A Star is Born receives additional warning after two New Zealand teens are 'severely triggered' by film
The change was made after recommendations from victim-support and mental-health organisations
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New Zealand's film classification board has added a new warning to prints of A Star is Born, after recommendations from victim-support and mental-health organisations.
Stuff reports that the change were made after the studio received complaints from Police Victim Support after two vulnerable young people had been "severely triggered" by the film's stark depiction of Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper)'s suicide.
Shaun Robinson, the chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said that dozens of people had contacted the foundation to say that they had been "triggered by watching the movie", with counsellors and mental health professionals stating they had clients who were in "significant distress".
The film had not been rated by the Office of Film & Literature Classification (OFLC) for its New Zealand release, so Australia's classification of M – "unrestricted, suitable for 16 years and over" – was automatically crossed over, together with the note: “Sex scenes, offensive language and drug use”.
The descriptor "and suicide" has now been added. The head of the classification board, David Shanks, praised the film's handling of the topic but added the addition was necessary.
“Many people in New Zealand have been impacted by suicide,” he said. “For those who have lost someone close to them, a warning gives them a chance to make an informed choice about watching.”
A report last year, conducted by Unicef, revealed that New Zealand has by far the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world.
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