Investigation Report No. 2771
ACMA file reference / 2012/303Licensee / Network TEN (Adelaide) Pty Ltd
Station / ADS, Adelaide
Type of Service / Commercial Broadcasting Service (Television)
Name of Program / Tropic Thunder
Date of Broadcast / 7 August 2011
Relevant Legislation/Code / Broadcasting Services Act 1992
- Section 149
- Clause 2.3 (Classification of films)
- M – Mature
Investigation conclusion
- Breach of clause 2.3.2 (Modification of MA 15+ films) of the Commercial Television Code of Practice 2010
The complaint
On 13 February 2012, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) received a written complaint, via email, about the filmTropic Thunder which was broadcast by Network TEN (Adelaide) Pty Ltd (ADS) on 7 August 2011.
The complaint alleged that the film contained inappropriate depictions of violence,drug use, coarse language and sexual referencesfor the M classification.
Not satisfied with the response provided by the licensee, the complainant forwarded the matter to the ACMA for investigation.
The program
The Internet Movie Database provides the following description of Tropic Thunder:
A film crew is in Southeast Asia filming a Vietnam-war memoir. It’s early in the shooting, but they’re already behind schedule and over budget. On the day an accident befalls the novice director, the cast and crew are attacked by a gang of poppy-growing local drug dealers, except the cast and crew don’t realize these aren’t actors who are stalking them. The thugs kidnap TuggSpeedman, an actor whose star seems on the decline, and it’s up to the rest of the ragtag team to band together long enough to attempt his rescue. But will Tugg want to leave?[1]
Tropic Thunder was broadcast by the licensee on 7 August 2011 at approximately 10.00 pm with an M classification. The film was broadcast with verbal and on screen consumer advice of‘frequent coarse language, frequent violence, sexual references and drug references’.
The original version of the film was classified MA 15+ by the Classification Board on 8 August 2008 for public exhibition, with the consumer advice of ‘strong violence, coarse language, drug and sexual references’.
Assessment
Theassessment is based on a copy of the relevant broadcast provided to the ACMA by the licensee, and submissions from the complainant and the licensee, including a copy of the Classification Board decision report for the film.
Relevant provisions
The Commercial Television Code of Practice 2010(the Code) contains the following provisions that are relevant in the matter raised by the complainant:
Classification of Films
2.3Films: are classified according to the National Classification Board Guidelines.
2.3.1Films may be modified by a licensee in accordance with the National Classification Board Guidelines to ensure that they are suitable for broadcast, or for broadcast at particular times.
2.3.2Licensees must ensure that films that are (or if modified, would be) classified MA 15+ under the National Classification Board Guidelines, because of the intensity and/or frequency of violence, are classified AV for television or are modified to M level violence or lower.
2.3.3In Clauses 2.1.6, 2.3 and 2.20, and Appendices 4 and 5, the following definitions apply:
“Film” means any feature film, documentary or short film that has had first release in Australia through public exhibition (including cinematic release) or sale/hire and which has been classified by the classification board administered by the National Classification Board.
“National Classification Board Guidelines”means the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games current as at 19 March 2008, as amended from time to time. The Guidelines are incorporated into this Code by reference.
[…]
Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games(the Guidelines):
M – Mature
Impact test
The impact of the classifiable elements for material classified M should be no higher than moderate.
[...]
Violence
Moderate violence is permitted, if justified by context.
Sexual violence should be very limited and justified by context.
Sex
Sexual activity should be discreetly implied, if justified by context.
Language
Coarse language may be used.
Aggressive or strong coarse language should be infrequent and justified by context.
Drug use
Drug use should be justified by context.
[...]
Complainant’s submissions
In correspondence to the licensee, dated 23 August 2011, the complainant stated the following:
[...]
I believe that the film should have been classified as MA15+.
The Australian Classification Board classified Tropic Thunder on 8 August 2008 as MA15+ with consumer advice for “Strong violence, coarse language, drug and sexual references”. Although Network Ten modified the film from the cinematic release, these modifications were insufficient to permit the film to be accommodated within the M classification.
I therefore believe that Network Ten has breached the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010 (“the Code”) by incorrectly classifying the film.
[...]
In correspondence to the ACMA, dated 13 February 2012, the complainant stated the following:
[...]
I believe the film should have been classified as AV 15+.
[…]
Network Ten’s response to me is inadequate in identifying which specific scenes were removed and how their removal reduced the viewing impact of the film to permit it to be classified as M. The Network gave only one example of an edit made which was the removal of “blood and gore” in an opening scene when a soldier is shot in the helmet. However, the Network failed to refer to what exactly was edited or removed.
[...]
Regarding the violence in the film, apart from the scene referred to above, Network Ten could point to no other scenes which were edited or removed, despite the Network’s concession that “...there is relatively frequent violence through the remainder of the movie.”
[...]
With respect to the coarse language and sexual references in the film, Network Ten simply asserted that edits were made for these classifiable elements, without giving any examples to which scenes were edited or removed.
Finally, with respect to the drug use in the film, Network Ten has not even asserted in its response to me that it removed any of three scenes of drug use which the Classification Board specifically stated were strong in impact and at an MA 15+ level.
[...]
Licensee’s submissions
In correspondence to the complainant, dated 27 September 2011, the licensee made the following relevant submissions:
[...]
Your correspondence does not refer to any specific scenes or content that you suggest may exceed the M classification, to which we can address specific comments. Please be assured that the film was modified in accordance with Network Ten’s obligations under the Code, taking into account the Classification Board’s Report.
[...]
The strongest element in the movie is violence. In the opening scene a soldier is shot in the helmet, another is impaled on a bayonet and a third loses his hands in an explosion – at which point the actor calls for a break and the viewer realises it is a film set. This scene was carefully edited to remove detail of blood and gore. In a subsequent scene the film’s director steps on a landmine and dies but the actors remain convinced it is all part of the “smoke and mirrors” of movie making. These scenes are underpinned by humour which enables the viewer to interpret them in a particular way. While there is relatively frequent violence through the remainder of the movie (as indicated in the consumer advice) most of it has a slapstick tone, particularly as the actors are using guns which don’t fire real ammunition. Humorous comments such as “I had to do this on Driving Miss Daisy” and “I’ll be ready for catering after this” also lighten the tone.
Edits were also made for coarse language and sexual references, with the aim of reducing all elements from “strong” to “moderate” in their impact, thus bringing the film into line with other M-classified war-themed feature films, including the original version of Platoon, The Thin Red Line, Born on the Fourth of July and Schindler’s List.
[...]
In correspondence to the ACMA, dated 7 March 2012, the licensee stated the following:
[...]
Tropic Thunder is a satirical US action comedy feature film. In the film some has-been actors working on a Vietnam War movie are dropped into the jungle in an attempt to improve their acting skills, and end up being kidnapped by a drug lord while believing it is all part of the script.
[...]
Ten reduced the film to an M level in accordance with the Code and with reference to the likely television audience. Thus, strong language was also edited out of the film to make it appropriate for the TV audience and to reduce its overall impact.
[...]
The strong sexual reference, which was a reference to homosexuality, was cut out of the film entirely. The vulgarity of this remark increased its impact. There was no actual drug use and the film had an overall negative attitude towards drugs, neither promoting nor encouraging their use.
[...]
The strongest classifiable element in the film is violence. The Board Report identified the scene at 5 to 10 minutes as an example of strong violence. This scene was carefully edited to remove detail of blood and gore, comprising about 27 seconds. This included footage of the blood spray from the soldier’s head after the first very brief moment. Footage of a man being bayoneted and his internal organs falling out was also deleted, as was similar vision in the helicopter.
Ten also edited vision of a little child stabbing one of the characters and the vision of the child being tossed into a river.
While there is relatively frequent violence depicted in the film (as indicated in the consumer advice) most of it has a slapstick tone, particularly as the actors are using guns which don’t fire real ammunition. The violence was appropriate to the storyline of a spoof war film.
[...]
The film is underpinned by humour which enables the viewer to interpret classifiable elements, such as violence, in a particular way. Humorous remarks also lighten the tone. The main actor, Ben Stiller, is well known for his comedic roles. The film is a spoof war film genre, particularly Vietnam war films and is clearly not intended to be taken seriously.
[...]
Given the overall impact of the classifiable elements and their context within a war film, along with the consumer advice provided, TEN considers that the edited film was suitable for broadcast within the ‘M’classification.
[...]
On 9 May 2012, the licensee provided a response to the ACMA’s preliminary report which included the following relevant submissions:
[...]
TEN respectfully does not agree with the ACMA’s preliminary view that the broadcast did not comply with clause 2.3.2 of the Code in relation to M level violence.
[...]
Satire has been used to make many spoofs on film genres, including horror films, thrillers, detective stories and musicals. While satire does not automatically mitigate the impact of elements such as violence, it is an important factor in establishing the tone and intention of a film. In the case of Tropic Thunder, the first five minutes established the satirical and comedic nature of the film, including the starring roles of renowned comedic actors Ben Stiller and Jack Black. Viewers would have some expectation that the ensuing movie was not to be taken seriously.
With regard to the depictions mentioned in the preliminary investigation report:
•The soldier talking on a portable telephone falls forward and a spray of blood shoots from the back of his helmet, not from “a bullet entry wound at the back of his head” as described in the preliminary report. The blood gushes unrealistically while another soldier tries to stop it;
•Ben Stiller’s character running through the grass is showered with bullets. The slow-mo technique highlights the impossible way in which the actor is repeatedly hit yet keeps running, falling to his knees at one point in an overly theatrical heroic gesture spoofing the film Platoon, while blood spurts from him. He does not die, instead rising up to deflect a hand grenade hurtling towards his comrades;
•Stiller’s face is shown in close-up as his character lies wounded. He says to his friend, “Hold my hands ‘cos I got something to say”. His friend looks mildly queasy as he picks up Stiller’s hands, damaged by the grenade, and says “Oh boy”. The hands appear shredded but unrealistic and are used comically while Stiller and Robert Downey Jnr over-act their way through the scene, until Stiller says “I’m sorry, can we cut?” and the movie set is revealed.
•The scene in the clearing reveals the director as a bully with a Jesus complex who mocks the cast about getting into “your own little personal slice of ’Nam” and warns them to have the guts to go with whatever happens. When he appears to be blown up by a land mine in the next moment, Stiller’s character is convinced this is all part of the plan. He says “No offence… but I’ve been in a lot more effects-driven events films than you have, and I think I can spot a prop head when I see one.” He picks up the severed head of the director. When a cast member almost throws up he says “It’s corn syrup, guys. Corn syrup and latex”. His comments are interspersed with shots of the drug bandits creeping through the jungle. After watching Stiller put the (intentionally unrealistic) head on the end of his bayonet one says into his radio “They have no fear of death!”. This scene is underpinned by humour throughout. It is deliberately over-the-top. While viewers know that the head is supposed to be regarded as “real”, they also know that this is a movie about movies, and the truth is the head really is a prop.
TEN made 17 edits to Tropic Thunder to reduce the overall impact of the film, including for violence, language and sexual references. The film had been broadcast four times across the network previously without complaint. With each broadcast the film was promoted as a comedy spoof, with an emphasis on Ben Stiller and Jack Black as comedy actors.
[...]
In our view the satirical context, the reduction in impact through editing, the comparison with other M and MA-classified features and the public response to the previous broadcasts of the film demonstrate that the broadcast could be accommodated within the M classification, including M level violence.
[...]
Finding
The ACMA is of the view that Network TEN (Adelaide) Pty Ltd, in broadcasting the film Tropic Thunder on 7 August 2011, breached clause 2.3.2 (Modification of MA 15+ films) of the Code.
Reasons
Violence
The Code requires that films that are (or if modified, would be) classified MA 15+ under the National Classification Board Guidelines, because of the intensity and/or frequency of violence, are classified AV for television or are modified to M level violence or lower.
The licensee has submitted that Tropic Thunder was modified and classified M for broadcast on 7August2011. Accordingly, consideration must be given to whether the modifications are such that the intensity and/or frequency of violence reduced the impact to M level or lower.
It is noted that the complainant has not identified any particular scenes from the film in the complaint; therefore the scenes with the highest impact are considered below.
The Guidelines state that moderate violence is permitted, if justified by context.
The film contains infrequent visual depictions of violence, with the most detailed depictions confined to the beginning of the film,asdetailed below.
At approximately 5:09 minutes, there is a war scene in a jungle setting. The most notable depictions of violence include the following:
- A soldier talking on a portable telephone fallsforward andarealistic spray of blood shoots out from a bullet entry woundat the back of his head through his helmet. A second soldier places his hands over the woundand the blood spurtsinto his face.
- A soldierkneeling on the ground hashis stomachslicedopen with a bayonet spike. The camera briefly focuses on a large open wound on the soldier’s abdomen where blood-coveredentrails are visible.
- The above noted soldier lies in a helicopter with his face and hands covered in blood. His left hand holds his abdomen where blood-covered viscera can be seen spilling from his wound.
- A soldier running through grass towards a helicopter is showered in bullets, broadcast in slow motion.
- A soldier is depicted with tendrils of burnt, bloodied fleshat his wrists where his hands have been blown off by a bomb.
While it becomes clear at the end of the scene that the war zone and accompanying violence has been staged as part of a film production, this is not clearly apparent to the audience until the scene’s conclusion when the production crew are revealed.
At approximately 26:29 minutes, the film’s stars and director stand in a jungle clearing. The director steps on a landmine and his body explodes into numerous pieces. The character Speedman picks up the severed head of the director, erroneously believing the explosion to be staged and the director’s head to be a prop. The severed head appears realistic, as evidenced by the repulsed reactions of the other film stars – one appears on the verge of vomiting and another lets out a scream. The face of the severed head is intact and smeared with blood and a number of blood-covered tendrils of flesh and entrails can be seen dangling from the neck. Speedman pokes the neck and licks his bloodied finger in attempt to prove that the head is a prop. He proceeds to prod and poke at the neck, until blood-covered entrails spill out. Placing the head on the end of his gun he waves it around before kicking it into the distance.