Like, is it worth watching a movie on the plane if you aren't going to get all the nudity and blood and guts that it would have if you saw it in the theater, or in your own living room?
After all, the children still need to be protected. And though they can't hear all the naughty things the characters might be saying, a random shot of boobs tends to be very easily noticed. It grabs your attention even if you were wholly fixated on something else. In fact, you might not even need to catch it out of the corner of your eye. Among horny enough early teenagers, there might even be a sixth sense that boobs were available to be seen in the near vicinity. (Sadly, another change with the times is that available boobs are probably not even a novelty for early teenagers, who can watch whatever they want, whenever they want, on their phones.)
Most of the movies I've watched over the years that I've been flying to and from Australia, I've assumed would be available in pretty much their original form. But if I was ever unsure, I'd usually opt for something more family friendly instead, if I had any sense that I'd be getting only some fraction of what that movie had to offer.
Finally, after more than 17 years of trips to and from Australia, including what (by my count) is now 17 individual legs, I've seen somebody do something about this.
Before almost all of the six movies across two flights I watched during my 40-hour Wednesday -- which I may discuss separately in a post tomorrow -- the following message appeared:
If you can't read the fine print, it says "Please be mindful of those around you. If you feel that you or others may find this content offensive, please choose another title."
It may be that United has been running this warning for some time, but we usually fly Qantas, and probably would have had on this trip had my wife not gotten annoyed with them about the way they did or did not refund us on some previous trip.
There are a number of noteworthy things about a message like this:
1) It is asking you to be conscientious of others, which is a rare thing these days.
2) It is not designed specifically to protect children, but perhaps also any nuns or very elderly people who might be sitting next to you.
3) It is also designed to protect you, in case you are a child, a nun or an elderly person, and don't have any idea what you're getting yourself into.
4) It confirms that you are, in fact, getting the pure and unadulterated version of the movie. I mean, if it's going to be The Human Centipede, they just don't make it available in the first place.
The profanity warning is interesting as that part can only ever be aimed at the viewer themselves, since there is no way to make the sound heard by anyone but someone wearing a pair of headphones. If the headphones came out -- which happened a lot of times for me on this flight as I wriggled and shifted -- then the movie continues without any sound.
Then again, you probably also need to protect the lip readers in the child, nun and elderly communities.
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