WARNING: Some of the language and images in this story are sexually graphic.
(CNSNews.com) -- Streaming media giant Netflix is using Facebook's social media platform to offer the public a mobile game called “Hand Masters: The First International Masturbation Game.”
The game is affiliated with the Netflix series “Big Mouth,” an “edgy adult animated comedy” that portrays pubescent teen characters in a variety of sexual situations relentlessly egged-on by male and female “hormone monsters.”
“Big Mouth” is graphic and vulgar in language and imagery. The episodes examine a variety of adolescent issues, such as sexual arousal, pubic hair, sperm, a girl’s period, breasts, masturbation, intercourse, condoms, and myriad related topics.
Melissa Henson, who runs the Advertiser Accountability Campaign for the Parent’s Television Council (PTC), said that Netflix’s “Big Mouth” is an “animated series that sexualizes children in incredibly sick and disturbing ways” and “might be the filthiest thing … anywhere.”
“I think Netflix knows that kids are watching” this program, Henson told CNSNews.com. “Let’s face it, if you’re an adult you’re probably not going to have a lot of interest in reliving puberty. This is going to appeal mostly to kids who are going through it, on the verge of going through it, the kind-of gross-out humor that they use is the kind that appeals to kids.”
“The animated format makes it appear that it’s intended for kids,” she said. “So, despite the MA rating, all the signs are there that this is really meant for kids who are 12, 13, 14 years old.”
The series is now in its second season and the mobile game “Hand Masters” was released to coincide with the latest episodes. The game is accessible through Facebook. Also, there is a Facebook page and a “Big Mouth” video on Facebook explaining the “international masturbation game.”
In the video presenting the game an animated hand is shown holding a mobile phone and shaking it a la masturbation. Then the screen is filled with an exploding white substance (animated sperm).
In the next scene, the hormone monster from Big Mouth tells a young male character, “Maybe you should, you know … Masturbate!” The young boy, dressed in a basketball uniform, stares at his crotch and says, “I’ve never really done that before.”
At that point, an image of the mobile phone and the Hand Masters game comes on the screen with the button “Start Playing.” The image then displays the words being typed in: “Big Mouth – Hand Masters.”
More animated sperm hits the screen and then the boy is shown with his hands in his shorts and the hormone monster says, “You’re doing great, twist harder and faster …” Then it flashes to the mobile phone image, more animated sperm, and the monster says, “That was legendary, Nick.”
The video ends with an animated image that says, “Big Mouth Presents Hand Masters, Play With Yourself Now!”
To play the actual game, one has to shake one’s mobile phone “as fast as humanly possible” until the hormone monster tells you to stop, which takes about 20 seconds, as explained by Pedestrian.tv.
The hormone monster then says, “Now drop your socks and pick up your c***s, it’s time to roll.” (Asterisks added.)
“Every time you play the game,” reported Pedestrian.tv, “you’ll be gifted with neato sex tips like ‘Vaginas don’t come with a GPS, so don’t be afraid to stop and ask for directions,’ or ‘Sex is all about give and take. Pleasure begets pleasure,’ or ‘The internet is not for diagnosing yourself with STDs. It’s for looking at videos of otters swimming and holding hands.’”
Another video posted at the Netflix Italia page on YouTube employs a young male actor, Luis Sal, to explain the game. “Roll up your sleeve,” states Netflix.
CNSNews.com contacted Facebook several times by email and asked why it was offering a game that promotes masturbation and whether encouraging masturbation is part of Facebook’s mission.
A Facebook spokesman did not answer the questions directly but, in an email, stated that the game was not created in partnership with Facebook and that its "community standards" allow for certain adult/sexual material to be posted if it is in a satirical or humorous context.
The spokesman further said that there is a 16+ age-restricted warning on the screen for the mobile game.
Netflix’s “Big Mouth” is rated TV-MA, which means it is intended for mature audiences only. However, as the PTC’s Melissa Henson reported on her blog, “Big Mouth” co-creator Nick Kroll is well aware that kids watch his show.
“That’s the advantage of being on Netflix versus trying to put a movie out in theaters,” Kroll said. “I guess parents can put parental controls on Netflix—we’ve probably dealt with a little of that.”
“I was at my nephew’s bar mitzvah right after the show came out,” he continued, “and my nephew’s friends were like, ‘We watched this show,’ and then I saw their parents and the parents were like, ‘Our kids are watching the show, and it’s giving them a vocabulary and a platform to talk about these things.’”
“Selfishly—I made this show—I want as many people to see it as possible,” said Kroll.
Kroll also appears in a video on Facebook promoting “Hand Masters.” He states, “Enjoy! And let the best hand win … or finish … or cum … Whatever – I will stop now. Stroke of luck for all of you.”
Henson said “Hand Masters” is “further proof, as if any was needed, that Netflix is a bad actor – especially where children are concerned.”
