Walmart to sell smut-free DVD player

[Nolonemo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3611969.stm

This is the Clearplay system that heretofore has only been available for PC playback. Here's their site: http://www.clearplay.com/what.asp

It seems that they have audio mute or video skip timecodes entered in a separate file, so you play the DVD in the player which is commaned to mute or skip at the offensive places. That way they have nothing to do with the original disk and are immune from copyright infringement claims. Despite the fact that I find the whole idea offensive. its very clever.

[housepig]

I hope they built in a lot of space for upgrades...

they have the "skip codes" built in for about 500 movies... and there are how many movies in commercial release now?

I wonder how many people are going to be tech-savvy enough to realize that it doesn't analyze the movie on the fly, that it's just reacting to pre-programmed lists. So when they put in a movie that is in new release, and they haven't updated their lists, all the filth is left in.

guess they'll be taking it back to Wal-Mart...

[bokkasrealm]

This news offends me. Im going to get a credit card that keeps me from buying one of these machines just so I dont make this mistake.

Only one good thing could come from this. Maybe if they are really popular and effective then we could get even more hardcore stuff released for the rest of the masses.

[louv68]

bokkasrealm,

Why is this offensive to you? Is it not a parents responsibility to try to keep smut out of their kids TV? I find nothing offensive about it. Will it work? Probably not for the reasons mentioned (too limited w/ only 500 movies recognized). It's all about choice.

[BobK]

> Despite the fact that I find the whole idea offensive.

Why would you find it offensive if you're not forced to use it? I certainly wouldn't buy it, but I find it offensive that someone like you feels that everyone else should live by your standards and not have an option like that if thay want.

[louv68]

I would be offended if I as an adult was forced to watch censored movies.
But as for where kids are concerned, I think it's a good idea in theory.

[presto]

There's actually another model that does the opposite. If you put in a movie where the actor says "Gosh Darn It", the vcr replaces the offending phrase with "G*d D*mn It". If some one says "Shoot" it is replaced with "Sh*t". I thought it somehow identified euphamisms but maybe it uses a list like the above model.

There's even a setting to just add harsh language randomly throughout a movie. That way even The Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music can be made "edgy" and "real" like Pulp Fiction.

[Capmaster]

This news offends me. Im going to get a credit card that keeps me from buying one of these machines just so I dont make this mistake.

Only one good thing could come from this. Maybe if they are really popular and effective then we could get even more hardcore stuff released for the rest of the masses.

There's a practical view
It's just another case of parenting by proxy. People are lazy and would rather have a machine decide what their kids should watch. With so many turnkey kids, it's no wonder that something like this would sell :P

here's actually another model that does the opposite. If you put in a movie where the actor says "Gosh Darn It", the vcr replaces the offending phrase with "G*d D*mn It". If some one says "Shoot" it is replaced with "Sh*t". I thought it somehow identified euphamisms but maybe it uses a list like the above model.

There's even a setting to just add harsh language randomly throughout a movie. That way even The Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music can be made "edgy" and "real" like Pulp Fiction.

That would be useful when viewing movies capped off the Turner Movie Classics channel where they edit "son of a bitch" out. This new device could restore all the context-appropriate profanity

[BobK]

> It's just another case of parenting by proxy. People are lazy and would rather have a machine decide what their kids should watch. With so many turnkey kids, it's no wonder that something like this would sell

Don't have any kids yourself, do you? (Or maybe you're rich and stay home with your kids all day- or unemployed and stay home).

[Nolonemo]

The reason I find it offensive is the same reason I find colorized versions of classic films offensive. The altered version is not the version the artist created. Oh I know that a lot of the time, even with the classics, the studios forced changes that the director didn't want (for example, A Touch of Evil springs to mind), and I have to say that I consider a good number of the films on Clearlplay's list to be commercial dreck without a smidgen of artistic sensibility involved, so perhaps this point of view is a little bogus. By the way, if you don't want your kids exposed to depravity and violence, why are you letting them watch those kinds of movies in the first place? Is the movie less violent and depraved simply because you skip over the explicit parts? What about the implicit message in the movie?

And don't get me started on sex. It's OK to show people being murdered on prime time TV in graphic detail, but a second of boob flash sends the nation into a paroxysm of wierdness?

No wonder Europeans think we're wacko.

[Capmaster]

> It's just another case of parenting by proxy. People are lazy and would rather have a machine decide what their kids should watch. With so many turnkey kids, it's no wonder that something like this would sell

Don't have any kids yourself, do you? (Or maybe you're rich and stay home with your kids all day- or unemployed and stay home).

You disagree that people are lazy when it comes to parenting? You don't think they put their careers ahead of their children just so they can have that nice Lincoln Navigator, or the Lexus SUV? Where did you say you lived ?

[qlizard]

It's about time.
This is the kind of option that should have been available to DVD consumers all along. Its amazing to me that the studios haven't figured out they will sell more product if they give consumers the choice to screen out obscenity. They must realize there are people that will not purchase a DVD because of the ridiculous and totally unnecessary inclusion of a F#ck word in PG-13 movies. Why not offer an alternate sound track where the curse words are muted? They could also offer another sound track where extra curse words are inserted.

Obviously R rated movies are intended for a different audience and people easily offended or children shouldn't be viewing them. And cursing is necessary in some movies for realism. But when it is unnecessary and blatently included simply for the rating, in movies which will obviously be viewed by children, it is a different matter.

I've been on this forum enough to know that most will be hostile about this viewpoint, but I don't give a crap.

[presto]

Edited for language:

It's about time.
This is the kind of option that should have been available to DVD consumers all along. Its amazing to me that the studios haven't figured out they will sell more product if they give consumers the choice to screen out obscenity. They must realize there are people that will not purchase a DVD because of the ridiculous and totally unnecessary inclusion of a F#ck word in PG-13 movies. Why not offer an alternate sound track where the curse words are muted? They could also offer another sound track where extra curse words are inserted.

Obviously R rated movies are intended for a different audience and people easily offended or children shouldn't be viewing them. And cursing is necessary in some movies for realism. But when it is unnecessary and blatently included simply for the rating, in movies which will obviously be viewed by children, it is a different matter.

I've been on this forum enough to know that most will be hostile about this viewpoint, but I don't give a doody.

[Capmaster]

By the way, if you don't want your kids exposed to depravity and violence, why are you letting them watch those kinds of movies in the first place? Is the movie less violent and depraved simply because you skip over the explicit parts? What about the implicit message in the movie?

Yes.

Obviously R rated movies are intended for a different audience and people easily offended or children shouldn't be viewing them. And cursing is necessary in some movies for realism. But when it is unnecessary and blatently included simply for the rating, in movies which will obviously be viewed by children, it is a different matter.

Yes.

[BobK]

> You disagree that people are lazy when it comes to parenting?

Which people? Or do you mean everyone in the world. I know dozens of parents that are not lazy when it comes to parenting or anything else. I know several people who are very lazy when it comes to thinking and they tend to make generalizations a lot.

> You don't think they put their careers ahead of their children just so they can have that nice Lincoln Navigator, or the Lexus SUV?

They? Which of the 100 million or so parents in the US are 'they'?

> Where did you say you lived ?

That really a non sequitor, but I have lived in Florida, Connecticut, Alabama, Texas, Germany, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and few other places. Based on where I've lived I've found that there are parents that are lazy and parents that aren't. I've also found that often people without a valid argument to support their position like to make very vague statements and sometimes just point a finger at 'they'.

[indolikaa]

Now THIS thread has potential.

You don't think they put their careers ahead of their children just so they can have that nice Lincoln Navigator, or the Lexus SUV?

ROTFLOL!

[BJ_M]

weird how it is that this even comes up in some parts ussually of the usa (and elsewhere to be sure) and some other countries ussually of a strong religion history .. elsewhere no one else gives a flying f**k and thier kids are perfectly normal ..

but to each thier own - though i am against censorship -- if you want to do it , well go ahead ... thats part of free speech also , and the right to ruin a perfectly good movie along the way ..

next thing you know they will be editing historical speechs like some of the presidents speechs or what they said when landing on the moon or something ...

[housepig]

I'm just glad that my parents brought me up with the tools to understand the difference between fantasy & reality, good & bad, and appropriate & inappropriate behavior, instead of blanket censoring what I could watch, read or listen to, or relying on a machine to do it for them.

[indolikaa]

next thing you know they will be editing historical speechs like some of the presidents speechs or what they said when landing on the moon or something ...

Have you read any modern US History textbooks lately?

I'm just glad that my parents brought me up with the tools to understand the difference between fantasy & reality, good & bad, and appropriate & inappropriate behavior, instead of blanket censoring what I could watch, read or listen to, or relying on a machine to do it for them.

Well said, housepig.

[BJ_M]

next thing you know they will be editing historical speechs like some of the presidents speechs or what they said when landing on the moon or something ...

Have you read any modern US History textbooks lately?

i was saying that of course with a lot of satire , because of coarse it has happened already (for those that didn't 'get it")

[lordsmurf]

weird how it is that this even comes up in some parts ussually of the usa (and elsewhere to be sure) and some other countries ussually of a strong religion history .. elsewhere no one else gives a flying f**k and thier kids are perfectly normal ..

but to each thier own - though i am against censorship -- if you want to do it , well go ahead ... thats part of free speech also , and the right to ruin a perfectly good movie along the way ..

next thing you know they will be editing historical speechs like some of the presidents speechs or what they said when landing on the moon or something ...

This is all so true.

I sometimes wonder about interest groups and congress... what the hell are they thinking. Oops... HECK... gotta watch them word filters.

[painkiller]

So, ...... (shaking my head in disbelief) ..... [no emoticon for that]

With this player, I won't be able to watch Penn & Teller's Showtime series BS (Season 1, just released)?

I put it in, the player ejects it -says THE END?

[indolikaa]

No, and it won't play Terrence and Phillip, either.

[tinpaul]

It's A DVD Player For Mormons
Maybe My Wife Will Buy One, So I Can Return it :P

[BJ_M]

no specific religion belief posts please ...

thank you .....

[TheFamilyMan]

This thread is interesting for the strong reaction of the posts. This is nothing more an option on a product. If people want this product, they will buy it and visa versa. No one is (yet) forcing everyone that all content watched on home video equipment is to be censored to the lowest common denomintor, e.g. you can watch it "comfortably" with 5 year old kids.

[chaseru]

Jack Valenti: "If you want a backup copy you buy another one."

Many on this board: "If you don't like something in a movie, don't watch it."

Me: "I want to be able to backup a DVD in case one of my kids breaks it. I also want to be able to edit a movie to make it more appropriate for my kids."

What is wrong with consumer choice? Who cares what I do with my DVD after I buy it: whether I back it up or edited it.

Nolonemo: Thanks for letting me know about this product.

[BJ_M]

"What is wrong with consumer choice"

nothing -- i dont think anyone says there is ..

[Matteo693]

This thread is interesting for the strong reaction of the posts. This is nothing more an option on a product. If people want this product, they will buy it and visa versa. No one is (yet) forcing everyone that all content watched on home video equipment is to be censored to the lowest common denomintor, e.g. you can watch it "comfortably" with 5 year old kids.

Not quite true, Family Man. I am certainly limited as to what I can watch here in Australia. I can't go and rent out, say, "Salo". Most Argento films have all the good bits hacked out. Even "Dawn of the Dead" has the scene where that guy gets his head blown off edited out! It would be good if this machine was the end-all/be-all of censorshit. But it's not, it's just part of a larger insanity.

These pro-censorshit weirdoes will try to shout us down hysterically by claiming they're "protecting the children" from "smut" and "violence" etc. Not true. They just want to protect their own fragile sensibilities!

Kids, however much they're sheltered & cotton-wooled at home, will learn most stuff at primary school. Don't underestimate kids. Do you want them to grow up to be schizophrenics? Unable to differentiate between fantasy & reality? Parents have an obligation to prepare their children for the big bad world, not hide the world from them.

Stupid, stupid people!!!

[tinpaul]

Sorry about that.