Content Censoring DVD players (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

To reiterate what the other (closed) thread mentioned...Do people have a tough time making sense of movies on TV? Movies on network TV edit out ALL the 'inappropriate' parts, yet people still watch and understand them.

I think people are blowing things out of proportion.

 

[DaveGTP]

And I guess that's why, although I personally disapprove of the whole selective censorship concept behind it, I am forced to admit that it is technology that should be allowed to exist. Freedom works both ways. Not right of me to push my value system on others. But I will use MY freedom to say, I HATE the idea.

 

[Albert_M]

Doesn't sound like this technology allows for parents deciding, it just does it for them. This is silly. Parents need to pay attention a little on what media they watch/rent/buy/see/listen to... How lazy have we become and I totally agree that while sex and language will be cut good ol' violence will be there and then we have a country that freaks out because a boob was seen for a half second on tv. Not to get too off topic, but that is the inherent foundation for all of this.

I agree that it's a choice and if people want it, so be it, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a ridiculous concept.

 

[MarkHastings]

That's fine if you don't like it (you have every right to), but you don't have the right to tell ANYONE how to raise their own children.

The whole "lazy parents" argument is quite an ignorant statement to make. It's sad when you have a product that supports decency and people turn it into some sort of evil device or blame parents for being bad parents.

If you want to talk about the boob incident, it's not the fact that people our outragged that's the problem, it's the fact that a lot of people were "o.k." with it.

Sad, sad, sad :frowning:

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Once again, this is up to YOU to decide. If you want to keep the sex and language, feel free. If you want to cut the violence, you can do that to. Why are you upset with what other people watch in their own homes?

While I am NOT planning on buying one of these, I do have kids and I can honestly see the appeal for some parents.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Does it cut out Osama Bin Laden jokes or violence against Pez dispensers? If this allowed me to get unedited Family Guy episodes, that would be great. (But I'm not holding my breath.)

 

[Albert_M]

Well, I do agree that was not appropriate. However, it should not have been such a big deal. We have such warped concept of sex in this country and if she hadn't of done that, the otherwise risque performance would not have received any bad feedback, but because America saw her boob for a a second, we are going to die. How do you explain a bodypart to your kid blah blah blah

We'll live.

Anyway, I jsut meant to say that this device is not really needed, that's all. It's not an attack on those that want to control what their kids watch (quite the opposite).

 

[Malcolm R]

I think it's a very valid argument in this particular case. This is yet another "hands off" method of child rearing that further disconnects parents from their responsiblity to their child(ren). Instead of taking an active interest and parental role in what their kids are watching, they can just slap a DVD in the player and let the machine make the decisions for them.

If you can't be bothered to screen movies with your kids, or before you allow your kids to watch them, then perhaps you don't have enough time in your schedule to have kids, period. Contrary to popular belief, video players are not manufactured to be surrogate parents.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of films released every year, the vast majority of which are aimed at the kids/family market. I find it unbelievable that anyone can be so hard up for entertainment that they cannot find something suitable for their children without resorting to machine-editing of films made for adults.

Besides, kids observe and participate in far worse levels of filth everyday at school and while hanging with their friends. I don't understand what parents think this device does to protect their children from anything they haven't already seen/said/done.

 

[MarkHastings]

Well, not to get too far off topic, but as others have mentioned, it wasn't JUST the boob thing, it was the ENTIRE half time show that people had issues with. The boob thing was just the topper and an easy target to foucs on.

It's the bigger picture that we need to focus on. I think it's short-sighted to blame recent events on Janets Boob, there's a LOT of other stuff that has attributed to it.

Just like building made of bricks. If someone walks by every day and takes a brick out of the wall, the wall will not fall, but there will be a point where someone takes away a brick and the ENTIRE wall will come crashing down. Also, there's bound to be a big news story about it and some major damage, and guess who gets blamed? The ONE person who took the final brick out and not necessarily the others who took bricks out previously.

Does this one person deserve the entire blame? Sure, he deserves some, but not all.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Everyone seems to think that the only market for players like this are families with children. What about people who are generally offended by coarse language, violence and/or nudity? I work in a movie theatre, and have lost count of how many times people have walked out, offended by this type of content. This is another market for this type of player, so don't assume that its only purpose is as a babysitter. I don't fit into either group, but I do understand why they would want something like this.

 

[Malcolm R]

Then they should have spent 10 seconds looking at the film rating and the reasons for it. There is NO reason for anyone to be surprised at the content of a film in this day and age. There are dozens of sources to obtain this information, but most are too lazy to look for it. They'd rather bitch and moan after the fact and blame their incompetent decision-making on everyone else.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

While undoubtedly some parents fall into this category, I also think that this is an arrogant generalization.

For example, I have watched the movie ET and I think that it's OK for my son to watch it (in fact he loves it). The only problem is that he repeats everything he hears, and other parents get quite offended when my son calls their kids "penis breath" (and he has done this). So I have the following options:
1. Don't let him watch ET at all (this is what we've actually done).
2. Only let him watch it when we can sit down with him and then memorize where the scene is and make sure to hit mute at the right instant (this is often not logistically feasible, and is prone to human error).
3. Go with an automated system that will automatically mute the word.

I fail to see why choosing #3 would automatically make me an unfit and lazy parent, but I'm sure that your probably right. :rolleyes

 

[Malcolm R]

Then you've made the right choice. If a film contains objectionable content, select another film. There are thousands of films that don't contain the phrase "penis breath."

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

I think that the whole point of this player is that it allows them to DO something rather than just "bitch and moan". In fact, this player would probably significantly reduce the amount of complaining, allowing you more feedom to see more boobies.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Such as letting a machine/program protect kids from internet porn? What lazy parents, those users of NetNanny!

 

[Malcolm R]

What's the point. There are no minds to be changed here.

 

[MarkHastings]

Are you reading what you are posting? We're talking about a player that converts (for example) PG-13 to something more appropriate for younger viewers by skipping a swear word or (in the example of Titanic) a nude scene.

PG-13 is the perfect example. Plenty of PG-13 movies are ok for younger viewers, but PG-13 also allows the word "Fuck" to be uttered once during the movie. Is it too unreasonable for a parent to want that skipped over? We're talking about .0001% of the movie!!!

And to those who think that people who use this device are "lazy" parents, I can give PLENTY of reasons why the pre-screening movies (for offensive content) is not a feasable solution.

 

[Malcolm R]

I just think it's precious that a swear word can make parents have such a complex when every other word out of little Junior's mouth on the playground is probably the same or worse. Assuming a child watching a PG-13 film is actually a teenager, I'm sure they've heard the word before and probably used in a multitude of different and imaginative ways.

 

[Chris_Morris]

:rolleyes
I won't even go there.


Chris

 

[Malcolm R]

How ironic.