Forum - View topicNEWS: Court Blocks Texas' Sexual Explicitness Book Rating Law
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k_ozdragon
Posts: 20 |
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Sooooo.... we rate movies, video games, and just about everything else with age guidelines - but books for children that may feature sexually explicit content don't get ratings? Movies and video games are sold on the open market to everyone. These books are provided by the state to *children.* The former is consumers making an informed decision. The latter are children outside of the care of their parents, under the guidance of the state, being provided a product for education openly and without any sort of guidance.
Make that make sense. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10044 Location: Virginia |
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@k_ozdragon
The judge didn't say that Texas couldn't rate books. He said they couldn't make booksellers do it for them. He also noted that the requirements were vague. Age ratings on movies, games etc. are voluntary and are provided by the publisher (who presumably knows what the content is) not by retail middlemen. |
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3685 |
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Burdensome reporting and certification requirements for stuff sold to the government is hardly new, and Texas could definitely force booksellers to state things about the books. The distinguishing point is that saying whether something is sexually explicit is a form of opinionated speech, rather than a factual statement, (because the definition is too vague) so compelling it is unconstitutional.
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minamikaze
Posts: 256 |
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Not really. In the US, Movies are rated by CARA (Classification and Ratings Administration) of the Motion Picture Association and video games are rated by The ESRB (Entertainment Sofware Rating Board). The creators submit their works to be rated by these third parties: they do not rate their own works. If by "voluntary" you meant that the ratings are not mandated by any Federal or State Law, that is true though. Creators can choose not to have their movies/games rated, but that does result in limitations where they can be shown/sold: there are theaters that won't show and game stores that won't sell unrated content. The Texas law requiring booksellers to rate books, would be similar to requiring movie theaters to rate all the movies they show and video game shops to rate all the games that they sell. Just like the booksellers, neither movie theaters or game shops are in a position to do that without incurring large expenses. Last edited by minamikaze on Sat Jan 20, 2024 2:19 am; edited 2 times in total |
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DerekL1963
Subscriber Posts: 1122 Location: Puget Sound |
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Let's be clear here - this intent of this law isn't about the presence or absence of sexually explicit content in the commonly understood sense. It's about the presence or absence of objectionable (to narrowminded conservatives) "sexual" behavior implied in the text. Such as having "two dads" (or "two moms"). Or having a partner or love interest of the same sex. Etc... etc... That's why the law was so vague, and responsibility was pushed out to the booksellers... Because the homophobic nutjobs who crafted the legislation aren't entirely stupid and were trying to avoid enshrining open bias into the law and requiring state employees to be openly biased... Because both of these things are flat out illegal. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
 Posts: 5253 |
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light turner
Posts: 195 |
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Swearing isn't the only thing that makes a movie R rated. There's a vast difference between PG-13 and R rate violence. When they tried to compact Deadpool into a PG-13 package we got Once Upon a Deadpool which was universally panned among audiences and critics as well as one of the biggest bombs from 2018 because it essentially made the whole thing pointless. And the original R rated Deadpool wasn't even as violent as films that focus exclusively on gore and horror can get For video games I think there's also an obvious difference between a T and M rated title in what they can and can't show. Some book comes shrink wrapped as is, but I feel like it's more for graphic novels and visual depictions of sex and violence. Text format only seem to be given more leeway in that regard. |
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gorilla491
Posts: 70 |
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Rating systems are all fine and dandy, but we all really know what's going on here. Censorship for the sake of "children".
Tale as old as time. It's like the stupidity of the 90's anime market is back. It's never about the kids. It's about hiding the truth. Whatever it may be. |
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