
- The TV-14 rating. It allows stronger sexual content and innuendo and more intense fantasy violence (and mild realistic violence). This is also where hard drug usage starts to be allowed; swearing stays at the level of "asshole," "shit," "tits", etc. Examples include anime airing on Adult Swim and Toonami such as Cowboy Bebop and Attack on Titan as well as adult animation (American Dad! and Rick and Morty's TV edit) and live-action TV (Saturday Night Live).
- The TV-MA rating is the highest allowed on network TV. It allows uncensored Cluster F-Bomb as well as Country Matters, sex scenes, and realistic violence. Basically this is TV's R rating.
Video games are not particularly susceptible to Avoid the Dreaded G Rating, so it's more possible to get crap past the radar. However, rating systems, such as North America's Entertainment Software Rating Board in this case, still apply:
- The E for Everyone rating is the lowest rating a video game can get (see below for additional details). They can contain mild amounts of cartoon violence and very little mild language (for example, Miitopia has food items called Hell Dogs, which are that game's version of the hot dog). Artistic nudity is also allowed (Animal Crossing games have uncensored nude artwork such as Michelangelo's David). Super Mario Bros., Pokémon, and earlier The Legend of Zelda games generally have this rating.
- The Everyone 10 and up (E10+) rating can allow more cartoon violence as well as fantasy violence, slight amounts of suggestive humor, and copious amounts of mild language such as "damn" and "hell". This rating was made in early 2005 to bridge the gap between the E and T ratings, hence why titles such as Ratchet & Clank (2002) and Super Smash Bros. Melee are rated T despite being comparatively tame by today's T rating standards, and even some E-rated games such as the Sonic Adventure series are relatively intense for E standards. All three franchises are good examples of games that are commonly rated E10+note . Most modern The Legend of Zelda and Kirby games (including a Compilation Re-release where an "Animated Blood" descriptor was retroactively added) also have this rating, having been bumped up from previously being E-rated.
- The T for Teen rating allows violence, sexual innuendo and partial nuditynote , little bloodnote , infrequent strong language, and depiction of alcohol use. There's a little more leniency for swearing than TV-14.
- The M for Mature rating is the highest rating allowed for a video game to sell at retail and/or be available on consoles.note There can be intense violence overflowing with blood and gore (though there is a limit, as Hatred got an Adults Only rating for its over-the-top violence), uncensored Cluster F Bombing, outright references to sex, and maybe some sex scenes and nudity (just not too egregious for the game to be regarded as pornographic).
Only AO-rated games can have real-money gambling, but this restriction doesn't apply to loot boxes and other Gacha Games. Note that expansion packs, DLC, and other microtransactions are rated by the ESRB, but user-generated content (such as mods, custom skins and maps, character names and usernames, and in-game communication) are not, and the ESRB explicitly mentions this fact. This trope generally does not cover user-generated content for this reason — that's what Video Game Perversity Potential is for.
Values Dissonance plays a huge part in what, exactly, the censors are looking out for (See Media Classifications for further information). For example, European censors are rather lenient on sexual innuendo and violent content that would normally raise the film's rating to a PG-13, to the point where putting mild innuendo in a work meant for children doesn't even count as Getting Crap Past the Radar, while something that would be Getting Crap Past the Radar there would be enough to ban the work in countries with vocal Moral Guardians. A prime example is when a 2012 episode of the German-produced Maya the Bee was taken off Netflix in the United States after a concerned parent noticed a penis drawn in the background. While this would come unnoticed in Europe, the Moral Guardians are more vocal and influential in the United States, where a subtle gag put in by an animator would be enough to get the series banned. As another example, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U received a Japan-only update to lengthen Palutena's dress due to CERO (the Japanese game ratings board) having strict rules about upskirt shots, while it passed by the ESRB and PEGI without issue.
Simple Values Dissonance in some countries may also be mistaken for sexual innuendo in others. Take the French Oggy and the Cockroaches, for example. In one episode, there is a portrait of a topless sunbathing woman hanging in the background. While is isn't uncommon to see topless female sunbathers in European countries (and even places outside of Europe that receive lots of tourists from there), it is very rare among Americans, and that particular Funny Background Event got Oggy cancelled in the United States after a short run on Nickelodeon.
As society changes in many countries, censorship standards change with them, also. The Hays Code used in the United States before the Motion Picture Association of America ratings, for example, forbid depictions of couples sleeping in bed together, and Leave It to Beaver was a pioneer in showing a toilet on TV. As ideas about minorities and non-heterosexual relationships change, the censors do, too. For example, Homoerotic Subtext in a children's cartoon may have been played as a radar-pushing gag in 2007, but, due to positive portrayals of same-sex couples in children's series in The New '10s and beyond, this gag will be seen as [1] to a present-day viewer, and may receive backlash for portraying queer love as a joke.
If the gag is crucial (or at least makes sense) in the context of the story, then the censors will usually let it pass, therefore making it a non-example of this trope. Swear Word Plots or plots that involve getting Caught with Your Pants Down are especially relevant to this exception.
Sometimes, the writer will put something very blatant, such as a Precision F-Strike, as a sort of Take That! to the censors. This is called Defying the Censors, and is not an example, since Getting Crap Past the Radar usually involves subtle things the writer hopes the censors won't catch.
