- The airline-provided inflight entertainment list is generally safe for onboard consumption.
- If you’re watching something on your own device, it’s probably OK, too.
- If someone near you is really uncomfortable with something you’re watching – or if you’re really uncomfortable with something they’re watching, it’s OK to start a dialogue about it.
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Isn’t it weird when you’re watching a movie or a show on a plane and all of a sudden the characters on screen start having sex? I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was that this happened a few months ago when I was watching “Sex and the City” – the act is literally in the show’s title – but I assumed the airline would have censored out anything even remotely objectionable. So, as I’m wont to do, I had a momentary existential crisis. Was I doing something wrong? Should I have been ashamed of my life and my choices?
I always assumed if an airline was loading something onto the inflight entertainment systems it would be fine to watch, but it may be a little more nuanced than that.
Who has say over what you watch on a plane?
Everything on the airline-provided inflight entertainment list is fair game, and within reason, most of what a passenger might download to watch on their own devices is probably OK, too.
“In etiquette world we have an obligation to be mindful of those around us and that includes being mindful of what we watch,” Nick Leighton, who co-hosts the “Were You Raised by Wolves?” podcast told me. “There is a give and take. I don’t want to go out of my way to make you uncomfortable, you shouldn’t go out of your way to be watching my screen.”
Even professional traveling parents agree that on planes each person can more or less choose their own adventure.
“Everyone is entitled to watch what they want. They’re paying just like everybody else. If I felt like they were watching something that was so explicit and my kids wouldn’t stop watching it I might bring it to their attention but I wouldn’t say ‘you need to turn your movie off,’ ” Tavia Carlson, who runs the Big Brave Nomad blog told me. She said her kids, ages 9 and 7, as well as her infant, are usually distracted by their own devices or toys when they’re traveling.
Should your inflight entertainment choices be influenced by your seat neighbor?
No, but if someone near you is really uncomfortable with something you’re watching – or if you’re really uncomfortable with something they’re watching, it’s OK to start a dialogue about it.
“If you are a passenger who is seeing it and you’re bothered by it you could ask in a polite way: that movie is slightly disturbing to me, would you mind watching something else?” Leighton said.
Emily Krause, a content creator who works under the handle A Mom Explores, said it may not be ideal for travelers to watch sexually or violently explicit content near her kids, but she doesn’t feel like it’s worth making a stink over.
“I might cringe a little bit and just hope that my kids did not look over in that direction,” she told me. “I’m not going to ask someone to not watch the show they’re into because we’re on public transportation essentially.”
Do airlines censor their inflight movies?
Another reason airline-approved in-flight entertainment lists are generally safe for onboard consumption is airlines have the power to alter the content on their screens if there’s anything truly objectionable. The amount and type of content that gets cut varies based on a number of factors including the airline’s home region’s cultural sensitivities, the airline’s own time requirements, and even director and producer approval in some cases.
“Everybody deserves to watch what they want if they’re paying for their tickets. I would hope that airlines would take the helm on that,” Carlson said.
Still, Leighton added, you should be free to watch stuff you download to your own devices for the most part.
“I don’t want to live in a world where we can only watch G-rated movies on airplanes,” he said, but added “let’s not go out of our way for something provocative. We should not be watching pornography on an airplane.”
How to be a considerate passenger
As with most etiquette rules, thinking about what you watch on an airplane is just another way of showing you have respect for your fellow travelers.
“If I was seated next to a six year old kid I would definitely be like: should I watch some incredibly adult movie? I would probably think twice,” Leighton said. “You can’t know what somebody’s sensibilities are by looking at them. It’s not like you could generalize.”
Otherwise, the experts agree, you should just keep to yourself. That’s something the airlines actually make easier.
“Considering that inflight entertainment, you have to have your headphones connected to it, that’s probably half the battle right there,” Carlson said. “It’s probably not going to garner much interest form children if they can’t hear it.”
But even if your seat neighbors are more easily distracted, the ‘do your own thing within reason’ rule still applies.
“My kids are my personal responsibility and generally I try to seat us so my kids are not seated by another adult. I think that’s more comfortable for my kids,” Krause said. “If we do end up sitting and we have no choice but to have another adult there, I’m a big fan of everyone minding their own business.”
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.
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