Annemarie Quill: Green when it comes to kids choices

Grand Theft Auto V has been banned by The Warehouse.

All I want for Christmas is a new pair of glasses. Renting DVDs on a rainy Saturday, the children selected one with a cute alien on the front.

Once playing in the TV room, I kept hearing peals of laughter and thought: "Good choice of movie." Then I heard the word "ass" followed by "tits". How modern, I thought. But when it got to a bad swear word I raced in to switch off the set.

"What the heck is in kids' movies these days?" I asked my daughter. She rolled her eyes and pointed out it was an R13 comedy.

Luckily, I don't think the mistake damaged them for life, but it certainly made an impression. The next week my son's teacher remarked what an amazing imagination he had. "He wrote this really interesting story about an alien. He even gave him a name, Paul."

I didn't want to tell her it was from a movie - an R13 one at that. Ratings are there for a reason and I try to follow their guidance, with a bit of flexibility. I wouldn't let my children watch an R18 movie, I probably wouldn't watch most R18s myself. Watching people being sawn to death is not my cup of tea. Nor am I the target market of R18 games such as Grand Theft Auto V. But I loved the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, and am waiting to borrow the box set of Breaking Bad from a friend who has been raving about it.

The Warehouse Group's move to reinforce family-friendly brand values by removing R18 titles is on one hand laudable that a company is listening to feedback from customers and the wider community. The move was welcomed by some groups such as the anti-exploitation Stop Demand which said the "deeply misogynistic, hyper-masculine" Grand Theft Auto game clashed with The Warehouse's values. Women's Refuge waded into the debate with chief executive Heather Henare calling it "a progressive and laudable step for a retail business" in a week "where we had White Ribbon" as well as the release of the Glenn Inquiry report.

Many may agree Grand Theft Auto is of questionable taste and finding causal links between violent R18 video games and violent behaviour is the debate of much academic research. Not everyone watching Grand Theft Auto will be inspired to go out and commit murder but there is a possibility such games incite some people to be violent. However, there is no proof.

The argument The Warehouse is saving adolescents from the game doesn't wash when you have to show ID to purchase anyway. This sort of censorship at retail level is surely subjective - for while some may find Grand Theft Auto appalling, they may think the R18 movie The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is acceptable, being an adaptation of the Stieg Larsson bestseller. The book is not banned from The Warehouse.

This is the problem when a retailer starts censorship. Where do you draw the line? What about books? A quick check on The Warehouse's online site shows you can buy Fifty Shades of Grey or the new Stephen King novel, Revival, described as "dark and electrifying about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life".

Or how about censorship of children's clothes?

Walk down the aisles of girls' clothing in The Warehouse and you will see outfits for 8-year-olds - from bikinis to miniskirts - some may think more suited to 18-year-olds.

What about food and drink? The Warehouse could also lead the way in doing something about the obesity rate by removing all chocolates, biscuits and sugary drinks from the shelves.

The dangerous potential of retailers becoming involved in the ethics of consumer choice was highlighted this week in Australia where Greens senator Larissa Waters is supporting the No December Gender campaign, aimed at breaking down stereotype buying of dolls for girls and trucks for boys.

Waters said the marketing of such toys reinforced a "belief that men and women are somehow very different".

"We know that ultimately feeds into really serious problems like domestic violence," she said.

While a link between violent video games and violence may be plausible, finding a causal link between dolls and trucks and domestic violence is a leap too far - and the Greens are under fire in Australia for suggesting as such.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dismissed the campaign as political correctness, saying parents should be allowed to do what is in the best interests of their children.

I agree. I want to be able to buy my children what I want, not what the government or a retailer tells me. I grew up playing with Action Man, his helicopters, tank and other war accessories as my elder brother was savvier than me in managing the Christmas request list. But I am the least action type you could imagine. I used to play for hours preparing imaginary feasts for teddies with my china tea set, but now I never set foot in a kitchen.

The debate over gender toys in Australia shows how censorship can be taken to an extreme to force political views on consumers. Australian National MP Mark Coulton wondered how far this could go, whether the Greens would also like to ban farm sets because they oppressed animals.

I don't think the Greens need worry too much about pink dolls and trucks and farm sets this Christmas anyway. If only that were all the kids wanted.

Santa's lists are more demanding these days. My 11-year-old daughter's letter to Santa asks him for an iPhone6, two return flights to London and some high-heeled shoes - all of which she is as likely to get as the box set of Grand Theft Auto.

-Annemarie Quill is a Bay of Plenty Times journalist.