TV Parental Guidelines Rating Board - Media Power at its Worst

 I was curious how the self proclaimed TV Parental Guidelines Rating Board was doing in assigning ratings to TV shows.  The TV show  I chose was "How to Die Alone".  The rating TV MA, L.  In the Guidelines Rating Board language that stands for Mature Audiences Only.  The program is designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17.  The "L" descriptor was assigned due to crude indecent language.  But from past experiences with Parental Guidelines approved ratings, I wanted to see if the show had addressed any presence of same sex material in the show.  True to Parental Guidelines Rating Board practices, the show had not properly addressed the sexual content of the show.  After some 15-20 minutes, a brief scene appeared of a scenes showing two males laying in a bed under covers engaged in sexual activity.  I think the program should have been assigned an S descriptor also.

There are several descriptors which could have been applied for an S - sexual situations descriptor assignment.  The scene definitely fit somewhere between some sexual situations, intense sexual situations, or explicit sexual activity.  On the Parental Guidelines Rating Board website, there are no definitions explaining  what is "some sexual" versus intense sexual" or "explicit sexual".  Is it up to the viewer to decide what fits each category?  Why are there no definitions shared with the public?  Probably because the Board wants you to stay out of their business of assigning ratings any damn way they want to.  Who asked you for your input?

If you go to the Board's website at http://www.tvguidelines.org/ratings.html you will notice that since 2021, the Board has not provided an update on how it carries out its mission.  The absence of definitions, shared with the public, is a major problem.  There are no definitions defining the differences between each level for language, sexual situations or violence.  For example, what is moderate violence versus intense violence?  What is strong coarse language versus crude indecent language?

There is a need to keep the ratings assigned in view for at least 30 seconds rather than the 15 currently required.  As a consumer you need to demand accuracy of the product that is being thrust out at you with inaccurate ratings.  Or do you normally accept people giving you anything and you just take it regardless of the quality of the product?

 

TV Parental Guidlines Monitoring Board - Accountable to no one?

They're back and flexing their entertainment muscle all in our faces!   The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board continues to oversee ratings of TV shows with an authoritative, take it or leave it attitude.  Despite glaring evidence that many TV shows are not accurately being rated, they march on as the public cannot scrutinize or question their decisions.

I recently sent in a comment that episode 7 of "Special Ops: Lioness" should have been give a descriptor of "S" for explicit sexual situations do to an extended same sex intimate scene between two females.  The episode was given a " TV-MA" rating with the descriptors of coarse language and violence.  There was no mention of the same sex sexual activity that would be thrust out at the public in a "surprise, surprise, gotcha fashion".  Of course the Monitoring Board, consisting of 18 representatives of the Entertainment industry, ranging from Hulu, CBS, and the Parent Teachers Association, did not respond to my complaint.  Why?  Because they have that arrogant "don't question us" attitude that the American public has come to tolerate.  Also, they really do not care what people think about their deliberations.  It's our industry and you should be privileged that we are creating trashy scenes in TV shows for you to watch!"

The issues are the same I have mentioned in the past 2 years. Bring more clarity to the ratings so viewers, like myself, who don't want to see certain depictions in their home will not waste time watching the shows.  A rating should be a warning label on the content of a show or movie.  The rating system is not accurate when it comes to scenes of intimate sexual activity.  Or modify the rating MA to include language that it may involve scenes of intimate sexual activities.  Is that asking too much?

Children and teenagers are already exposed to illicit materials via the internet.  Can we at least have more internal controls in the entertainment industry?

Does the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board Serve the Public interests or the interests of the Entertainment Industry?

 

The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board is a private organization created in December 1996.  The Board created a system of guidelines whose intent was supposed to provide parents and others with advance cautionary information to help them make informed choices about the television programs they watch.  The Board is responsible for the development of such ratings as TV PG, TV 14, TV MA, etc.  More specific information on the meaning of the ratings is found at  About Us | The TV Parental Guidelines (tvguidelines.org)

Over the past 10 years the content of programs assigned a content label of “S=sexual situations” has expanded.  Parents and others are now often caught off guard when television shows or TV movies with the S label have featured intimate same sex relationships in the content of the program.  An additional content label of SSR=intimate same sex relationships would be helpful to clarify the content of the program to follow.  This factual label statement on the content of the program will assist parents and others in making decisions on whether they want their children, themselves or others in the household to view the program.

The Board consist of approximately 18 members and representatives of 5 “public interest” members.  The members are from:  Fox Corporation; ABC, A&E Networks; American Academy of Pediatrics; Boys and Girls Clubs of America; Call for Action; CBS; Discovery Inc; Entertainment Industries Council; HULU; Lifetime Networks; National PTA; NBC Universal; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Turner Broadcasting System; Univision and the Viacom Media Networks.  As of this writing the Board has refused to divulge who are the 5 public interest members.

I recently contacted the Board through their listed phone number (202) 570-7776 and email address TVOMB@tvguidelines.org.  My phone calls were not returned. I did receive several standard response email replies supposedly from the Board.  These emails did not indicate that the Board had met to consider the SSR label suggestion, or my suggestion that the content warning be kept on the screen for 60 seconds instead of the current 15 second policy.  I also attempted to contact each organization with a representative on the Board.  Only Marie Dyak, the member representing the Entertainment Industries Council responded.  Her response stated that the Board was not considering a descriptor for same-sex-situations and that the Board felt the current descriptors accurately reflected the content of TV shows.  When I pointed out that her email did not reflect her being the President of the Board and asked her if she was speaking for the Board in it’s entirety, her response was she was only speaking for her organization not the Board .

Last night, around 9:30 pm I received a response from the email account of the Board.  It regurgitated the information on the Board’s website, but did not address whether the entire Board had met to discuss the issue.  The response attempted to infer that it was a social value, social policy, and moral judgment issue which is not the case.  It is simply clarifying the content of a TV show so the viewer is forewarned about the content of the show.  I responded to the email that the Board still has not shared with me who are the 5 public interest members!  I also pointed out that the response did not address when the Board met to discuss the issue and what was the vote of the Board.

If you are a consumer and viewer of the various forms of entertainment on TV or streamed to you, I urge you to contact the Board at (202) 570-7776 and email address TVOMB@tvguidelines.org to give them your opinion on the need for an expanded designation of the label S=sexual situations.  For example the label for V=violence has been expanded to now include the label FV=fantasy violence (children’s programming only).

The Board has operated behind closed doors.  The Federal Communications Commission needs to review the actions and policies of the Board to see if the Board is truly meeting the needs of consumers.  The needs of consumers/viewers for clarity on the content of TV programs must be addressed. No one knows the names or background of those on the Board.