The Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc. ("SPCS") is a conservative

lobby group In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. A registered charity and incorporated society, the Society has taken a strong pro-censorship stance and clashed many times with the

Office of Film and Literature Classification The Office of Film and Literature Classification ( mi, Te Mana Whakaatu), branded as the Classification Office, is an independent Crown entity established under Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 responsible for censorship ...

. They have also advocated socially conservative positions on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage.

History

The society was founded in 1970 by

Patricia Bartlett Patricia Maureen Bartlett (17 March 1928 – 8 November 2000) was a New Zealand conservative Catholic activist of the 1970s and 1980s. Biography She was born in Napier to Bertrand and Ivy Bartlett (née Boult). She attended Sacred Heart school i ...

, a former nun of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Order of the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

. She retired from the organisation in 1996. Membership of SPCS rose to a peak of 25,000 in the 1970s. Since then, membership numbers have declined to the present steady level of about 400. The current president is John Mills, businessman and Elder of the Kapiti Christian Fellowship, and the executive director is David Lane. Lane is the most active figure in the society, researching current issues in New Zealand society with the information gathered being used for press releases and submissions.

Patrons

Eric Gowing Eric Austin Gowing (11 March 1913 - 3 June 1981) was the seventh Anglican Bishop of Auckland. His episcopate spanned a long period during the second half of the 20th century. Born in Sydney, Australia, Gowing was educated at North Sydney High S ...

1971-1980 *

Edward Musgrave Blaiklock Edward Musgrave Blaiklock (6 July 1903 – 26 October 1983) was chair of classics at the University of Auckland from 1947 to 1968, and champion of Christian apologetic literature in New Zealand from the 1950s until his death in 1983. Biography ...

1971-1983 *

Dove-Myer Robinson Sir Dove-Myer Robinson (15 June 1901 – 14 August 1989) was Mayor of Auckland City from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1980, the longest tenure of any holder of the office. He was a colourful character and became affectionately known across New ...

1971-1976 * Charles Ritchie Burns 1973-1984 * Dean Goffin 1982-1983 * D.H. Campbell 1984-1987 *

Trevor Young Trevor James Young (28 August 1925 – 13 May 2012) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life Young was born in 1925 in Turua on the Hauraki Plains. The son of Leslie Robert Young, he grew up in Cambridge and Bl ...

1987 – 1995 * Desmond Sullivan LLB 1987- * John Kennedy-Good, 1984-2005 * Marilyn Pryor 2005-2008 * T.V. O'Donnell, 2008-

Activities

Initially, the organisation campaigned against

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

in films, videos and magazines. However, ''Howley v Lawrence Publishing''

986 Year 986 ( CMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil II leads a Byz ...

(Court of Appeal) initiated a string of anti-censorship court and regulatory decisions that came to rely on evidence-based

social scientific Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

proof for censorship policy decisions. This culminated in passage of the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993, and marginalised their campaign. The SPCS has issued media releases opposing civil unions,

hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

bans, the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act, and the decriminalisation of sex work. The SPCS had repeatedly criticised Bill Hastings, while he was New Zealand's Chief Censor, the

(OFLC), and the

Film and Literature Board of Review The Film and Literature Board of Review is the appeals body for New Zealand's print and media censorship system, set up by the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. It reviews decisions made by the Office of Film and Literature ...

for what it believes to be their liberal application of censorship law. In 2001 SPCS submitted a number of film festival items to the Film and Literature Board of Review for reclassification, including the French film ''

Baise-Moi ''Baise-moi'' is a 2000 French crime thriller film written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi and starring Karen Lancaume and Raffaëla Anderson. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1993. The film rece ...

''. It contended the film should be banned, as it was by Australian censors. The campaign was initially successful, although after several appeals this film subsequently went on to general commercial release. The SPCS has also sought permanent bans of the films ''

Kill Bill ''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) an ...

'', '' Irreversible'', ''

Visitor Q is a 2001 Japanese erotic black comedy- horror film directed by Takashi Miike. It was filmed as the sixth and final part of the Love Cinema series consisting of six straight-to-video releases by independent filmmakers via a brief but exclusi ...

'', '' Bully'', ''

Ken Park ''Ken Park'' is a 2002 erotic drama which revolves around the abusive and dysfunctional lives of several teenagers, set in the city of Visalia, California. It was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark's journals and stories. Th ...

'', ''

Anatomie de l'enfer ''Anatomy of Hell'' (french: Anatomie de l'enfer) is a 2004 erotic drama film written and directed by Catherine Breillat, based on her 2001 novel ''Pornocratie''. According to Breillat, ''Anatomy of Hell'' is a "sequel" to ''Romance''. Plot Tee ...

'', '' Twentynine Palms'', ''

Y Tu Mama Tambien Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

'', ''

9 Songs ''9 Songs'' is a 2004 British art romantic drama film written and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film stars Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley. The title refers to the nine songs played by eight different rock bands that complement the s ...

'' and '' The Piano Teacher'', again on the basis of what the SPCS believed was their objectionable sexual and violent content. It has not succeeded in obtaining permanent bans of any of the above, however. In 2005, the SPCS unsuccessfully sought an R18 classification of the computer game '' Playboy: The Mansion''. The SPCS applied for a review of the rating of ''

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary M ...

'' reduced to permit its exhibition to children provided they were accompanied by a parent despite criticisms of the film's graphic violence. This stance was criticised as being weak or even hypocritical. As a result of a review brought by

Hoyts The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas and Val Morgan. Hoyts operates more than 450 cinema screens and 55,000 seats, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor after Event Hospita ...

, the distributor of ''

'', the film's classification was reduced from R16 to R15, which meant that most fifth-form (15-year-old) students could view it. Since 1995, the SPCS has taken sixteen appeals to the Film and Literature Board of Review and succeeded in three of them. In 1995 the SPCS succeeded in having one porn video banned and in 1996 it had scenes cut from another on appeal. Since then every appeal that the SPCS has sought has resulted in the same or a lower classification. Ironically, former Chief Censor Bill Hastings, whom the SPCS campaigned to remove from Office, was a member of the Board that allowed the two successful appeals. In 2006 the SPCS began to criticise the financial management of the OFLC. It complained to the Auditor General that the OFLC was inefficient and mismanaged taxpayer funds. The Auditor General dismissed the SPCS's complaint, stating that "no evidence of waste was found during the course of the audit" of the OFLC. SPCS is also strongly opposed to the promotion of equal rights for lesbians and gays. In 2000, the

Court of Appeal of New Zealand The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather t ...

ruled that the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 could not be interpreted to ban two American anti-gay videos produced by

Jeremiah Films Jeremiah Films is a media production and distribution company. The organization was founded by Patrick Matrisciana in 1978. , they are based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Organizational background Jeremiah Films produces videos that the group ...

. The SPCS was not the originator of the appeal over the videos but was a strong supporter of the Court's decision. In 2011, the SPCS submitted

Bruce LaBruce Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto. Life and career LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce as ...

's gay horror film '' LA Zombie'' to the Film and Literature Board of Review for reclassification. The Board President, Dr Don Mathieson agreed with the SPCS that the film should be reclassified "objectionable" due to its major focus on graphic, gratuitous and offensive depictions of

necrophilia Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving Cadaver, corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...

- and other "sexual or physical conduct of a degrading or demeaning nature" and thereby banned. However, the remaining four Board members upheld the original R18 classification. Subsequently, the film was screened at Out Takes/Real Queer Film Festival run by Real Queer Inc in Auckland and Wellington.

References

Bibliography

*''New Zealand Administrative Reports'' (NZAR). The NZAR contain tribunal and court decisions related to New Zealand censorship law (1984- ). *Paul Christoffel: ''Censored: A short history of censorship in New Zealand'':Department of Internal Affairs: Wellington: 1989: *Carolyn Moynihan: ''A Stand for Decency: Patricia Bartlett and the Society for Promotion of Community Standards'': SPCS: Upper Hutt: 1995: (This is a biographical work related to the life of the late SPCS Secretary

, including much detail about relevant censorship policy and law from her organisation's perspective.)

External links