A brief (?) discussion of ratings by Meltha
We, the fanfiction community, have got a problem. No, I’m not talking about the dearth of good Angel/Oz fiction. I’m not even talking about the there/their/they’re conundrum (though that’s a really, really big problem). Nope, I’m talking about ratings.
For me, and for several other authors I know, trying to decide what rating to give a fic is often a very difficult task, and for good reason. As a whole, most fic writers have chosen to use the age-based rating system put in place for American movies. It has a lot of benefits, the most important one being that most readers (though of course not all) are familiar with what the ratings mean in regards to films. In addition, it’s been pretty well universally accepted across many fandom lines. However, we still have a really big honking problem here.
The ratings system we’re using works great for what it was intended for: movies. It’s not so hot for rating the written word. There’s a very good reason for that. With movies, exactly what constitutes graphic sexual situations or profanity or violence is pretty obvious. It’s hugely blurred in the realm of the written word.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you write a scene in which Spike walks into his crypt, gets undressed, crawls into bed, and goes to sleep. That’s it. That’s all that happens. Now, what rating does that deserve?
Well, if you simply wrote the exact sentence above, most people would agree that’s pretty well G-rated. It’s arguable that, technically, any fic that’s written about BtVS or Angel simply because of the show’s content should automatically get a PG because they aren’t Disney fare, but let’s leave that argument aside for a moment. Instead, pretend you’re filming that sentence instead of writing it.
Suddenly, it’s a whole other ball of wax, right? It entirely depends upon what you choose to show or not show to the audience with a camera. You could cut away from when Spike is unbuttoning his shirt to when he’s got the covers up. Pretty much G-land. You could have Spike obviously being sensual in what he’s doing, with the camera treating us to a lovely expanse of bare torso. Hello, PG to PG-13. If we had bare Spike-butt, suddenly we’ve probably hit the R mark. The guy turns back around, and whoa, NC-17, despite the fact no one else is even there or that he’s doing nothing explicitly sexual.
The problem is that fanfiction doesn’t have those clear-cut lines. Does mentioning Spike’s unclothed rear end in passing automatically make a fic that is otherwise a PG into an R? Probably not. Still, that’s what the ratings system would technically do, though extremely few writers would follow that line of thought.
Things get infinitely trickier with sex scenes. In film, a love scene can be shot in such a way that nothing much is exposed. As an example, take Dirty Dancing. That film was rated PG-13. Had that film been a fanfic instead, it undoubtedly would have been rated NC-17 simply because of the descriptions that would have needed to take place in order for the reader to vaguely understand what was happening. The written word must, by definition, go into more detail word-wise than a picture would. Another example: Buffy and Angel’s tryst in “Surprise.” That scene was, by almost any Hollywood definition, modest. We saw a few flashes of limbs and some sheets moving around with a little sighing in the background. Heck, let’s be honest; Joss Whedon could have been filming footage of his dog rolling over while snoozing under some red sheets. But of course we all knew what was going on from the context.
Trying to do that in a fic is almost impossible. If an author were to write “Buffy’s arm came into view briefly. Angel’s tattoo rippled. The sheet bunched. Buffy sighed,” you’d think “Uh… okay.” It’s extremely unclear. This would not be a fic that would get a great deal of positive feedback. I have actually seen two writers carry off a vague love scene, and by vague, I mean really, really vague. In one the participants didn’t actually have bodies, and in the other, while the language was very rich and evocative and generally very good, the writer was dealing with the character’s emotions only and not with what was happening, which did lead to confusion. Interestingly, the authors still chose to give their creations ratings of R and NC-17 respectively.
On the other hand, I’ve seen really, really, really (and did I mention really?) graphic depictions of sex in fics that are labeled as low as PG. The writers’ reasoning is that they didn’t talk about anything that hadn’t been seen on the show at some point. That used to be the old stand-by: if you could or did see it on the show, it was PG. I think it’s safe to say that the balcony scene from season six of Buffy pretty much blew that one out of the water. I don’t care how you’d write that scene. If it’s even vaguely discernable what’s going on there, the movie ratings system would slap an NC-17 on it so fast that your head would spin because with words you’d have to be explicit whereas the show was able to simply not show any actual nudity and get away without a problem at all.
Then, there’s language. This one’s really, really tricky. The movie ratings are very specific here. Use of the f-word even once is going to slap you with an R. Damn is going to get you PG automatically. Then there’s the Briticisms in use by Giles, Spike, or any of a number of other characters. From what I understand, Spike’s mouth is completely filthy in Britain. Shagging, ponce, bloody, pillock: those are considered varying degrees of naughty. If Giles says “bloody” once in your fic, have you automatically hit PG? Or better yet, what if someone gives someone the finger (or the Brit version, which we saw Spike give in “Hush”)? You’ve automatically hit PG-13 with the ratings system even though all you’ve written is “Xander gave the finger to the driver who cut him off.”
Not making a whole lot of sense, is it? It gets worse when you bring in so-called “adult themes.” The term is so wide it means almost nothing. An adult theme could be teenage pregnancy. It could also be BDSM. We’ve had a lot of adult themes on both shows. Darla was a prostitute. We’ve seen multiple cases of abusive relationships. We’ve seen police brutality and brutality towards police. Let’s not forget our friend Spanky over on AtS or Joyce and Ripper’s handcuffs. Does this make BtVS and AtS NC-17? Of course not. But things get a lot trickier when put on paper or on a computer screen.
Violence? On paper, every Bugs Bunny cartoon made would be far, far, far from a G. Let’s not even get into the idea of a show where Buffy regularly impales people who suck other people’s blood.
So, here’s what I’m suggesting as far as ratings go. First off, I’m terrible at doing ratings on my own work. I usually end up asking people what they think it should be rated or I go with the high end of a rating (i.e., if I’m stuck between PG and PG-13, I’ll go PG-13). I think getting an outside opinion is very important. I’m also, if you’ve perused this site at all, not particularly graphic by nature in the first place, though there have been instances that hasn’t helped me much.
But we do indeed need some kind of set ratings standard for fanfiction. Here are my thoughts on the matter. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.
G- This should be reserved for the absolute zero level of controversy. No profanity whatsoever, no sexual situations whatsoever, no violence bigger than the shin-kicking incident in “Chosen” or talking about an incident that happened off-page, such as “Buffy had staked two vampires that night and was really angry to find she’d missed taping Seinfeld.” G, by the way, does not have to mean that a fic is boring, badly written, or written by junior high kids for junior high kids. Sadly, that stigma has gotten attached to the rating, and it’s really quite unfair.
PG- Again, many would argue this is the lowest possible rating for a fic that centers around BtVS or AtS simply because of the shows’ topic matter: demons, blood sucking, violence, and all that sort of thing. While personally I think that’s taking it a bit far (there are loads of violent creatures and situations in most children’s stories), it’s a defendable position and one I can respect. In that case, the guidelines for G apply here. However, PG fic can probably get away with a little low-scale swearing (damn and the like), some not-too-violent violence (actual fight scenes are possible as long as not a lot of gore is involved and they’re not the sole focus of the story), and there can be a little low-scale sexuality as well, though no actual sex or even overly-descriptive snuggling (Spike can wake up with Drusilla beside him, can give her a good evening kiss, but when the words tongue, groin, or aroused come into play, you’re not dealing with PG anymore).
PG-13- This is where it gets sticky. The line between PG and R is a vast territory and open to a wide variety of interpretations. Think of it this way. Picture a 13 year old. That would be a seventh or eighth grader usually. Now, don’t think of what seventh or eighth graders do or say or think they can read. Think of what would be considered acceptable reading material in a seventh grade literature class. Some of those “adult issues” might start to pop up. Language can get a bit coarser. Some sexuality could be discussed. However, you’re not going to see something like, say, The Great Gatsby being read in a seventh or eighth grade classroom in spite of the fact that the language is low key, there’s relatively little violence, and sex is hinted at but not shown. Why? It’s still considered inappropriate though the book would most likely NOT deserve an R rating. See the problem?
R- Gyah. This one is even more difficult. The line between R and NC-17 is so thin that people really do use them interchangeably in many cases (which is where the highly confusing term “Hard R” comes in as well). When does a sex scene go from being R to NC-17? I have no idea. Seriously. As I said earlier, it’s almost impossible to write any sex scene without it automatically turning into what the film industry would call NC-17. Some people say that graphic violence that doesn’t cause death or that heals belongs here, but that’s arguable too, especially in a genre where many characters can heal from things that would kill people instantly. Some say one use of the f-word is enough to render a fic R even if absolutely nothing else happens. Others decree that the profanity has to be much more severe and repeated to hit this level. The idea of adult topics comes up too. Many readers would state that any treatment of rape deserves at least an R, though again, that’s arguable depending on what precisely the writer is describing (the reactions of the victim post-attack are one thing, while depictions of the actual attack are another entirely). Prostitution, drug use, underage drinking, and abuse are often resigned to this level or higher, but again, that’s arguable.
NC-17- Of all the ratings, this one is undoubtedly the most difficult. A huge slew of things can fall under the term NC-17 in fanfiction. Legitimate film work very rarely uses this rating, normally reserving it for pornography or highly unusual art films. Fanfiction uses it for so many things that it’s unbelievable. Generally speaking, roughly 40% of all fanfiction that I’ve run across rates itself at this level, and frankly, I don’t think it’s a particularly good term. It’s too big an umbrella. Take a look at what can fall under the NC-17 label.
Sexual situations form one thing. Now, anyone who’s read fanfic can tell you that not all sex is the same. There are the caring, loving, emotional sexual situations. You usually know when you’re reading this because you sort of smile. These can run a whole gamut of explicitness as well, from not very but still happening to nearly photographic, but it’s the tone that usually sets the mark for this kind of fiction. Whatever is happening is happening within the confines of love.
Of course, this is not the only kind of NC-17 that pops up. There are a lot of much darker aspects that can indeed fall under this banner. Rape is one (and personally I’ve always found the term non-con to be rather troubling. Non-consensual sex is rape. Period.). Torture. Bondage. Masochism. Sadism. Underage sex (which is only a problem in cannon Buffy characters with Dawn up through season six as there were no other major child characters). Incest. Angelus “playing” with his victims. Domination. Submission. Mutilation. All of those can come under the NC-17 banner. Most of those are usually light years away from the “love” sorts of sex that you would find with, say, a cannon-based Willow/Oz. Has the show touched on these topics? Absolutely. However, I’d argue that there are very different tones that can be used with these situations, and that each situation is very different.
For example, let’s look at rape. If you’re writing a story about Angelus, rape is almost certainly going to come up. The question is how it’s being described. Is it being looked at as a horrible, terrifying, deeply wrong act? Is it meant to portray the realistic feelings that a victim would go through? If so, the author is using the rape as a means of character development, and the graphic nature is more than likely included to underline the emotional severity and undercurrents of the scene and its ramifications. On the other hand, if the rape is being described in a way that makes it seem like a desirable activity, the overall image of the fic is going to be dramatically different.
Torture is a slightly different story in the Buffyverse than almost any other fandom. It’s pretty obvious that some vampire characters in particular regard violence as a fun means of foreplay and actively enjoy it. From a human perspective, that’s perverse, but they are wired differently. It’s obvious that Spike is ecstatic about Drusilla scratching open his face in “School Hard.” On the other hand, if a writer had Xander scratching open Anya’s face, the tone and intent are going to be drastically different. In the same vein (no pun intended), I’ve read some vampire-torture things that go way beyond a little blood play and into the land of deeply humiliating and damaging, so simply making the characters non-human doesn’t always work to quell the “they’ll heal…right?” problem.
So what does all this come down to? Quite honestly, I’m not sure. Ratings are indeed a good idea, and the recent movement towards adding specific warnings, such as stating a fic contains one or more possibly troubling elements, is also helpful, but I’m not entirely sure the a ratings system developed specifically for film can be transposed to the written word without huge gaps in understanding by both the writer and the potential reader.
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