YouTube and Gay Content

YouTube recently announced a deal to license content from the BBC. Both companies are great places to find interesting and fun things to watch. However, as YouTube works to become a player in the online video market, I do have one criticism. When I recently tried to open a YouTube clip from the UK show Skins, which was linked by a commenter on AfterElton, I was surprised to read "This video may contain content that is inappropriate for some users as flagged by YouTube's user community." As you may see below, to view the content from the Skins clip one must be 18 years old. I say "may" because occasionally one may circumvent the system by clicking on the clip What's the problem with an age 18 requirement you ask? Well, a few months ago I interviewed Kirby Dick, the director of This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which explores the MPAA rating system for movies (NC-17, R, PG13, etc). The interesting part of the documentary for me was Dick's argument that movies are censored by the MPAA, especially when it comes to gay content. An NC-17 rating can mean economic death for a movie. This is true because retailers and exhibitors may not show the movie. Gay movies are especially hurt when gay sexuality is portrayed in a frank manner. As companies like YouTube grow in cultural importance like Hollywood once did and enforces its rating systems, I hope the participants involved are cognizant of the message they are sending with regard to their treatment of gay content. I want to make it clear that YouTube does have gay themed content for which the age requirement is not a factor. The labeling of the content as inappropriate for those under 18 appears arbitrarily enforced. Every other clip from Queer As Folk is rated age 18 appropriate, but every other clip from Queer as Folk is not. I also want to make it clear that I'm not a free speech purist. The 18 years of age requirement is reasonable in some cases. However, if one is going to use a community standard upon which to judge age appropriateness one should realize the potential for bias against certain groups. This is the point from which one can draw lessons from the MPAA. Our culture acts on us in subtle ways. Community ratings can reflect the same subtle bias that we see around us. Why does this matter? Well, I think it matters primarily because of the ways in which people assimilate information about being gay. People are coming out or questioning at younger and younger ages. They obtain information from different places including entertainment sources like YouTube.