Airplane! The Movie

No, this isn't about the disaster-movie spoof. But it is about video releases. Anyone walking the aisles of their local video store will invariably notice that many titles these days are now sold as the regular, "theatrical" release as well as in an expanded, "uncensored and unrated" version with footage that is "too hot to see in theaters". Now I'm not particularly familiar with those movies, nor their content, but I think it brings up an interesting point to the Hollywood film makers. I don't go to see these movies or rent them on video just because they have parts in them (profanity or nudity) that I find offensive. Which is too bad, because many of these films only have profanity or nudity only to garner the PG-13 or R rating. If you want to see them, that's fine, you've got the right. But I don't because I don't want any of that stuff in my head.

Here in Utah, we have a number of video stores offering the rental of PG-13 and R rated movies that have offensive parts edited out. These new ‘clean-flicks’ have garnered a bit of popularity here among those who want family-friendly entertainment. These edits have also gotten the attention of the motion picture studios, who have threatened to litigate against these video stores for editing their movies, claiming copyright infringement. Now while I respect these stores attempt to offer more family-friendly movies, but I don't think that this justifies breaking the law. Two wrongs still don't make a right.

This seems like an ideal place for a compromise. The movie studios ought to investigate releasing alternate edits of their movies with a bit more mild content. Now I'm not referring to movies that I would imagine would cease to exist as edited versions, like American Pie or the 40 Year Old Virgin; but those movies that have brief profanity or brief nudity, which feature them only to get the ratings that the studios believe will attract viewers.

Should the studios make edited, cleaner versions of their films that are suitable for families? Oh, wait. They already do. They edit their movies for showing in long airplane trips. These versions are just what the 'clean-flicks' video stores make, but they are fully sanctioned by the film industry. The industry should make these 'airplane edits' available to the public. If the blockbuster movie store down the street can sell legal studio-produced 'Un-Rated' versions of these films, why do they always have to be the versions that are more extreme? Give us the option of these other edits as well.

A Quick Update: I just saw a commercial for a movie called 'G'. It was rated R. Is this irony?

And I forgot my bad pun of the post: On my last trip to London, I couldn't wait to see the Big Ben clock tower. Why? Because it is the 'tock' of the town.