AOB 6 Regulation (Music Video)

Ofcom Ruling – Rihanna ‘S&M’

On March 10^th 2011, at 11:25am, a music video was broadcast on the television channel ‘WTF TV’. Due to the explicit content displayed throughout the video for Rihanna’s song ‘S&M’, issues we’re raised as to the suitability for its audiences.

I have included a quote from the Ofcom report, which details the content of Rihanna’s music video, and the issues in which it has raised:

“The video contained themes of s*xual bn*dage, dominance and s*domasochism, including 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 s*xualised 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 s*xualised restraint; dressed up in various rubber and latex f*tish outfits; and eating a banana and licking an ice cream encrusted with jewels in a s*xually suggestive manner. The video also included images of people dressed as press journalists with bondage-style “b*ll g*gs‟ in, or gaffer tape across, their mouths. There were very brief images of the word “sl*t” written on Rihanna’s dress and a press journalist’s notepad.”

Ofcom then considered whether this music video raised issues under Rule 1.3 of the Code, and asked TV Two (the parent company of WTF TV) how this music video complied with the following rule - “Children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.”

TV Two responded, and 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”. Also 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”.

In my personal opinion, I was not affected by the content of this music video; neither did I find it offensive or degrading. Being an 18-year-old female, I am able to understand the content of this music video and the lyrics of the song. Also being familiar with the artist in question, “Rihanna”, I wasn’t shocked to see any of the scenes displayed in the video, nor was I surprised to see an element of ‘shock value’ being used in her video. As TV Two stated, Rihanna’s song “S&M” had sold more than 12 million copies worldwide at the time of this report, and had remained in the top position for 2 weeks in the UK Top 40 Chart, which implies that despite the apparent argument against this video, the artists’ fans aren’t offended or appalled at the subject matter. However, after taking into consideration that this particular music video was played before the watershed, and during the daytime and before the watershed on other music channels an edited version of this video was broadcast, i must agree with the Ofcom ruling. As this music channel, and the video in question was within breach of Rule 1.3, and this video shows highly s*xualised and potentially harmful (if imitated) images which shouldn’t be broadcast when children could be viewing. I believe that a more thoughtful approach to scheduling would have been more appropriate and professional.