DVD Players with Filters

[mrdreamjeans]

I read an article by Mike Snyder of USA Today earlier this week that outlines the recent development of DVD players which filter content, essentially editing out whatever the folks who make the machines deem as unacceptable. They are going to be offered at WalMart for $70.

According to Snyder, the company, ClearPlay, has "built-in 'filters' designed to skip over violence and nudity and to mute salty language on 100 movies, including blockbusters such as Terminator 3 and The Matrix. The Utah-based company is adding more films to its filter library all the time. It now has more than 600 titles available for download."

The editing decisions are not made by the movie studios or by the directors, but by a handful of people in Utah. There is another company called CleanFlicks, based in Utah, that also is selling a similar product.

"Studios and filmmakers are stunned that someone not involved in the creative process could technologically chip away at their work - and make money at it", says Snyder. "So lawsuits aiming at getting the processes deemed illegal are underway."

Some of the same issues as the music trading over the internet seem to be in play. Trademark violations? Is it a copyright violation? Is it censorship in not-too-cloaked fashion? As a songwriter and produced playwright, I have very strong feelings about the subject.

ClearPlay says they are not going to filter movies such as "The Passion of Christ" and "Schindlers List" because of their artistic merit, but who or what determines their artistic worthiness?

I avoid most violence in film and did my own version of filtering by not seeing Mel Gibson's film. If I don't like the subject or know it is not to my taste...I don't go...I don't pay for a ticket. To me that's the logical thing to do. Don't like it, don't support it, but don't mess with the vision of the work's creative team.

What do you think? I'd like to know if you agree with this trend and to hear any other comments folks might have. I'm curious to see the dialogue.

Comments

I agree...

[mncuddlecub.livejournal.com]

For the most part, I agree with what your saying, if you don't want to see/hear/smell/taste/touch/etc it, don't. My parents wouldn't let me see the movie "Robocop" when I was young because it was rated R. So I didn't see it. And you know what? I survived not seeing it till I was old enough to. I saw it once before hand on TV edited, and lost alot of what the movie was about because of the editing. I am all for protecting our children from images and all that stuff before they are ready for it. So let them see the movies that don't have it to begin with, there are plenty of them out there. If I'm so bothered by something in a movie that I'd want it gone, I wouldn't buy it to begin with.

I know I'd be upset if I did a painting, and someone erased a chunk of it because they found it offensive or something... so leave the art alone!

[mountdfw.livejournal.com]

Hrm. More and more of the movies that are being released are ultraviolent, cuss-o-licious, and packed with breasts. I can imagine trying to play J-Shock Horror films on a filtered DVD player:

*Opening credits*
*one random shot of a turtle*
*Closing credits*

Ditto heads

[bruinwi.livejournal.com]

Beyond the church-sponsored censorship, beyond the bypassing of creativity, self-expression and copywrite laws is the fact that people, in this case parents, are willing to let a machine do their thinking for them. They're even willing to shell out good money to do it.

"Is this film good enough for Junior to see?" Why worry about it, when the DVD player can make that decision FOR you?

"If I let Betty see this, does that make me a bad parent?" Hey, isn't that why you bought this DVD player? Now Betty could slip in "The Story of O", and you'll be left with no moral delimma.

"I'd hate Billy Joe to feel left out." And now, despite your narrow-minded xenophobia, your kid can keep up with the Joneses without the mental trauma of being exposed to bad language, nekkid breasts, or graphic violence. Better yet, an episode of "The Sopranos" will only last 15 minutes.

So go ahead, buy the filtered DVD and leave the thinking of what's good for your kids up to someone else, while you tune in Rush Limbaugh and let the drug-addled windbag tell YOU what to think and for whom to vote.