Originally Posted by
Helena Handbaskets
As a parent of two young children, I'm more sympathetic to the complaints than most people on this thread. To the suggestion that we simply choose not to watch movies that are objectionable, I might point out that the reverse is applicable. That is, if the movie has been sanitized to protect children and is too bland for your taste, you need not watch it.
I think, though, that misstates the issue which is: "To what extent must activities like flying on commercial aircraft be sanitized, by law, so that they become 'child-safe'?" I provided this link on another thread:
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/most...minorities.php
But I think the proposed law requiring a separate family seating section is just ludicrously impractical and naive. What I think would work better is requiring airlines to offer (or, preferably, if they will, allowing airlines to offer without legal interference) personal DVD players to families with children who request them when booking their ticket, along with at least one child-appropriate DVD.
Sorry, but you completely misunderstand the result of this law. Airlines will not spend the money to establish and maintain a separate "family zone," with segregated IFE and complicated booking issues (what happens if no seats are available in the "family zone"?). Instead, it will implement the cheapest and easiest solution to comply with this idiotic legislation: Only show G and PG rated movies to the entire plane.
Most importantly, it would relieve the airline of any liability for emotional distress suffered by a child that "had no option" but to watch the objectionable content shown on the main screen.
I'm still looking for the specific language of the proposed statute. I'll bet you anything that it can be construed as extending to pax' private viewing on laptops and iPods. Not only will we have no option other than child-appropriate tripe, but we'll be precluded from bringing our own alternatives.