The ACT Attorney-General has proposed changes to censorship that are likely to meet the concerns of some people in the ACT about the availability of videos that depict excessive violence in family video stores. He has proposed a new V rating for excessively violent videos that now rate R. The V classification would be available only a stores in the light industrial areas, in the same way that present X-rated videos are restricted.
He has also proposed changes to the present X-rated video be restricted to non-violent erotica, that is, explicit sexual content involving consenting adults. No explicit sexual conduct involving children or depicting non-consenting conduct would be permitted. It would be called an E rating.
Unless he proposes that V videos be sold in separate shops from E videos there is a danger that excessive violence will be equated with non-violent consenting erotica. This would be a mistake.
Governments should be discouraging depictions of excessive violence, including non-consenting sexual conduct and sexual conduct involving children. However, governments have no business as religious or moral instructors. If people want to watch on video explicit sexual conduct between consenting adults they should be allowed to.
Mr Humphries new classifications might help overcome some of the hypocrisy in the states where R rated videos depicting disgusting violence are permitted, while the moralists have forbidden non-violent erotica.