The prince kissing Sleeping Beauty, Vince Vaughn's character in Wedding Crashers being forced to have sex, and Princess Leia in Star Wars asking Han Solo to 'stop that'.
They are all on-screen instances of lack of consent and the type of things a new campaign wants to see addressed through the addition of a ‘Lack of Consent’ classification to film and television programs shown in Australia.
A not-for-profit, Consent Labs, is hoping its proposed change will help Australians identify overt and covert instances where consent has been omitted on screen, noting through its research that three in five Australians have trouble recognising consent in film and TV.
Popular show Bridgerton and well-known movies Sleeping Beauty, The Devil Wears Prada and Star Wars are all examples where on-screen couples have “normalised” or “romanticised” non-consensual advances, Angelique Wan, the CEO of Consent Labs told The Feed.
A scene from the Netflix series Bridgerton, with Consent Labs' proposed classification. Source: Supplied
"Pretty much in every single rom-com ever, one person is pursuing and the other person's playing 'hard to get'. They might even have vocalised a 'no' or they might look physically frightened or turned off, but the other person's still pursuing a sexual act like a kiss.
"In the background, there's often romantic music playing, and then it turns into a really passionate sex scene.
"The lack of consent is very much glossed over and completely romanticised."
A scene from the movie The Devil Wears Prada, with Consent Labs' advice added. Source: Supplied
Consent Labs hopes its new proposed classification and the broader campaign will give Australians a visual prompt to consider the content they're watching, Ms Wan said.
"People aren't actually having that moment of recognition or questioning around what they're watching."
The classification would also look to include a label that identifies whether it is unclear whether affirmative consent has been given.
The campaign hopes to be propelled by the recent changes and conversations around consent in Australia.
This year, NSW and Victoria wrote affirmative consent into law, stealthing was criminalised in Victoria, and consent education was mandated in all Australian schools from 2023.
"It's really powerful to know or be informed on what you're about to view so that you don't unintentionally normalise what you're seeing on screen in your real life," Ms Wan said.
Prince Phillip kisses the sleeping Princess Aurora in the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty. Consent Labs' proposed classification has been added. Source: Supplied
“Our ultimate goal is to reduce harassment and assault.”
The campaign was spurred by conversations Consent Labs had in Australian classrooms, with school students highlighting the difficulty to identify consent in the shows and films they watched.
As part of the campaign, the group is calling on Australians to make a pledge on its website expressing support for the movement. Later in the year, Consent Labs is planning a federal petition to the Classifications Board.
Ms Wan believes the classification would be the first of its kind across the globe.
“Oftentimes students will say it's because they haven't seen consenting role models anywhere, whether that's in real-life relationships or they also haven't seen consent being role modelled on screens,” Ms Wan said.
Maree Crabbe, the director of 'It's Time We Talked,' an Australian violence prevention initiative researching the impact of pornography on young people, told The Feed the #ClassifyConsent campaign addresses an issue that is "quite invisible."
Consent Labs' classification for the scene in Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back, where Han Solo kisses Princess Leia. Source: Supplied
"For example, in the area of pornography, almost half of all boys have seen pornography by the age of 13. And almost half of girls have seen it by the age of 15."
A proposed consent warning for a scene from Wedding Crashers. Source: Supplied
Ms Crabbe told The Feed 35 per cent of the most popular videos of pornography depict some form of non-consensual behaviour.
A classification of this sort would help Australians improve their understanding of consent and apply it to their relationships, and other media they view, Ms Crabbe said.
"We don't generally start having conversations about consent in porn with children, we can start having those conversations looking at children's media," she said.
"If we can support them to develop those critical media literacy skills, they can apply them to sexually explicit content."
For any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault please call 1800 RESPECT or visit. 1800 RESPECT is open 24 hours, 7 days a week.
