Should Supermarkets Be Held Responsible For The Content of the DVDs They Sell?





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In a recent article in the Daily Mail, as brought to my attention by fellow film journalist John Milton and reported on HCF by our very own Dr Lenera, a gentleman purchased an 18 certificate rated indie budget horror DVD entitled The Hospital from his local Tesco supermarket and proceeded to raise a complaint after he found the contents of the film to be extreme.

Tesco promptly removed it from their shelves nationwide and their choice of movies they stock has come under criticism from parental website Netmums.

So the question is, should supermarkets be held responsible for the content of the DVDs and Blu-Rays they sell?

A Netmums representative said that she thought it wrong that a piece of film containing ‘pornography’ and the like was on sale in supermarkets and available for children to see when browsing the shelves. Now, I have issues with this. For one thing, childrens DVDs tend to be grouped together in a particular section of the DVD isle and therefore there’s no need to show them the DVD’s aimed at 15 and 18 year olds. Even if the child accidentally came across the DVD cover, they would not know what the film actually contained as the cover itself featured no obscene graphics or words at all. This is the same reason why a gentleman of over 18 years of age bought it and was shocked at the contents – it’s impossible to know what the film contains without watching it. So unless children have a magical ability to know and see the contents of the film in its entirety by purely looking at the DVD cover, then how can they be offended?

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Attached with the Daily Mail article is some remark that suggests supermarkets should stock “family friendly” titles only, which in my opinion is suggesting that certain (horror?) certificate 18 rated movies should be banned from supermarkets. Well, I hate to burst the bubble, but I do believe that the majority of people who do shopping in supermarkets and buy food for themselves and their families are in fact aged 18 and over. Therefore, why should the consumers be penalised because of one complaint? And where do we stop? Should all 18 movies be banned from their shelves? And if that happens, what about certificate 15 films, because little kiddiwinks can still go down an isle and “see” these DVDs on the shelves? If we take these “oh won’t somebody please think of the children” threats seriously, then we become more of a watered down nanny state than we already are. At the end of the day, the covers have to be passed to be not obscene and appeal to the retailer’s stock purchaser and the films are passed with a certificate relating to their suitable viewers age by the BBFC, so if they have passed both points, the film deserves to take its place on the shelves. Parents should monitor their kids whilst shopping and what they pick up, and if they end up buying an 15 or 18 DVD for their kids who aren’t of age, then the parents are the one who need to punished, not the supermarkets. It’s like parents blaming GTA for their 8 year old child swearing or being violent – these things are 18 for a reason and they shouldn’t be allowing their kids to watch or play media intended for an older audience. If parents can’t heed the advice that the BBFC and PEGI ratings give them and filmmakers and developers are charged a fortune for, then the parents should be the ones to blame and be up for the high jump, NOT the retailers, creators or distributors.

Supermarkets these days sell a wide variety of DVDs. Not only do they sell big budget films, but they also stock  smaller label, indie titles, like The Hospital. These are priced at a lower, more affordable rate for the consumer and you can find some hidden gems within them as well as some duds. I’ve been informed by fellow film critic John Townsend that The Hospital is indeed offensive and distasteful at times, after having reviewed it, but should supermarkets take the blame for the content of the DVDs they sell? My answer is no. Supermarkets have no reason nor the time to sit down and review every DVD or Blu-Ray they stock. That would be ridiculous. Fortunately for them, they have the BBFC who issue ratings that determine the content of the film, thus if the film is rated 18, as in this case, expect nudity, violence and swearing within. It’s not the supermarket’s fault if they stock a film that ends up being rubbish or offensive, as that is entirely the opinion of the consumer. Now, I’ve watched some stuff in my lifetime that I’ve thought was awful and distasteful, but I would never dream of making a complaint to the retailer because of it as it’s purely my personal opinion. It would be my stupid decision for making a blind purchase of the movie without reading reviews of it before hand and that’s why nowadays I always read up on the internet before I buy or take recommendations from friends and peers.

Now here’s another question: would the complainant have made a fuss if he had purchased the film from a high street entertainment retailer or an online retailer? My guess is no and if someone was to do that, they wouldn’t probably get anywhere with the retailer due to it being a matter of opinion. If the BBFC has found it suitable of an 18 certificate, and its contents reflect this, then it’s allowed to sit on the shelves and any adverse reaction to the contents is due to the disposition of the viewer. If the BBFC did find it to be too much, they would have banned it or at least cut it like they did with the notorious A Serbian Film. So why is a specialist shop or online retailer any different from a supermarket? A DVD shop still allows children to enter the store and the gentleman would still have purchased the DVD anyhow and be shocked by the contents. Children and adults can find far worse stuff lurking on the internet, free of charge, without too much of an effort.

Unfortunately supermarkets are feeling the brunt because they have to keep up some “holier than thou” approach due to serving the masses, much like terrestrial television. I liken the film to a food product: lets say a tin of chicken soup. The soup is passed by the food standards agency as being fit for consumption. A customer reads the label, buys it and then complains that the soup taste is not to their liking and that there’s only a little bit of chicken in it and they expected more. Would you then make a complaint with the supermarket that it’s not to your taste and that it should have been labelled as “not much chicken” or “not to your taste” even if other consumers purchase it and enjoy it?

Buying a DVD and not knowing anything about the content except for the summary on the back of the cover, then hating it, is what I like to call a price of an education. Do your homework next time and you’ll avoid being relieved of your money for something that you will not enjoy.

We all have a right to purchase what we want, and supermarkets should be able to cater for all age groups, not just kids, especially as the paying person is usually the adult. It’s okay for these groups to say that horror films should be strictly in DVD shops only, but how many entertainment high street retailers do you see in your town? In mine there is none since the administration of Music Zone and we rely on our local supermarket to provide us with the opportunity to purchase DVDs, something which supermarkets have decided to branch into. Maybe supermarkets should stop selling bras in cases little boys happen to peruse the lingerie isle and start to ask sexual questions whilst gazing at a pair of DD cups?

Let’s nip this mollycoddling in the bud before there’s nothing left except a padded play area with a ball pool for us over 18s to drown ourselves in.

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About Bat 4348 Articles
I love practical effects, stop-motion animation and gore, but most of all I love a good story! I adore B-movies and exploitation films in many of their guises and also have a soft spot for creature features. I review a wide range of media including movies, TV series, books and videogames. I'm a massive fan of author Hunter S. Thompson and I enjoy various genre of videogames with Kingdom Hearts and Harvest Moon two of my all time favs. Currently playing: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Yakuza Zero and Mafia III.

5 Comments

  1. Tesco have, in recent years, become quite a good place to look for more obscure titles. It would be a tragedy if they pandered to the legendarily deliberate offence-taking sh*ttery of the Daily Mail and other ignorant moral-panic groups (who the f*** are “Netmums” anyway?)

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