Public Perceptions of Highly Offensive Language (November 2007)
What sort of language is Highly Offensive?
Different words offend different people. Amendments to the Classification Act in 2005 expanded the classification criteria to include 'highly offensive language'. In order to find out what the New Zealand public thought was 'highly offensive', we asked eight focus groups for their thoughts.
Participants were shown clips which contained offensive language
Clips were shown from a range of different films and DVDs to focus groups, who recorded their opinions on Perception Analyser dials and participated in group discussions. All participants were aged 18 and over.
Clips from these films and DVDs were shown:
- Once Were Warriors
- The Aviator
- Billy Connolly - World Tour of Scotland
- Black Hawk Down
- Closer
- Get Rich or Die Tryin'
- Kidulthood
- My Name is Joe
Each clip lasted a few minutes, and participants were asked only to think about the language in the clip screened (and disregard any knowledge they may have of the rest of the film).
The Perception Analyser allowed us to see people's feelings on a graph
Each participant had a hand-held unit which had a dial. As they watched the clips, participants were asked to turn the dial up and down depending on how they felt about the language in each clip. Turning it up meant they felt offended by the language – the higer they turned it, the more highly offensive they thought it was. This dialing produced graphs which showed the participants' reactions.
Closer was the most offensive clip
When asked to assign a classification to a clip from the film Closer, 94% classified it as R16 or higher – 76% classified it as R18. The factors that made the language in this clip most offensive to people were the:
- the actual words
- the implied violence
- the sexualised nature of the language
I just found it crude and abusive. It was just totally out of line, totally without any regard for morals, ethics, sensitivities. There were no boundaries. Nothing was held back or checked. It's just totally out there, putting the boot in your face.
- Research participant
For most offensive language the context influences how offensive people find it
A key finding of this research was that the degree to which language is offensive can vary depending on how it's used. Participants found words to be more offensive when they were used in agressive way, if they were aimed at someone, rather than if it was just someone swearing at themselves or cursing because they'd hurt themselves. People also found offensive language to be more acceptable when it fit with the situation and wasn't used in a gratuitous way.
For example, participants felt some offensive language was justified and realistic in the war context of Black Hawk Down where people were being shot. Similarly, some participants felt that the language in a clip from Once Were Warriors was important to make the scene realistic.
If he'd walked in and said 'Oh please, cook this man some eggs, thanks very much', it would just be ridiculous. It just wouldn't make sense. That was the character, that was the man, that was the way he talked.
- Research participant
Participants felt that some words were offensive in all contexts
A small number of words were considered to be offensive regardless of the context in which they were used. One of these words wasn't featured in any of the clips shown, but was still raised in the discussion by the participants.
The main harm caused by offensive language is young people copying it
Participants were asked what harm they thought was caused by offensive language. They were concerned that young people might repeat language they heard in a film, which might create a bad impression or cause others to see that person in a negative way.
Find out what the public perceived to be highly offensive language (PDF v7.0, 3.75MB)
