Adult Film Censorship: M

 

 

 

 

Midget Mania

Directed by Jim Powers / 2000 / USA

Date: September 2001
Rating: RC
Time: 85m
Format: VHS
Applicant: Department of Justice and the Attorney General
Comment: In 2011, Customs used this ban as a reason for seizing MIDGET MANIA VOL 7 and 8.

 

 

 

 

Midget Mania Vol 7

Produced by Heatwave / 2010 / USA

In October 2011, the Eros Association reported that the Australian Customs Service had confiscated DVDs of MIDGET MANIA VOL 7 and 8.

 

Customs Seize Dwarf Porn
eros.org.au, 26 October 2011

The Australian Customs Service has set a new benchmark for the importation of adult films into Australia by confiscating two of the latest release US titles featuring vertically challenged people.

Midget Mania, Volumes 7 and 8 were confiscated by Customs agents in Brisbane last month and despite protestations from the importers, the films have not been returned after 28 days. Customs are not required to give any reasons for their seizure of goods however it is widely understood that they are now treating the dwarf genre, in the same way as depictions of female ejaculation ie they represent an ‘offensive fetish’ and are therefore RC (Refused Classification).

Eros Association CEO, Fiona Patten, said the new ruling was discriminatory to short-statured people and quite possibly offended the Federal Discrimination Act. “One of the main hallmarks of adult films has been the fact that everyone and anyone can get a go. Black or white, fat or thin, short or tall – unlike Hollywood, everyone is celebrated for their own unique talents and styles”, she said. “It appears that Customs are trying to insinuate that when a large male adult actor has sex with a female dwarf or midget, that there is an element of coercion involved because of the size difference. If they have other reasons, they should let industry know instead of shrouding these decisions in secrecy".

She said that in the same way that Customs had earlier misunderstood female ejaculation to be a form of urolagnia, Customs officers were in need of biology lessons and a reality check on the dwarf issue. “Large numbers of dwarfs and midgets are happily married to persons of normal height around the world”, she said. “They even have children together".

She said that Customs had become the new arbiters and enforcers of the Classification Act and were now stopping all imported adult films from overseas that they considered could possibly be Refused Classification if submitted. This denied Australian distributors the chance to edit a film to meet Australian standards. When applied to magazines it denied distributors the right to post-print modify in order to get a classification. “This is often the same material that is quite legal to possess in Australia and legal to be delivered by Telstra onto your computer.

"Customs were now routinely 'red-lining' all shipments of adult material and spending many hours watching porn on the docks and looking at adult magazines under magnifying glasses. Ms Patten said that this represented a complete waste of taxpayer’s money and that Customs officers were there to stop drugs, weapons and exotic organisms at our borders and not to try and set the moral tone of the nation. “We call on the Minister to put in place a moratorium on seizures of adult material (unless child pornography is suspected) while the Australian Law Reform Commission review of the Classification Act is being completed”, she said. “The convergence of media has meant that Customs are now prosecuting people for importing material via a boat or a plane, that is perfectly legal to import on a telephone line”.

 

 

Customs explain the MIDGET MANIA confiscations

In September 2001, the OFLC banned the original MIDGET MANIA following an application from the Department of Justice and the Attorney General. Customs used this as a reason for taking MIDGET MANIA VOL 7 and 8.

 

Customs defends porn raids
canberratimes.com.au, November 2, 2011

In July, Customs officers seized 50 so-called ''dwarf porn'' titles from the Midget Mania series.

A Customs spokesperson said the titles were held for assessment in Sydney by Customs and Border Protection, as the films had not previously been submitted to the Classification Board for classification.

The spokesperson said a DVD from the same series had previously been refused classification by the board.

'The DVDs were deemed to contain material that would be considered objectionable,'' the spokesperson said.

'In particular, the assessing officers judged that the videos depicted sexualised violence, offensive fetishes and coercion.''

In total, Customs seized 1226 items of ''objectionable material'' in the 2010-11 financial year. Customs said a number of its staff were specially trained to identify imported material that has been, ''or would be'', refused classification, and which cannot be brought into Australia without prior permission.

''This is part of our normal activity, and is designed to protect the Australian community from illegally imported goods.

''We assess travellers and cargo for a wide range of risks, every day.

''When material is detained for assessment, it is assessed on the basis of the activity being portrayed, not on the stature of the performers, unless those performers are minors.

''They do, however, take their responsibility to seize any material that deals with or depicts material so objectionable that it would be refused classification by the Classification Board very seriously.''

 

 

Adult Films confiscated by the Australian Customs Service (ACS)

The Australian Customs Service does not publicise the adult films that they confiscate. We have always found this to be very unfair to anyone who attempts to do the right thing, and check the status of a film before ordering.

 

In the period 1997 to 1998, customs submitted 447 items to the Classification Board; by 2006 to 2007, this was down to four items. In their 2003 to 2004 Annual Report, the Classification Board explained the reason for this huge drop.

 

At the request of the ACS, nine sessions were held for ACS officers in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, and Sydney, resulting in 137 people being trained.

Officers were trained in applying Regulation 4A of the Prohibited Imports Regulations, and comparing this regulation, and the refused classification category of the National Classification Code.

The training enables ACS officers to make decisions about intercepted material and only refer items to the Board where there is need for advice.

 

The following list has been compiled in a number of ways. These include members of the public sending in details of their confiscations, forum posts, web sites etc. Please send in details of any confiscations you may have heard of.

 

This listing is not meant to encourage anyone to attempt to import a prohibited Item; it is more likely to act as a deterrent.

Please do not direct any questions about the workings of the ACS to this site. Question them directly.

All titles have separate entries in our Adult Film Censorship Database.

We take no responsibility for errors in this list.

 

 

 

 

 

Midget Mania Vol 8

Produced by Heatwave / 2010 / USA

See the entry for MIDGET MANIA VOL 7 for full details about this title.

 

 

 

 

Mom's Cuckold 6

Directed by Bobby Manila / 2011 / USA

Date: April 2012
Rating: RC
Time: 120m
Format: DVD
Applicant: Calvista Australia

 

 

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