AOB 6 Ofcom

Rihanna S&M... The Breach of Rule 1.3.

Ofcom received a complaint that the music video was “completely unsuitable for daytime”
This small statement above is about the showing of Rihanna’s song ‘S&M’ on WTF TV on March 2011 at 11:25 am. This music video was reported to Ofcom because several issues were mentioned, it contained themes of sexual bondage, dominance and sadomasochism, both in the music video and lyrically.

“Children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.”
This is the statement that Ofcom had to consider whilst reviewing the video, and this is what ‘TV Two Limited’ WTF TV parent company replied with
TV Two stated that “the song of the music video in question has currently sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and recently remained in top position for 2 weeks in the UK Top 40 Chart”.
It added that “the broadcasting of pop music videos is a well established genre... [and] the nature of the genre is that from time to time certain performers artistically like to shock and challenge existing standards”. It stated that “the reality is that such challenges are likely to shock unknowing parents rather than the younger, street-wise consumer of the material”.
TV Two stated that “regular devotees of this specialist music channel would be well aware of the irony involved in this video. The artist is acting out a fantasy version of – and reaction to - recent events in her life as reported in the tabloid press”. It added that “WTF fans, along with fans of this music generally, have been eagerly awaiting this video, which has had very wide exposure across the media. The cartoon-like, over-the-top sequences contained no element of encouragement to copy, and the tongue-in-cheek artistic approach would not be unexpected by the audience”.

Ofcom has to set standards in what is shown on tv and when, and one of its codes is that  “persons under the age of eighteen are protected”. and when Rihanna's S&M music video featured  images of Rihanna: being dragged into a room of press journalists and cameras; her body and face being restrained behind cellophane; walking a man – who is the well known gossip blogger Perez Hilton - on a leash like a dog and whipping him; whipping a man dressed as a journalist with his hands and feet tied up with gaffer tape; in sexualised positions with blow-up dolls; lying on the floor on her chest with her hands and feet tied up with rope behind her back in positions of sexualised restraint; dressed up in various rubber and latex fetish outfits; and eating a banana and licking an ice cream encrusted with jewels in a sexually suggestive manner, They were going to investigate it.

In Ofcom‟s view, the cumulative effect of the images described above and the sexual lyrics of the song resulted in the video conveying a powerful, sexualised fetish theme. Further, in Ofcom‟s view, some of the behaviour in the video (such as images of Rihanna – and in particular her body and face – being restrained by a large cellophane sheet, and shots of people with their mouths gagged with gaffer tape or „ball gags‟) could have potentially dangerous consequences if imitated by children.

Ofcom’s result was that the video did not contain any sexually explicit images, but it did contain themes of highly sexualised content both visually and lyrically. this is enough to say that when WTF TV broadcasted this music video was a Breach of Rule 1.3 even though there would've been next to none under 18 viewers watching it at this time, however it was scheduled to be shown again before watershed, without adult supervision.

There final conclusion is that the material being shown in the music video was a breach of rule 1.3


My personal opinion is that i disagree with what the conclusion was with Rihanna’s music video because it hasn't influenced me or harmed me in anyway, however that is the opinion of a 17 year old boy, when you think about being in someone else’s shoes such as a parent and your 6 year old is watching it then yes i agree with it being concluded that it is a breach of rule 1.3, Also young girls are going to watch that and think that is perfectly okay to do and young boys are also going to think that it is natural. When it comes to something like this music video there is always going to be various viewpoints on how people found the video. for artists such as Rihanna, her music video being banned, now in 11 countries, is great, mainly because of all the free press her music is getting. When people here that a music video has become banned they automatically want to find it and watch it to see for themselves why it got banned in the first place. You have to confirm your age on Youtube and MTV editied so it can be shown in the daytime, however some companies such as NME will let you watch it on their website with no hassel about age. this proves that their will always be various opinions on what people think is suitable or not.