OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Kia ora koutou,

Halloween hits a little differently this year. Our daily experiences are not what they were a year ago. Longing for a 'normal life' is a normal feeling for all of us. And escapism through popular culture proves yet again to have broad appeal with the success of a series like Netflix's Squid Game.

We're in the second week of our Horror Fortnight where we take a closer look at Halloween-themed content. Over on the blog we delve into the suitability of Squid Game for children (TL;DR: it's not). We chat with a teacher about her response to Clickbait and how her pupils are talking about it. And we get real about sexual desire vs sexual fantasy in relation to pornography in our latest blog series: The Porn Series.     

Our newsletters generally talk about topics like sex, drugs, and the media content landscape. Our aim is to have difficult conversations and shine a light on ways to reduce harm for New Zealanders. If you know someone who should receive these updates, please share our newsletter or encourage them to subscribe here. Be sure to follow our socials too.

#WatchTogether #Mātakitahi #TalkTogether #Kōrerotahi

Candyman, Candyman, Candyman: looking at how we classify horror

Welcome to the Classification Office HORROR Fortnight! We’re taking a look at the scary content that’s out right now and breaking down what we look for when we’re classifying and consuming content.

Horror is one of our ‘gateaway’ categories for classifications. The others are sex, crime, cruelty and violence. Sometimes the horror we’re ‘looking’ for is as much about what we don’t see as what we do see.

We take a closer look at classifying horror over on the blog

The Porn Series – Part Two: Sexual Desire vs Sexual Fantasy 

Is sexual fantasy the same thing as sexual desire? Does it matter? We delve into the difference between sexual fantasy and sexual desire in relation to pornography.

Sometimes people see things in porn and feel sexually aroused, but at the same time might feel a bit ick or uncomfortable, or even nervous, guilty, or ashamed. They might want to try it in real life and wonder about how to introduce the idea with a partner, on the other hand it might not be something they want to do at all.

This can sometimes be confusing or worrying, especially for young people who lack experience – but being turned on by something in porn doesn’t always mean we’d enjoy it or want to do it ourselves. This is why it’s important to understand that desire and fantasy are different.

We take a closer look as part of our blog series on porn.

Should my children be watching Squid Game?

What are the elements that make Squid Game such a success? What kind of harms are involved in the thrill of the horror? And how do we talk with our rangatahi who will have heard about the show, are curious, and perhaps really want to watch it? They will already be encountering spinoff memes, TikTok videos or stories in their Instagram feed. Squid Game is everywhere right now.

Read on the blog our thoughts on the minimum viewer age for Squid Game.

Clickbait and rangatahi

Clickbait is a fictional series is about the dangers online world. It shows how quickly reputations and careers are destroyed by rumour, in this case, made worse by an intentionally manufactured fake profile by a person pretending to be someone else (catfishing). The cruel nature of the series shows a sensationalised reality of what young people have to navigate online today. The series has been rated 16+ with warnings for language, violence by Netflix.

We interview a teacher about her perspective on the series, over on the blog

GAMING: Diablo II: Resurrected

R13: Violence and horror scenes

What's it about? Diablo II: Resurrected is a remake of 2000's Diablo II and the 2001 expansion pack Lord of Destruction. Presented with new and much higher fidelity visuals, including recreated cinematics, it presents a dark tale of demons ravaging a fantasy land. Players create their character from seven warrior archetypes, and through frequent battle, gain experience, loot and new weapons and armour with which they can upgrade their character and tackle more challenging foes.  

What to expect?  An engaging dark fantasy world where players slay countless creatures in their quest to defeat great evil. It deals with frequent and repetitive bloody combat violence, and has a pervasive horror tone throughout. The fidelity of 2021's remake increases the impact of the violence and horror compared to the extremely pixelated originals. As this grim and violent content is likely to disturb younger audiences and children, Diablo II: Resurrected is restricted to those aged 13 years and over.

IN PERSON: YOUTH ADVISORY PANEL MEETING 

Earlier this month we met with the Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) to discuss ‘watching habits’ and unfair stereotypes put on rangatahi about what and how they watch content. During the session we asked the members why is it important to breakdown stereotypes of rangatahi and what they watch?

“It’s impossible to truthfully narrow it down what people watch, especially what young people watch.”

“I watch reality TV but also listen to financial podcasts. I’m sure people have a wide range of interests.”

“I am much more likely to talk about Squid Game than I am about financial podcasts. But I find the podcasts more interesting but less people want to talk about it.”

Rangatahi are the most diverse group in Aotearoa. We agree with the YAP and think it is time to start recognises their differences – including with their watching habits. As a result of this meeting we will be developing different personas or profiles based off what the Panel shared. We'll be then introducing those personas to help break down stereotypes.

Because our work involves a broad knowledge of the vast online landscape, we consume a lot of media in the office (and at home during lockdown). Here are just a few of the things we’ve enjoyed digesting over the past month.

With Auckland cancelled, the rest of NZ needs to save the film festival [The Spinoff]

Squid Game reflects growing economic discontent in debt-ridden South Korea [NZ Herald]

KEA Kids News: Why this expert wants us to be more comfortable talking about poo [Stuff.co.nz]

Teen Girls Are Developing Tics. Doctors Say TikTok Could Be a Factor. [The Wall Street Journal]