Airlines to Show Edgier Fare
Filed under: Newsstand, Movie Marketing
Airlines have traditionally not shown controversial films on flights, making sure to stay far away from anything that might be slightly objectionable. That's why you've never seen a disaster movie (although you've probably seen movies that have been disasters) while jetting across the continent. That may all be changing soon as airlines have decided to show more mainstream fare like Brokeback Mountain and Transamerica in an effort to upgrade in-flight entertainment, and provide more choice, variety, and current releases to passengers.Airlines edit films for content even more stringently than television networks do, cutting out language, sexuality, and anything that might even suggest that an airplane has a problem. According to the World Airline Entertainment Association, films are edited "because airlines carry young children as well as a diverse population of passengers from diverse cultures, many airlines require movie edits for language, sex, violence and political or religious content. The film distributor generally handles this process."
I remember flying from Los Angeles to Dallas and watching a cut of the Jennifer Lowe Hewitt film Heartbreakers that featured a digital insert over the cleavage of one ghost whispering actress. This reflects an oddly reciprocal effect between films edited for American vs. European airlines; Europe edits out violence, and America edits out sex. Apparently breasts might incense an American passenger to hijack the plane and fly to Club Med, but a bullet-riddled body will lull them into complacency.
I suppose I can understand the need to edit films on flights, because in a way it is forced viewing. You can't exactly get up and leave the theater if something on the screen bothers you. It is also understandable that you wouldn't want to watch anything that features a spectacular plane crash on a flight, for obvious reasons. However, more planes are starting to feature in-flight entertainment that allows each individual passenger to choose what they want to watch. What happens if the person next to you on that JFK-to-SFO flight wants to watch something featuring ultra-violence and you find that objectionable? It's hard to go through a flight with blinders on, but perhaps the next-generation of flight entertainment will feature a digital alternative.
What do you think? Should films be edited for airlines, or should you be able to watch whatever you want?









Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-16-2006 @ 12:41PM
Jurgen said...
My favorite in-travel movie experience happened on a Dominican bus going from Puerto Plata to Santo Domingo. The movie: Speed. I am not making this up.
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10-16-2006 @ 8:44PM
Geoff said...
Two things: one, there should be more choice. Have two films running, or something, and a way of swapping between them.
Two, cutting is fine in that TV's been doing it for years, but it should be made clear at the start of the film that this is not the 'full' version.
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10-16-2006 @ 9:11PM
Josh Boelter said...
British Airways doesn't censor movies; or at least they didn't the last time I flew B.A. I turned on my TV on the flight to "Love, Actually" which is your standard Richard Curtis romantic comedy, except with more nudity and swearing. All the nudity was there on the screen while I flew from Detroit to London.
Granted, it's a transatlantic flight, so everyone has their own little screen to look at, but there's nothing stopping a kid from watching the same topless woman in "Love, Actually."
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10-19-2006 @ 11:07PM
Stephen Mellor said...
I've seen Brokeback Mountain on several flights now, all outside the US of course. SYD -> LAX on QF; NRT -> PEK on JL; and PVG -> NRT also on JL.
All personal screens. But isn't that the way it should be?
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10-20-2006 @ 8:15AM
Caro said...
I would like to see more selections for young children and teens along with more mature viewing. There should be a choice. I do object to sex, nudity and extreme violence while we are captive on the flight. Cutting and editing is fine with me.
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10-20-2006 @ 8:18AM
Laura said...
Actually, I just returned from Europe (Oct 2) via Continental and they showed the Poseidon Adventure as one of the inflight movies. I was a little surprised!
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10-20-2006 @ 8:32AM
CW said...
As stated, everyone is pretty much "stuck" on the plane, so, unless there are individual monitors, I definitely think they should edit. There is no way I want to sit on a plane and watch anything too graphic or too sexually explicit. I wouldn't watch it at home, so why would I want to watch it with strangers? Personally, I wouldn't want a guy watching sex and nudity while sitting right next to me.
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10-20-2006 @ 8:39AM
vani said...
So Stephen seen broke back mountain several times huh ???
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10-20-2006 @ 8:47AM
AC said...
In July, I was on a flight from Venice,Italy to Philadelphia, on USAir, and 4 movies were shown. The first 3 were normal boring airline movies, but the fourth, to my utter surprise and delight, was an uncut, unedited showing of "Blazing Saddles"! Enough said.
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10-20-2006 @ 9:43AM
Teresa said...
There should be sections on the plane, so that when choosing a seat, you can also select whether you want to sit in a section that only shows G rated movies (even with individual screens). As a mom of young kids, I do NOT want my kids exposed to inappropriately violent or sexualized material.
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10-20-2006 @ 9:57AM
rene said...
I'm not a prude. I'm an attractive 42 yr old woman w/ two grown daughters...but I'm sick to death of having other females bodies shoved in my face whether I want to see it or not. It makes me feel like crap, & I know perfectly attractive woman that feel the same. We are sick of it...now combine that w/ the overpriced airline ticket...Oh the joys of travel
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10-20-2006 @ 10:06AM
Donna said...
Honest to goodness, flying from Sydney, Australia to Honolulu on American Airlines they were showing THE ABYSS!!! What was even scarier was when one of our engines went down and they had to land our plane in Pago Pago. I could not believe that flying over the Pacific Ocean, they thought it a good idea to show THE ABYSS!!!! YIKES!
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10-20-2006 @ 10:42AM
Devynn said...
how about NO in flight movies? in this day and age of portable dvd players, if you are that desperate for a screen in your face, bring your own. course, that won't happen b/c the movie and airline industries are too greedy for it NOT to happen. i don't think violence of ANY kind should be shown on a plane. it just doesn't seem right, you know? now, that leaves sex. toned down for the masses, and i'm ok with it b/c you are "STUCK" there for several hours. a FULL day in some cases. but why sex over violence? while they are both natural parts of life, i just perfer sex over violence. ESPECIALLY on a plane. with the airways being what they are these days, why not groove to nature, you know? and to the lady who doesn't feel good when a sexier body is "thrown" in her face: you ARE a prude, if you can't handle it. that's one thing i will say our overseas counterparts are better then us at. i don't know why americans are so hell bent against the most beautiful thing in nature.........
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10-20-2006 @ 10:47AM
TERRY said...
My favorite in flight movie was when I was going from Atlanta to Costa Rica. It was Final Destination! All of the overhead screens were playing it. The best was when the plane exploded after take off. I saw a few good facial expressions with that scene!
Rene,from the above post. You may have a few short comings as a woman. You are tired of seeing other women pushed in front of you? Maybe you need to work on yourself a little harder.....
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10-20-2006 @ 10:52AM
cbs said...
I took a 10 hour overseas flight with my 4 year old. Thank God I was well prepared and had tons of activites because the only thing for kids was a 2 hour cartoon reel that just kept repeating over and over. They really need to add more kid friendly choices. I was then on a four hour domestic flight on an ancient plane that did not even have monitors or head phones. I thought those were pretty standard these days for long flights, but apparently I was wrong. Maybe because more people are bringing their own electronics, the airlines don't feel like they need to provide as much. No problem, but then don't charge us as much either!!
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10-20-2006 @ 10:55AM
Thomas said...
I was on a Virgin Atlantic flight back from London and they had "The Nortorious Betty Page" as a movie option. The film theme is mature and yes (sarcastic GASP!!) there is nudity. But the film was excellent and Gretchen Moll is supposedly in line for an Oscar nomination for her leading role (she deserves it).
Quite frankly, the people who would go into a road rage-style fit over such a film are not very likely to go on an international flight anyway, perhaps not even board a plane ever. I have in mind close-minded "born again" Bible thumpers who typically do not fly IN a plane, but rather the rest of us in America fly OVER them.
And the writer is correct: IIRC, another British Airways flight aired the (totally superfluous) new King Kong movie, best known for its bloated budget than anything else. The film had a lot of (absolutely unecessary) violence edited out.
It is an interesting dichotomy, how Europe censors gratuitous violence and America has to edit out a boob because some Baptist from the Bible belt might have a conniption on the airplane. Said Bible thumper OTOH probably wouldn't bat an eye if the unedited King Kong showed someone getting dismembered. Yes, we live in "interesting times"...
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10-20-2006 @ 11:20AM
Helene said...
My first time flying was newark to orlando and they showed Blown Away with Jeff bridges.
I have to say i was very impressed when we recenlty flew hom from London Heathrow on Virgina Atlantic they have an incredible selection of tv, movie, music and games great airline for all ages.
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10-20-2006 @ 11:23AM
Ellen said...
My point of view on this subject is from a different perspective. I am a flight attendant. Dealing with upset passengers, no matter what the reason, while being held captive in a "tin can" can create more problems, disruptions for other passengers, and yes even safety issues. Come on folks, if you really want to see a particular movie that might be offensive to others, rent it or go to the theater. For now accept that you are in a "g" rated audience and sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.
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10-20-2006 @ 11:38AM
Richard said...
Captive audience who can't leave the theater? Yes. Need something to do on long flights? Yes. As a former B-52 pilot, whose normal flying missions ranged from 9 to 14 hours at all times of day and night, I understood more than fighter pilots what instructors told us during pilot training: flying consists of long periods of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror. And sheer terror rarely occurs on military or civilian flights.
So, how do we reconcile these two needs? Passengers could read more. (Perhaps the book publishing industry could get more involved with this.) And people could talk more. But I'm being idealistic and silly; our culture has somehow evolved away from reading and the art of meaningful conversation. (Like the one with the gorgeous and intelligent California blonde I had the pleasure of sitting next to on my return to Ft. Worth from Pittsburgh.) Better solution? The airlines ought to do more work to find better movies for everyone.
There are enough good "old" movies from 1940s through 1990s, black-and-white and color, that many people have never seen--and many are family friendly, just less popular because they don't have sex and violence in them. For example: Searching for Bobby Fischer (do check it out), The Rookie, HUD, Giant, To Kill a Mockingbird, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Cool Hand Luke, and many others. And now there are plenty of television series on DVD--I would love a flight where I could catch all of Lost, 24, House, ER or some other series that is continuous where I may have missed espisodes or just skipped the whole season. There are plenty of choices for the airlines--and a few choices for the passenger, which includes bringing a book along.
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10-20-2006 @ 11:51AM
Ellen said...
As a seasoned traveler (12 overseas trips in 3 years)I can't imagine making these trips without decent movies to watch. Continenal has the right idea,personal screens for each passenger with personal headphones and a WIDE variety of choices. Adjacent screens are not that much of a problem, unless you gawk at your neighbor's choice...which I consider rude in the first place. Perhap the blatent scenes should be editted, but let the adults (which comprise the VAST majority of passengers) have something to help pass the time....you can't play video games for the whole 10 hours!
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