AUSTRALIA — Australian adults hoping to order Viva Erotica online will have to find a shop owned and operated by someone outside of their own country, thanks to a recent decision by that nation’s Federal Court.When AdultShop.com attempted to carry the highly acclaimed film, which contains actual – as opposed to simulated – sex, its X-rating made that impossible. Had the film been assigned an R18+ rating, however, matters would have been entirely different.
Frustrated by what managing director Malcolm Day sees as the “puritanical” views of the Classification Review Board being forced upon a more enlightened populace, he appealed the rating.
Alas for him and fellow Australians, his initial application for review of the board’s decision was denied, and during November of last year, Federal Court Judge Peter Jacobson upheld the ruling. Yesterday, the Federal Court bench dismissed Day’s appeal of Jacobson’s ruling.
According to AdultShop.com, the guidelines used by the Classification Review Board are flawed to the point of uselessness because they do not take into consideration the fact that most adults would not find Viva Erotica offensive. Although the board and court disagree, Day contends that community standards are not the same as they once were and that reasonable adults would not find the activity depicted within the film to be upsetting or disgusting.
“The guidelines are simply a reflection of the conservative, subjective views of the attorney generals,” Day insists, urging fresh research into community views on the issue.
Nonetheless, the court insists that the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s guidelines are appropriate for the community it serves and not at all inconsistent.
Australian Family Associate representative Angela Conway suggests that Day’s “quixotic” behavior indicates a lack of comprehension on Day’s part.
“AdultShop.com was seeking to unravel it from the top and it would have created massive problems for the classification system,” Conway opines, insisting that the current standards accurately reflect a diverse range of community views. “We would have seen eventually films coming out into the R category that would have mixed sexual content with violence,” she warns.
Ironically, Viva Erotica tells the story of an unsuccessful director who ponders the compromises that he must make with his craft – including the possibility of creating erotic films in order to survive financially. Ultimately, the idealistic visionary decides against directing pornography, in spite of its economic stability.
Viva Erotica was nominated for eight Hong Kong Film Awards and took home the Best Supporting Actress and Best New Artist trophies.
Day is not through with his battle, however, and is considering an appeal to the High Court.
