Morals body seeks lower film rating

A morals group is calling for a film's rating to be lowered from R16 so that younger audiences can experience its Christian message.

End of the Spear tells the true story of a group of Christian missionaries speared to death by an Ecuadorian tribe in 1956. The wives and children of the murdered men moved in with the tribe to teach them about God.

An edited cinema version of the film has been rated M (with a violence warning) by the Film and Video Labelling Body and has been shown at Coehaven private theatre in Otaki, Queensgate Sky City in Lower Hutt and several other cinemas nationwide. However, a three-minute-longer version of the film available only on DVD has been rated R16 by the Office of Film and Literature Classification because of its violent content.

David Lane, of the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, went before the Film and Literature Board of Review to argue the DVD's rating should be lowered to M - recommended for a mature audience - so that anyone could see it, with a warning that it contained medium-level violence and depictions of tribal warfare.

There were no "significant differences" between the two versions of the film, and the classification office was "playing up" the violent scenes, he said.

The film had themes of forgiveness, peacemaking and redemption and should be seen by a wide audience, he said. The violence was "medium level" and the film did not need to be restricted.

"It's a film that's got major appeal for this [under-16] age group. We don't believe the film has gratuitous violence at all - it's put in its certain historical context.

"You see a spear being thrown but you don't see blood spurting from wounds."

Chief censor Bill Hastings said that, in Australia, the longer version of the film had been classified MA 15+ (restricted to people 15 and over unless accompanied by an adult), and the edited version was rated M.

He was reluctant to comment in detail on the case before the board of review issued its decision, but agreed it was unusual for the society to argue for a film's rating to be lowered rather than raised.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Kk   #3   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I do not like the double standard people have against people who actually have morals. Obviously you have not taken the time to look into the movie. It has nothing to do with "scaring young people into firmer spiritual convictions" It has to do with forgiveness, which is a good standard for all moral and non-moral people to adhere to. Also I wanted to let you know I forgive you for being so naive.

Deborah Taylor   #2   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I think they're entitled to challenge the rating of the film. Just because they're a "religious" group doesn't make any difference as far as I'm concerned.

Cathryn Mazer   #1   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

I think this just shows the double standard found in many fervent religious and moral groups. Violence suits them fine if it will scare young people into firmer spiritual convictions, but becomes morally abhorrent when in any other context. Graphic imagery has been a long standing tool among fanatics to illustrate the consequences of non-belief and rarely do you see such groups taking responsibility for the damage this does to their young members.

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