Ottawa, March 23, 2000 – The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) today released its decision concerning broadcasts by CTV of the animated series Kevin Spencer. A viewer complained that the show is “a sick attempt to pass off as humour a family portrayal including sex, abuse, sodomy and drunkenness” and that the show’s protagonist “is always looking for and exacting ways of hurting others, or, just as horrifying, hurting himself.”
The Prairie Regional Council considered the complaint under both the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Sex-Role Portrayal Code and Violence Code. The Council began by finding that, although it is animated, Kevin Spencer is not children’s fare. The Council noted that it is presented late at night (midnight in most markets), it is rated “14+” and is preceded by a viewer advisory indicating that “the ... program ... is intended for mature, adult viewers and is not suitable for young viewers.” While the Council stated that it considers that “Kevin Spencer is replete with examples of bad taste and anti-social behaviour, it does not, in this respect, violate any broadcaster Code.”
The Council was troubled, however, by the violent content of the show. While the Council did not find that the violence was gratuitous given the dark theme of the show, it did find that the show had the effect of either sanctionng, promoting or glamorizing violence, thereby violating Clause 1 of the Violence Code.
The Council agrees with the broadcaster’s contention that the program is satire and that the “[u]nrealistic animated violence is part of how the show creates its dark or anti-establishment feel.” The Council notes that there are many other examples of criminal and anti-social behaviour salted through the show. While the Council understands that the program is satirical and that it “emphasizes/exaggerates every stereotypical negative influence that can potentially affect society,” it is concerned by the extensive use of violence as the basis for humour.
In the Council’s view, scenes such as those involving the theft and subsequent use as a plaything of a severed human head taken from an accident site, the graphic display of Kevin’s head in a pool of blood and the display of bloody body parts strewn all over the street, when taken in a comedic context such as this one, have the effect of sanctioning, promoting or glamorizing violence contrary to Clause 1 of the Violence Code. The Council realizes that the characters and circumstances in Kevin Spencer are unappealing, unendearing and unlikely to be viewed as anything more than the opposite of role models; however, that is not the point here. The Council does not find that it is through the use of role models that Kevin Spencer sanctions violence; rather it finds that it does so by turning excessive, graphic and gory depictions of violence into a source of humour.
Canada’s private broadcasters have themselves created industry standards in the form of Codes on ethics, gender portrayal and television violence by which they expect the members of their profession will abide. In 1990, they also created the CBSC, which is the self-regulatory body with the responsibility of administering those professional broadcast Codes, as well as the Code dealing with journalistic practices first created by the Radio Television News Directors Association of Canada (RTNDA) in 1970. More than 430 radio and television stations and specialty services from across Canada are members of the Council.
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All CBSC decisions, Codes, links to members’ and other web sites, and related information are available on the World Wide Web at www.cbsc.ca. For more information, please contact the National Chair of the CBSC, Ron Cohen, at (###) ###-####.