Representing a suicide in a work of fiction remains a particularly delicate exercise. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has just given part of the reason for a woman who complained about the too explicit way in which this sensitive subject was broached twice in the series. Indefensible. The TVA channel was not strict enough in granting the simple classification “8 years and over” to these two episodes, the organization ruled.
The CBSC has found that TVA violated the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Violence Code. The episodes ofIndefensible broadcast on November 28 and February 28 should have been marked “13 years and over” because of the scenes of violence, including suicide, that they contain.
“The definition of the 13+ rating applies to a certain type of content, including suicide, that clearly demonstrates the meaning of the characters’ actions, which is certainly the case with the shows in question. In addition, this content requires a certain maturity which, in the opinion of the committee, exceeds the classification given by the broadcaster, which is 8+”, can we read in a decision of the CBSC issued last week.
Difficult scenes
In the first segment considered by the Council, actress Marie Charlebois plays Elena, a woman victim of domestic violence who decides to end her life when she learns that the Crown will appeal her not guilty verdict. for the murder of her husband. When Me Léo Macdonald (Sébastien Delorme) finds his client at home, we first see her feet dangling on the stairs. Then, the camera moves along her body to stop on her face. We then see her, eyes closed, strangled by an electric wire attached to the balustrade.
The episode titled sugar daddy, broadcast three months later, also contains a rather violent scene. We find Alain Royer (Antoine Mongrain), a character suspected of being involved in a murder, who threatens his spouse with a rifle in their bedroom. Under the effects of cocaine, he then goes down to the living room to land on the sofa and places the weapon on the table in front of him, the muzzle facing his chest. A close-up of his nervous face follows, before the gunshot rings out.
It is the same viewer who filed a complaint following the broadcast of these two episodes. She criticized the series for not applying “good media practices to address the issue of suicide”. It enjoins the creators of the program to refer to the guide established by the Quebec Association for the Prevention of Suicide (AQPS) for the use of the media. He advises, among other things, to give as few details as possible about the gesture when it comes to suicide, so as not to incite viewers to commit the irreparable.
At prime time
The plaintiff, who is not identified in the judgment, also suggested that the broadcast time ofIndefensible, 7 p.m., is problematic. “I don’t question the character committing suicide. I regret that suicide is demonstrated explicitly, and this, at prime time, ”she said.
While the CBSC acknowledged that the “8+” rating of the two episodes was inappropriate, the Commission did not issue an opinion on the broadcast time. The organization also refused to force creators to rely on the AQPS good practice guide. The CCNR says it wants to avoid “harming the creativity of producers”.
TVA maintained that the two suicide scenes were justified and in no way violated broadcasting standards. Remember that a warning preceded these two episodes ofIndefensible to warn viewers that certain violent scenes could disturb them. The episode broadcast on February 28 was also accompanied, at the very end, by a message with the contact details of organizations helping people in distress. The broadcast of this panel was however omitted at the end of the November 29 episode due to “human error”, assumes TVA.
Following the CBSC’s decision, the channel had to slip a notice into its 7 p.m. time slot this week stating that it had violated the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Violence Code.