UpdateThe age rating of the family film Pete Bell has been adjusted to ‘9years and older’ after complaints. Previously, the classification from ‘allages’ was tightened to ’12 years and older’, but this was met with a lot ofcriticism. Nicam, the organization that monitors the age rating of films andseries in the Netherlands, is now making a milder adjustment. That means thatthe film will be shown on New Year’s Eve at the NPO.
,,Nicam has just informed us that Kijkwijzer has changed the ageclassification for our family film Pete Bell , which is scheduled forSaturday December 31 at 11:10 am on NPO Zapp, has been adjusted from 12 yearsto 9 years,” KRO-NRC responds. “We are happy with this adjustment and we wishchildren and parents a lot of viewing pleasure next Saturday morning.” Thechange has also been implemented on streaming service Netflix and the iconwith the number 9 is visible.
The film Pete Bell , which attracted nearly a million visitors to cinemasaround Christmas 2002, has been under discussion since the film’s age ratingwas changed from ‘all ages’ to ’12 and over’ after twenty years. This happenedafter Kijkwijzer, which monitors the age rating, had received severalcomplaints that certain scenes in the film made children anxious. Pete Bell_about a Rotterdam street urchin who experiences adventures, then had the samerating as recent action films such as _No time to die or Spider Man.
“Following the report that several children had become frightened after seeingthe film via an online streaming service, the film was reassessed by them,”Kijkwijzer explains. “Based on this, the online streaming service hasreclassified the film at 12. year.” But due to a large number of newcomplaints to regulator Nicam from people who thought that the classification12 years and older was far too high for a family film, an adjustment followed.
How does age determination film come about?
Director Tiffany van Stormbroek of Nicam, the organization of which Kijkwijzerfalls, explained yesterday on this site how a new age classification iscreated. If complaints are received at Kijkwijzer, the film will be viewedagain to see if the original age rating is still correct. According to her,that was apparently not the case with Pietje Bell. Then the relevantdistributor is asked to test the content of the production again on the basisof a questionnaire. According to Van Stormbroek, this is based on verythorough scientific research that takes into account, among other things, howexplicit the violence shown is.
The distribution of Pietje Bell was once owned by Disney, but that is nolonger the case. The questionnaire is then completed by the streaming servicesand broadcasters offering the title. It now appears that they wrongly ended upwith ’12 years and older’. According to Van Stormbroek, an error was made whencompleting the list.
About how age ratings can sometimes be adjusted, she says: ,,The reaction ofchildren, how they experience a film, can be different than years ago. Societyis changing and the questionnaire is changing with it. It must be dynamic onthe basis of new scientific insights. We will continue to do this. Language isan example. What used to be considered normal may now be less accepted. Justlike that the Zwarte Piet discussion changed a lot.”