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New DVD player cuts out the smut

HexMonkey

HexMonkey

Administrator emeritus
Original poster
Feb 5, 2004
2,240
505
New Zealand
I just saw this and thought it looked interesting. What do you guys think of it?

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=510427

New DVD player cuts out the smut

By David Usborne in New York

Like some kind of electronic air freshener, a new generation of DVD players is poised to clear the smut, violence and bad language out of living rooms all across America.

Thomson Inc is preparing to ship the revolutionary machines to both Wal-Mart and Kmart in the United States in the next few weeks. The family-values brigade is already applauding, while the Hollywood community is pursuing a lawsuit to have them banned.

The players, which will sell for $79 (£45), are equipped with technology by a Salt Lake City-based company called ClearPlay. They will be pre-programmed to spare viewers segments of films that feature offensive language, excessive violence or sexual content, by muting the sound or skipping ahead.

Several leading Hollywood figures, however, including Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh, are backing a lawsuit, arguing that the technology will violate the rights of directors who expect their works to be viewed in their entirety, without censorship.

"In the guise of making films 'family-friendly', ClearPlay seeks to make whatever 'edits' they see fit to any material they don't like," said the Directors Guild of America. "By not seeking the consent of the director, whose name on the movie reflects the fact that the film comprises his or her work, or of the studio as copyright holder, they can and do change the very meaning and intent of films."

The machines will be pre-programmed to edit about 500 titles. By inserting ordinary DVDs of these films, consumers will be able to select from 14 levels of filtering. Choose the top level and you might wonder what will be left of some of Hollwyood's more lurid offerings. What would the running time be for a tidied-up Arnold Schwarzenegger feature - two minutes?

Thomson, which markets its products under the RCA brand in America, decided to push ahead with the new players in spite of the lawsuit. "It's another example of a way technology can be used by a parent to monitor, if not control, what a child is seeing," said spokesman Dave Arland.
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Why would a parent purchases or rent a DVD with bad language, nudity, and violence in the first place? Whatever happened to parent discipline? I certainly wouldn't waste my money twice, first on the machine, and then the DVD. All you have to do is read.
 
As we've discussed in the past, many parents don't want to be responsible. Therefore, technology should be their nanny.

Did you see news about a recent report that t.v. for 1-2 year olds seems to contribute to ADHD/ADD? It should bring parents back to reading to their child.
 
not only that, but the technology is not yet smart enough to filter the good from the bad...i remember back when i was 15ish or so, looking for information on coming out as a lesbian, i found a website that pointed out a web filter would remove all references to homosexuality in an article, rendering it unreadable and useless. The article in question? Resources on and support for teens coming out and feeling depressed and suicidal (I don't know what the numbers are like now but back then the estimate was 1/3 of all teen suicides had to do with sexuality.) So these filters meant to "protect" kids were keeping information that could have reached out to someone out of their hands...sounds like these dvd players have that same discretionary power-what will this dvd player do if i put in, say, schindler's list? its incredibly important and educational, but will the dvd player "ok" my viewing it?
 
XnavxeMiyyep said:
Why are they doing something so incredibly stupid!? If you don't want to watch "smut", don't put it in your DVD Player!
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because the evil presence of progress and independent filmmaking might tempt children into watching things that will cause them to go blind and steal their souls. you know, like lord of the rings and harry potter. something wicked this way comes....

(i realize LOTR barely qualifies as indie (wasn't it produced by the indie branch of the studio?), and harry potter definitely not, but i blanked on indie movies kids might see.
 
question fear said:
because the evil presence of progress and independent filmmaking might tempt children into watching things that will cause them to go blind and steal their souls. you know, like lord of the rings and harry potter. something wicked this way comes....

(i realize LOTR barely qualifies as indie (wasn't it produced by the indie branch of the studio?), and harry potter definitely not, but i blanked on indie movies kids might see.
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Considering that LOTR and the Harry Potter books/films both deal with sorcery, many people feel that they are pure evil and should not be available to children. A couple of groups in this area have certainly made their thoughts known about how evil the Harry Potter books are.

Imagine if the kids find mum and dad's honeymoon video which they just transferred to DVD. This technology certainly wouldn't shield them from that. :eek:
 
sonyrules said:
Looks like another parenting tool. I say they make one with barney on it spitting fire everytime a cuse word or sex sence is displayed...
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I would say another anti-parenting tool. It should be the parents deciding what there kids whatch, not some company in Salt Lake City.
 
question fear said:
not only that, but the technology is not yet smart enough to filter the good from the bad...i remember back when i was 15ish or so, looking for information on coming out as a lesbian, i found a website that pointed out a web filter would remove all references to homosexuality in an article, rendering it unreadable and useless. The article in question? Resources on and support for teens coming out and feeling depressed and suicidal (I don't know what the numbers are like now but back then the estimate was 1/3 of all teen suicides had to do with sexuality.) So these filters meant to "protect" kids were keeping information that could have reached out to someone out of their hands...sounds like these dvd players have that same discretionary power-what will this dvd player do if i put in, say, schindler's list? its incredibly important and educational, but will the dvd player "ok" my viewing it?
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many people would rather their children suicide than come to terms with their own homosexuality. Years ago i was a gay teen suicide counselor, trust me when i say this, even tho it sounds absurd.

Censorship, What can be said that hasn't already happened in places like Nazi germany?

paul
 
i thought this was what the levels were for on the dvd's that parents could unlock and lock with the password. ive never played with it but my friend had real strict parents back in early jr high and elememantary and i remember his parents doing that.

iJon
 
paulwhannel said:
many people would rather their children suicide than come to terms with their own homosexuality. Years ago i was a gay teen suicide counselor, trust me when i say this, even tho it sounds absurd.
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Well, in that situation, I personally would advise waiting for a bit to tell them, say until after you move out and become independent, or just getting the **** out of there. But that's OT ;)

This thing is yet another tool for the lazy parent.
 
i tend to find that parents who shield their children from obscenities (swear words) usually end up with children who swear a lot more.

this is just my experience though.
 
First off:
If I pop in a porno in there? Is it going to censor the whole thing or whats going on there?

Second:
There should be a technology the OPPOSITE of this!
Instead of 'drat' they replace it with 'damn'. Instead of a paper cut they have a blood spray.

Instead of a hot girl you get a nak... erm never mind. ;)


Come on World!

Where is the GOOD technology.
 
As stupid as this seems, I hope that it will relieve pressure from media companies to self-censor their own creations. Instead of having to make everything bland, for high sales in middle America, they can make one true product, and whoever wants to can censor themselves.

Pity for the kids of prudes though ;)
 
MarkCollette said:
As stupid as this seems, I hope that it will relieve pressure from media companies to self-censor their own creations. Instead of having to make everything bland, for high sales in middle America, they can make one true product, and whoever wants to can censor themselves.

Pity for the kids of prudes though ;)
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that's very true, i never thought of that. i was just hearing about how companies are afraid to cross the line into nc-17 because of the 'porn' connotation... even tho 30 years ago, it was an acceptable rating to produce. There are a couple of NC-17 movies out now i think, to test the waters, but they're encountering hurdles as some theaters refuse to play them flat out :rolleyes:

paul
 
bousozoku said:
Considering that LOTR and the Harry Potter books/films both deal with sorcery, many people feel that they are pure evil and should not be available to children. A couple of groups in this area have certainly made their thoughts known about how evil the Harry Potter books are.
QUOTE]

Here's a sad story I just heard today. My Dad took his grandson, who is my newphew, to some Christmas party (they're all Christians). My nephew was crying because he was worried that if he got the present he wanted, which was a Harry Potter lego set, then his mother wouldn't allow him to keep it.

Tell me if I'm crazy, but I simply plan on telling my kids, before they read the Potter books, that magic is make believe. Like Santa Claus, it's just some fun and fanciful thing that people amuse themselves with.

I think that the only thing I have against those books is that because the main character has trust issues, he tends not to tell his friends or elders certain things, which leads to trouble later on. Children should know to trust their parents. Other than that, I think they're great for kids.

Especially that rules are only for those who need rules. See them break a few, realise it's not so bad, break some more, get hurt a bit, and learn rules are there to protect those who lack experience or judgement. Treat them as guidelines.

Err, I think I've digressed a bit... :)
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paulwhannel said:
that's very true, i never thought of that. i was just hearing about how companies are afraid to cross the line into nc-17 because of the 'porn' connotation... even tho 30 years ago, it was an acceptable rating to produce. There are a couple of NC-17 movies out now i think, to test the waters, but they're encountering hurdles as some theaters refuse to play them flat out :rolleyes:
paul
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Maybe the media companies don't mind that so much. Then they can sell the theatrical version first, and later sell the "real" director's cut, and have a couple double-sells :)
 
So is this thing connected to the internet, or have a slot for smartcards of somekind? Would DVD studios have to write this extra code for the player, or would they not bother until it gets a massive market share. The whole idea seems pretty impractical to me. It's more of a device for false peace of mind.
 
<sigh> :( While I don't like this "quick fix" idea for parents who are all to willing to delegate their child rearing responsibilities, I can't help but think of the novety factor of this product. Imagine what it would be like watching "Scarface", or "American Pie" on this thing. They'd be about 20 minutes of almost random clips! :) It would be hilarious to see how badly these get chopped! Ok so those movies aren't for kids and I'd hope even lazy parents wouldn't let their kids watch them.

On the other hand I wonder if it would chop out things from Disney movies like the Mufasa's death scene, or the scenes in Monsters inc where the monsters scare little children? Both of those in particular I remember leading to some discussions with my friends little kids. With very healthy and helpful outcomes.
 
wdlove said:
Why would a parent purchases or rent a DVD with bad language, nudity, and violence in the first place? Whatever happened to parent discipline? I certainly wouldn't waste my money twice, first on the machine, and then the DVD. All you have to do is read.
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I agree. Parents are supposed to raise their children. NOT the government, or any other entity.
 
Yes, remove everything from movies that imitates life, and makes them interesting. Great idea. This one can't lose.
 
I don't have a problem with it. I wouldn't pay for one. I keep my son away from materials I don't think he can handle or should see. In the event of a lapse in vigilance or after material at the edge there is a frank discussion.

I do agree that this encourages people to use technology as a crutch but we use technology as such a crutch anyway...
 
Sounds like a retread of age-old prudish censorship and lazy parenting assistance, but at least the films are hand-edited, so it's not as bad as an indiscriminate internet filter.

That said, I can actually think of a rather strage use for this thingy. Say there's a movie I think would be worthwhile for my kids to see, or that they'll enjoy and is mostly suitable for them. But, there're a couple of sexual or particularly violent scenes that I don't feel are appropriate for them. When I was young, my parents would just tell us to cover my eyes, or fast forward a bit, or change the channel for a minute. I'd probably do the same instead of prohibiting them from seeing the movies entirely.

So, if I had a device that would automatically fast-forward for me, it'd be handy. It's a shoddy substitute to paying attention to what your kids watch (and I sure wouldn't let them watch anything at all, even with something like this kicked in), but I could see it being a bit of a hassle saver in a specific situation.

Incidentally, I had fun a couple of times watching some erotic anime (not hardcore, by the way--plot included) with a stopwatch, and seeing how short it'd be if you cut out everything offensive. 30 minutes down to 2 was the verdict--basically about three scenes of people walking on the street and the title left.
 
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