Jackass

[Thistledew]

OK, I am opening myself up to ridicule of my late-night TV viewing habits, but I have made this post to garner opinions and prompt myself to compose a complaint to OFCOM and Dave about the episode of Jackass shown tonight.

I make no complaint about the mindless stupidity that the programs generally contain, but there was one clip tonight that I think should be complained about.

The scenario was that one of the crew members was in bed with his wife at night. He got out of bed, and another man of a similar build got into his bed. The rest of the crew encouraged the second man to "get frisky with her" ie to sexually assault the woman.

I confess that I was not actually able to watch the whole scene, but it seemed that the woman was shocked by the incident and only belatedly seemed to accept it after having the rest of the team laughing at her reaction and telling her that it was all a great joke.

I think a complaint should be made. It is not right to show a woman being sexually assaulted. It is not right to promote the idea that a woman should be encouraged to find it funny.

Any suggestions for the wording of the complaint would be great. I am off to bed now so this post is a prompt to myself to write a complaint in the morning.

[SuchProspects]

That is horrendous Thistledew.

OFCOM's Broadcast Code Guidance is here.

It is distressingly silent on the unacceptability of normalizing sexual assault, but from the Section 2: Harm and Offence guidance there is Rule 2.4 Violent, dangerous or seriously anti-social behaviour with a bit that says
"Late night shows featuring extreme sports or stunts have raised issues about the glamorisation of such activities. Even when scheduled appropriately, late at night, they may still raise questions in terms of vulnerable and younger viewers who may be encouraged to believe such behaviour is easily/harmlessly copied or acceptable."

If Jackass is real (i.e. the woman didn't know what was going on and wasn't acting), you might also be able to complain on the grounds the program makers paid someone to commit a criminal offence.

Section 3 sort of covers that, but doesn't seem to make reference to paying someone to commit a criminal act. Would seem to be a common sense/decency sort of standard so though. The jurisdiction for Jackass is probably a US State, they all have laws against sexual assault, I would hope this would meet the criminal level in all of them, but I don't know.

Hope that's some help.

[reelingintheyears]

Bloody hell...when was that on ?
It sounds awful.

I usually don't mind Jackass..often very fuuny and DSs both love it as does DP.

(DSs are 16 and 21)

[supadupapoopascoopa]

i saw this. it was funny. she was not assaulted. he draped a leg on her. and an arm.....
the whole crew plus their wives/partners are well aware of what may/or may not happen to them in their own homes. Bloody hell, I suggest you don't watch anymore....it can be quite gross.

seriously, i'm not saying that being assaulted in your own home is right (of course it isn't) but you have blown this out of perspective.

Jackass can be very difficult to watch full stop. If you are associated in any way with it's production you need your head testing.......

She will have laughed at this I bet you, and given full permission for it to be shown as a practical joke which it was intended to be.

[reelingintheyears]

That certainly puts a different slant on it.

[Thistledew]

Sure, so when she said "It felt different when he put his mouth here" - indicating near her own lips, it is just the sort of physical proximity from a man that is not her partner that any woman would be amused to be woken by.

She probably did consent to it being shown, but she clearly did not consent to it happening in the first place.

[SuchProspects]

Did you write Thistledew?