UBI rejects complaint against action movie

The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has rejected a complaint against the US feature film "The Glimmer Man" broadcast on Swiss television DRS. The complainant, who was supported by 87 people, was of the opinion that two provisions of programming law had been violated: on the one hand, there was a threat to public safety due to the violation of constitutional principles and, on the other, the glorification or trivialization of violence. In its assessment, the UBI comes to the conclusion that "The Glimmer Man" is neither suitable for promoting a policy directed against the rule of law, nor are the scenes in question capable of endangering public order in a concrete way. In film genres such as action films, which are primarily about entertainment, it is not possible to demand behavior that conforms to the rule of law. The broadcasting time (10.50 p.m.) satisfied the legal programming requirements. Whether a film glorifies violence and thus violates programming law depends primarily on whether the broadcast allows the audience to maintain an appropriate distance from the depictions of violence shown. In its decision, however, the appeals body states that the accumulation of depictions of unbridled violence certainly raises critical questions. In particular, there is a risk that the inhibition threshold for broadcasting films containing violent content will gradually fall lower and lower.