Content Warnings: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|The preceding program contained scenes of extreme violence and should not have been viewed by young children.

 

{{quote|"Well, we warned you."

The United States has, since 1997, adopted content warnings at the beginnings of all programs in the form of MPAA-inspired letter symbols appearing at the top left corner ("TV-Y" through "TV-MA"), usually supplemented with smaller letters giving details as to why the warning applies. The networks air them on just about ''everything'', no matter how old or new it is.

 

 

'''Some standard '''Content Warnings''':'''

----

{{examples}}

* Viz Media seems to make a habit of putting unusual content warnings on its English-language M-rated manga. The English version of the ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' manga has the following content warning:

{{quote|''[[Black Lagoon]]'' is rated M for Mature and is recommended for mature readers. This volume contains graphic violence, strong language, nudity, adult situations, drinkin', smokin', ass-kickin', law breakin', gun-love, running with scissors and just about everything your mother ever told you not to do.}}

** Similarly, ''[[Biomega]]'' contains "motorcycle violence, mind-blowing cinematic stunts and extreme grizzly bear."

** In ''High School Boys and Mochi Soup'', each time when one of the main trio choked on mochi, there is an on-screen advisory, and when Tadakuni became the last of the trio to get chocked on mochi, the on-screen advisory [[Rule of Three|gets annoyed]]:

{{quote|"This might seem annoying, but please eat mochi slowly by carefully chewing small portions."}}

** In ''High School Boys and UFO Catchers'', the main trio tried to shake a UFO Catcher machine to get a teddy bear plush which narrowly missed the hole, while the following advisory appears below—and appeared again when Tadakuni's little sister [[Super Strength|succeeded in shaking it out]]:

{{quote|"Good boys and girls mustn't do this."}}

 

* On what is becoming an increasingly common fandom habit, the [[Fan Fic Header|standard disclaimers]] have expanded to include "Trigger Warnings" and "Content warnings" whenever appropriate. Some websites, like [[Archive of Our Own]], tend to encourage this practice.

* From ''[[My Immortal]]'': [[Rouge Angles of Satin|"WARNING: SUM OF DIS CHAPTA IS XTREMLY SCRAY. VIOWER EXCRETION ADVISD."]]

* Chapter 14 of ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4020072/1/The_Land_Before_Time_Revenge Land Before Time: Revenge]'' has this warning: "Warning: THIS SCENE CONTAINS SOME INTENSE VIOLENCE!"

 

* "Contains irresponsible behaviour" -- ''[[Mr. Bean]]'s Holiday'' UK poster

* The video and DVD releases of ''[[Dogma]]'' start with a disclaimer that states that the movie is a work of comedy and not intended to be taken seriously or offend, before going off into a long meandering rant about the platypus intended to represent that [[God]] does, in fact, have a sense of humor even if some viewers don't. What ''else'' could explain the platypus, really?

** He then makes a disclaimer apologizing to all lovers of platypuses.

* The ''[[Fight Club]]'' DVD has another warning after the copyright notices that only flashes up for a second. If you freeze it, it tells you you're wasting your life freeze-framing DVDs to read it.

* The first two ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' DVDs were rated PG-13 for "violence and scary images."

* Prior to airing the infamous nuclear war film ''[[Threads]]'', at least [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfFa-jlN22U two] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdI_TYAT0z4 broadcasters] aired extended disclaimers telling viewers that the film is incredibly disturbing, but that the decision to air it was ultimately made due to [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped|the importance of its message.]]

 

* The ''[[Spitting Image]]'' parody of Margaret Thatcher's memoirs bore a sticker on the front that said "'''WARNING!''' This book carries a salacious warning on the front that is an '''OBSCENE''' attempt to sell more copies".

* [[Older Than Steam]]: [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] uses a content warning in the "Miller's Prologue" from ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''.

* In the book ''Someone is Eating the Sun'' which is about various farm animals reacting to a solar eclipse, it shows them looking straight at the sun during the eclipse, at the beginning of the book, it warns people not to do this.

 

* ''[[The Hogan Family]]'': The second-season episode "Bad Timing," where a frank discussion between David (Jason Bateman) and his [[Girl of the Week|girlfriend]] involves the use of the word "condom." The episode—one of the first [[Dom Com|DomComs]] to address safe sex—had a parential guidance discretion read before the episode, and again during commericals for birth-control products and safe-sex PSAs. (And yes, David and his girlfriend decided to "wait.")

* ''[[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On the Prairie]]'': Several episodes dealing with racism were not shy about [[N-Word Privileges|using the word "nigger"]], and each of them had a discretionary message alerting viewers beforehand that characters were going to use the word. Michael Landon's excellent-as-always scripts reflected the harsh realities of the 1800s, where men who hated African-Americans regularly used the word in reference to them.

* ''[[Betty White]]'s Off Their Rockers'' has this hilarious warning:

{{quote|The following contains senior citizens pranking real unsuspecting young people. If you find this offensive...too bad.}}

* Back in the late nineties-early 2000s, when Latin-American adult animation channel Locomotion still aired, the series would start with a content warning featuring Playmobil-like figures doing a slapstick version of what the warning was about. Shortly before the channel changed name to [[Animax]] Latin America, the figures were replaced with actual footage from anime series (for example, ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' for violence or ''[[Agent Aika]]'' for sexual content) representing the warning.

* In a serious variant, shows on [[Australian Media|Australian television]] which feature deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders feature warnings that the shows "may contain the image and voice recordings of people who are now dead", in order to respect the traditional cultural beliefs of [[Australian Aborigines|Aboriginal]] and [[Torres Strait Islanders]], wherein discussion of the deceased is a taboo. Gotta be sensitive of the natives, man. This occurs significantly more frequently on the public broadcasters, [[The ABC]] and [[SBS]], than it does on any of the commercial broadcasters, to the point where it's practically unheard of on the commercial channels' part. Make of that what you will.

* Canada's Teletoon network runs content warnings during the ''Teletoon At Night'' block, featuring a snarky announcer reading them. Initially, the announcer was extra snarky, punctuating content warnings with lines such as "If you're under 14, then why are you even awake?", though they toned him down however, more recently.

 

* The infamous PARENTAL ADVISORY label was the controversial brainchild of Tipper Gore, whose moral crusade against rock and roll earned the ire of both musicians and their fans. [[Frank Zappa]], Dee Snider of [[Twisted Sister]] and [[John Denver]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Vyr1TylTE explained] during a Senate hearing that the stickers amounted to censorship, though the label actually served more ''in favour of the artists themselves'', as musicians and recordings deemed controversial saw a spike in their record sales. By the time that R&B, gangsta rap and hardcore rock took off in the 90s, the Parental Advisory label became more of a [[Rated "M" for Money|selling point]] to indicate that the artist is presenting themselves to be as edgy as they can be.

* A sticker on the cover of some [[Guns N' Roses]] albums reads "This album contains language which some listeners may find objectionable. They can F?!* OFF and buy something from the New Age section."

* [[Michael Jackson]] expressed regret over making the song "Thriller" due to its supernatural and occult themes, as he was at the time a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses and such imagery is [[Against My Religion|contrary to his beliefs]]–he was quoted by the JW periodical ''Awake!'' as saying "I would never do it again!"; he intended to do a fun short film to promote the song, but balked shortly after its release as he did not want to offend or scare people. Jehovah's Witness elders took umbrage at what was perceived as promoting [[Hollywood Satanism|demonology]] and threatened excommunication against Jackson. In a panic, which nearly got to the point of having the film's negatives destroyed, a compromise was eventually settled with a ghostwritten disclaimer by John Landis was added at the beginning disassociating Jackson and his religious beliefs with the film's occult themes, stating "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult."

 

* One episode of the third radio series of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' finishes with the warning: "The preceding program contains scenes of extreme violence which may be disturbing to some viewers. Time travellers of a nervous disposition may wish to consider listening to something else for the previous half-hour."

** ''Hitchhikers'' offered a straight example when the episode featuring the destruction of the Guide offices was broadcast on [[The BBC|Radio 4]] [[Too Soon|shortly after 9/11]].

"It's not even suitable for ''people''!" }}

 

* The box for ''[[Chez Geek]]'', as well as its spinoffs, contains the tongue-in-cheek warning "For adult audiences only. Actual maturity not required."

 

* ''[[Avenue Q]]'' has warnings such as "PARENTAL ADVISORY: 60% adult situations and 40% foam rubber" and "Not appropriate for children due to language and adult content such as full puppet nudity".

* ''[[Jersey Boys]]'' has this disclaimer: "This musical contains smoke, loud gunshots, strobe lights, and '''authentic, offensive Jersey vocabulary'''".

 

* Games which allow players to send each other content were given the ESRB warning: "Game Experience May Change During Online Play". This is even true for certain games outside the ESRB's region. It's recently been replaced by "Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB", maybe for that reason.

** There is a similar one also for Music games with downloadable songs: "Music Downloads Not Rated by the ESRB".

* Racing games especially those featuring licensed vehicles like ''[[Gran Turismo]]'' and ''[[Need for Speed]]'' will have a disclaimer saying that the vehicles depicted in the game may differ in appearance and/or performance from their real-life counterparts, as well as an advisory to [[Do Not Try This At Home|be a responsible driver]]. Certain instalments from the ''Need for Speed'' series, particularly from the ''Underground'' and ''Most Wanted'' eras, has one of the games' actors make the aforementioned [[Public Service Announcement]] cautioning players to keep their street racing antics in the safety of their own home by playing the games instead of acting out the same illegal activities the games depict.

 

* Parodied at the beginning of "[[Siblings]] [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/489365 Untitled 01]".

{{quote|"'''WARNING!''' The clip you are about to see is FAKE. All the places, characters, and events are more or less fictitious in their presentation and you are expected to know it never happened. It ain't a biography, people, it's an internet cartoon. Expect nothing but lies. LIES! P.S. You cannot refund time, so if I end up wasting yours, then do us both a favor and get over it. Using levitation! Using levitation! P.S. You cannot refund time, so if I end up wasting yours, then do us both of a favor...then do us both a favor and get over it. Using levitation! Using LEVITATION!...''PSYoucannotrefundtimesoifIendupwastingyoursthendousbothafavorandgetoverit Using LEVITATION! LEVITATION! LEVITATION! Using LEVITATION!'' Ti revo teg dna rovaf a htob su od neht, sruoy gnitsaw pu dne I fi os, emit dnufer tonnac uoy S.P. P.S. You cannot refund time, so if I end up wasting yours, then do us both a favor and get over it. Using levitation! ''Peeeeeeeee.Eeessssssssss. Yooooouuuuuuu canooooooooott refuuuuuuuuuuuuund tiiiiiiiiiiime soooooo, if Iiiiiiiiiiii eeeeeeennd uuuuuup waaaaaaaaaasting yoooooooooouuuuuuuurs, theeeen doooo uuuusssssss booooooooth a favooooor annnnnnd get ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooveeeeeer iiiiiit.''"}}

 

* "''[[Venus Envy]]'' is Rated WEB-14 and probably isn't suitable for younger viewers or those who find the following things offensive: Homosexuality, Bisexuality, Transsexuality, Jews, Slapstick, Mixed-Religion Marriages, Women in the Workplace, Women in Pants, Plot, Girls' Soccer, or Chickens teaching Hard Science. If you find any of the above offensive, please go [http://www.simiansociety.org/ here]."

* ''[[Xkcd]]'' has the message "Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)."

** There is also an introduction by the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] paladin Miko Miyazaki that amounts to her spending a lot of words to tell the reader to not read this evil, evil book.

 

* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', topics containing either extreme violence or graphic sex are expected to be given content warnings. This usually just results in more people reading it.

* After December 2018, [[Tumblr]] will often display "warning" messages instead of content that might [[Think of the Advertisers!|offend advertisers]]; ultimately, though, this is a subversion, because the message implies the user can click through to the content -- but if they do, they end up at a page about Tumblr's content policies instead.

 

* ''[[Code Monkeys]]'' contains a different gag disclaimer at the beginning of each episode, such as this one from "Super Prison Breakout":

{{quote|This Show...

'''Young boy''': Turn it up! }}

* [[Rob Zombie]]'s ''[[The Haunted World of El Superbeasto]]'' begins with a very straight faced rendition of the ''Frankenstein'' "friendly warning."

{{quote|'''Nickelodeon announcer''': Sometimes on ''[[KaBlam!]]!'', things go Kablam!, And that's why it's rated Y7 (''cue to Henry holding up a (heavy) TV-Y7 logo'')}}

* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' occasionally features a disclaimer, most notably before its episode focusing on closeted rapper [[Gayngster|Gangstalicious]], assuring its audience that no, Gangstalicious was not based on any real artists, ''no'', not even the one you're thinking of, and we'd really prefer to avoid the requisite hate mail and death threats, thank you.

* In ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' and ''[[6teen]]'', when they both first started airing on [[Cartoon Network]] they had a warning message before each episode that stated they were rated PG (shows with that rating usually air on Adult Swim). Seeing as both shows only BARELY qualify for a PG rating to begin with, they eventually dropped the warning message.

* ''[[Clerks the Animated Series]]'' has some great ones, especially when the narrator ([[Kevin Michael Richardson]]) wonders aloud "And is anyone still watching after all that?" or talks about how the first episode is supposedly awful: "Tune in next week for a much better episode! For now, though-courage."

* The ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "The Monster of Doctor Phineasnferbenstein" opens with one, as a parody of the ''Dracula'' example above.

 

* The Anime Boston convention has an extended warning segment before the AMV contest with clips from anime series showing what the warning represents, usually humorously. The [[Fan Service]] warning featured a clip from ''[[Golden Boy]]'' and a character in a [[Stripperiffic]] costume that had the audience rolling on the floor laughing.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Show Parts]]

[[Category:Show Business]]

[[Category:Rated I for Index]]

[[Category:Alerts, Alarms and Warnings]]