Stop humiliation, violence for cheap laughs, Japan TV watchdog tells comedy shows
- Action typically seen as assault, harassment and bullying has been a mainstay of Japanese entertainment shows
- 22-year-old female wrestler Hana Kimura, who appeared in the Netflix reality show Terrace House, took her own life in 2020 after online abuse
A comedian puts on underwear smeared with medication that causes a burning sensation in his groin. An entertainer tries to escape from a deep hole in the ground as his cast mates mock his increasingly frantic efforts to get out. He repeatedly falls but does not sustain any injuries. They left him in the pit for six hours.
These skits, part of standard fare served up by Japanese variety shows, typically rely on action typically considered assault, harassment or bullying in real life for cheap laughs.
But a report released in mid-April from Japan’s Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO), the nation’s media watchdog, has singled them out for being negative, stopping short of flagging specific broadcasters or programmes.
The report called on broadcasters and producers of such entertainment and comedy shows to avoid footage that “ridicules the mental and physical pain of others”, as it may have an “undesired effect on the development of empathy and the view of human beings of the adolescents who watch it”.
“The victim may have been informed, to some extent, in advance, but the pain was real and the other actors were ridiculing him for the pain.”
