No Sex Please, Were Airborne

There is a scene in Shine in which the central character, the young Australian concert pianist David Helfgott, picks up the mail from the front hall of his London lodgings. His landlady bids him good morning and turns to watch him climb the stairs before realising that he is wearing nothing but a sweater. The scene underlines both Helfgotts naivety and his absent-minded concentration on his music.

But passengers watching the movie on United Airlines North Atlantic flights will be none the wiser. They will witness the landladys bemusement but not the reason for it. There is not a buttock to be seen.

 

Uniteds non-US rivals like to blame the cut scene on the streak of prudishness that still runs through much of American society. They probably had to keep an eye on the Bible belt, notes one.

When it comes to on-board censorship, however, US carriers are far from alone. If you are flying to the Middle East with British Airways, for example, dont expect to see Fierce Creatures, the follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda. Mark Horton, who buys films for airlines including BA and Israeli carrier El Al, says: Im not showing it on those routes because Jamie Lee Curtis wears extremely low-cut dresses and very short miniskirts and there is a lot of sexual innuendo.

Such censorship can appear patronising, says Nell McBain, director of Speed, which manages BAs in-flight entertainment. But carriers that miscalculate can be asking for trouble. Although such stories are often based on vague memories, officials recall legal action by passengers who complained about films which included nudity, and the time Moslem passengers tore down a screen when they saw a womans naked back as she climbed from the bath.

Films which upset travellers on one route are often acceptable on another. European airlines are now primarily concerned not to show gratuitous violence. Carriers based in Moslem areas or operating there are generally happier to show violent action than too much bare flesh.

There are exceptions eve to this broad rule. BA avoided showing True Lies on Arab routes. The movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cross between Rambo and James Bond saving the world from Islamic fundamentalists. It was clearly a wise decision, since the airline still had to field complaints from Arab passengers who saw the film on other services and felt it stereotyped them as terrorists.

The problem, says United, is finding a common denominator. When our customers have control of what they see passengers in first class who can select videos and watch them on handheld Sonys we dont provide edited versions. The movie would carry an 18 rating with a warning that it contained scenes showing whatever.

But when films are shown via the overhead system or on seatback screens we have to make sure that the majority of people can watch them without being offended. And that has to include children. Obviously the things we are sensitive to are violence, bad language and graphic sex. Some movies are simply too long for our schedules and will only be shown if the studio can come up with a cut version which is artistically acceptable.

United had organised focus groups of customers to test reaction to in-flight movies. It says that roughly 60 per cent of participants are in favour of editing. But, says the airline, when it is pointed out that their children could be watching, the percentage is sometimes a little higher.

Sometimes airlines are stuck with an edited copy by mistake. When BA ordered When Harry Met Sally, it requested that the films defining moment, a scene of high comedy in which Meg Ryan fakes an orgasm in a cafe, should be left in. To its chagrin, it was sent the version that had been censored for its competitors.

BA faces a completely different problem with the Oscar-winning British movie The English Patient. There are some scenes which, by choice, we might edit, says McBain. For example, there is one where someone who is believed to be a spy gets his thumbs cut off. You dont see the whole process but you see enough the wire going over the thumbs and a line of blood. I guess its pretty chilling. There is also a certain amount of nudity.

Efforts to negotiate cuts with the director proved unsuccessful. So, as an airline, you are left to decide whether to book a movie with scenes which some people might find offensive but which has just won nine Oscars, and which a huge number of other people will enjoy. We will probably get complaints, but were going to put it on anyway.

BA also draws a sharp distinction between economy cabins where films are viewed on a common, overhead screen and premium classes, with multi-channel systems. We do show completely unedited movies in Club and first class. Although it sometimes draws a passengers attention to the content of films, we dont put a health warning on every single movie.

Some films would not be offered at all, says McBain. BA would probably not, for example, show the controversial film Crash, whose characters are sexually aroused by road accidents. It might find its way into first-class video libraries , but only after very serious and lengthy consideration. We are trying to entertain people, not shock them.