Help end OFLC censorship of the Australian arts, film and literature

So Avaaz have seemed pretty reliable in the past. They appear to be good at getting things done. And they happened to open up a "Community petitions" section. "No problem is too big or too small" they said. "Every country matters" they said. (Hearing myself type this in a Zoidberg voice)

So I ended up starting a petition of my own. I want to end the Office of Film And Literature's stranglehold on the Australian arts. These are the people who keep banning films and video games in Australia. And I've had enough of it. Fortunately with Avaaz people who aren't Australian can join in the fun, and by fun I mean toppling tyrants from across oceans. Will you join in our crusade... rest of Les Mis lyrics... and make sure that no grown arse Australian man or woman is deprived of a Mortal Kombat game or a Caligula DVD ever again?

The petition is here, in case you're wondering:

http://geekphilosopher.tumblr.com/post/44135119452/end-the-oflcs-stranglehold-of-censorship-on-the

Information on why this is a problem can be found here:

http://www.sexparty.org.au/Media-Releases/customs-seizure-of-japanese-manga-ruled-invalid.html

Legal manga confiscated by customs, customs forced to restore h-manga to rightful owner.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4540102.html

That's right, LGBT cinema is being banned in Australia because it doesn't meet the standards of a shadowy government agency who thinks grown adults can't handle gay sex in cinema, Mortal Kombat and Caligula are worth defending, but this is where it gets serious.

Help me make like South Park burning down Hot Topic in putting an end to it.

EDIT: No matter how hard I try to get this to work, when I try to post the link here it redirects to the main site. Will have to post the Tumblr post which gives a link through.

edited 27th Feb '13 9:26:09 AM by NewGeekPhilosopher

As an immigrant to the little islands on the other side of the ditch, I frankly never really understood Oz's idiosyncratically quaint provincial stance on censorship and the like.

What lead to the current stance? Does it have more to do with just stagnation? Or is it a result of (and I'm really reaching here) Oz's former status as a penal colony and lingering mistrust of it's citizenry being left to their own devices and engaging in questionable entertainment? Because, let's be honest, Australia's population centres are pretty modern in most other respects.

As an Australian. I think it's due to our countries weird culture regarding Children and the protection thereof.

Now I've made my contribution in the Crusade To Overcome The Stranglehold Moral Guardians have on Oz.

I prefer the Prison theory myself.

I'd like to know how Australia's culture regarding the protection of children could be weirder or more extreme than the stupid crap happening here in the States.

Off the top of my head: pornography featuring women with small breasts was banned because women with small breasts look young and PEDOPHILIA!

If I'm remembering right.

Yes, they don't allow porn below a C cup.

Welp, that is pretty extreme. And also ridiculous.

Well, this guy wants to build the Great Firewall of Australia similar to the Great Firewall of China, and this guy refused to allow R18+ category for video games in Australia for a long time until he retired.

Just to give you an idea of how awesome our politicians can be.

edited 28th Feb '13 9:38:03 PM by IraTheSquire

Not to get psychoanalytic on the national psyche, but while the militant religiously coloured grassroot moral guardian groups you see in the states get rightfully laughed at. There is a sort of passive acceptance of 'legitimate authority's power to control people's rights. Blame the convict mind set.

I asked one of my friends who was firmiliar with Australian culture questions after watching "A Cry in the Dark".

(A Dingo ate my baby! For those who don't know.)

My biggest thing as a parent was:

1) WTF were they doing camping outside in such weather with such young children?

2) Why did they have to put the kid's tent so far away from the actual tables and fire pit?

3) Do they really not think about letting their children loose around cliffs or strap newborns to their back while they rock climb?

Now I grew up in the Ozark mountains. I hunt and camp and I like to share these things with my son. But according to my friend, yes- they really are lax about letting their kids run around in the desert or participate in outdoor events most Westerners wouldn't dream of allowing at that age.

I bring this up because it amazes me that a culture who embraces the physical strength and trust of their children to a length I am not comfortable with is so damn paranoid over their exposure to media.

You'll allow hiking and rock climbing for as young as toddler, but god forbid they see a breast or play a video game.

It's confusing to me.

The R18+ rating thing took so long because one state premier refused to play along, and all the states must agree in order to have the law changed. When he stepped down, it was passed with bipartisan support. Most Australians are not paranoid about videogames, the stubbornness of one politician does not represent the attitude of the country as a whole.

@ Deboss: If I remember correctly, it wasn't pornography, it was an [artistic] painting or a photograph.

The "small breast porn ban" thing is not entirely true.

edited 1st Mar '13 2:15:20 AM by Talby

@Gabrael: We're pretty laxed about safety by world standards but don't take the Chamberlains' practice as normal.

There is a reason why everybody believed she did it you know.

@Gabrael

Lets not be too hasty to make any judgements on safety in Australia, if anything we should embrace it, our country as Americans doesn't exactly embrace security over safety in most things itself, and we both support things that Europeans rant at as crazy.

Don't be a European Gabrael, that's how those tea drinking socialists win.

I am a European by birth, Barkey. I didn't become an American until I was 17.

The Chamberlains were the conversation point. I talked with people who've been to Austrailia even as recently as last year who have stated that yeah, they're not as concerned with bubble wrapping their kids as compared to Americans or UK citizens.

Some of my friends who are really into rock climbing and mountainering have also said Australia is one of the most lax countries to go adventure in.

I'm not saying everyone just let's their kids wonder all over alone, but if the culture is more accepting of physical adventure and risks at younger ages, then it's an interesting contrast to the strict media controls.

Not judging, just intrigued.

Moralists hijack the political process to enforce their views on others everywhere, all the time. Australia is no exception.

See my post above, Gabriel. We don't have strict media controls, we just have a clunky system that can make getting laws changed an annoying process. Reform in this area would probably require rewriting the Constitution, which nobody is in a hurry to do.

I read your post Talby. Again, in comparison to American laws, your country is incredibly strict when it comes to media. Yet, take insurance allowances, hiking and rock climbing requirements, and other adventure sports, Australia is incredibly lax. It's an interesting contrast.

@Gabriel: Don't worry you're in no danger of stepping on anyone national pride. I think it's been in a lead line box in the bottom of Sydney harbour since the 2000 Olympics.

I think ultimately the contrasts is mainly because we are a nation built on apathy. Taking up social causes is not seen as the Australian thing to do thing to do.

Most politicians are not gonna be interested in banning stuff in the name of moral hygienic but most people aren't going to be interested in challenging the status quo for the sake of loftily principles either.

South Africa is comparable when it comes to safety. If not even laxer. You get got by a hyena/ puff adder/ spider in the sleeping bag/ bilharzia in the river/ wrong method of equipment use? Did you not bother with learning about them aged 6 - 13 (repeatedly: each year, every year), or something?

That's about the extent: you get taught about some of the dangers in school. After that, you're pretty much on your own as you're supposed to know, now. Unless you get lucky and something like an ad or documentary shows up on the TV.

It's Australia. I guess the Government don't want people to be inside...

I daresay the line between 'self-reliant' and 'willfully-ignorant' isn't that wide, and that the Saffas are on the former side while the Aussies are on the latter side.

Note: this post was fuelled exclusively by a premium-blend fusion of heavy-handed generalisation and Kiwi bias.