WEBVTT - Short Stuff: In-Flight Entertainment 

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jerry's here sitting in for Dave. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is short stuff about in flight movies, all the

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<v Speaker 1>great stuff that you can watch when you fly with

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<v Speaker 1>your favorite airline.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and this is something that if you've been flying

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<v Speaker 2>for a number of years, has changed quite a bit.

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<v Speaker 2>I do remember the old days where I didn't fly

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<v Speaker 2>a lot growing up at all, like I think if

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<v Speaker 2>one time before I went to college, and then not

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<v Speaker 2>even a lot after that because I was always broke.

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<v Speaker 2>But I did go on a couple of flights back

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<v Speaker 2>in the day where they had the one movie being

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<v Speaker 2>shown for the entire plane, and there were these big, huge,

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<v Speaker 2>like Volkswagen Beetle size monitors that drop down from the

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<v Speaker 2>ceiling like every ten rows right in the middle, and

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<v Speaker 2>maybe thirty percent of the flight could get a good

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<v Speaker 2>angle on that screen.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and if you were lucky, you were close to

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<v Speaker 1>that one big screen verse that was like broadcast or

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<v Speaker 1>shown on like the wall. Oh yeah, yeah, in the

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<v Speaker 1>middle rows.

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<v Speaker 2>Uh huh.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. That was how we used to watch movies. Everyone

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<v Speaker 1>watched the same movie at the same time. You plugged

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<v Speaker 1>in your headphones that were like hydraulics if I remember correct. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>air travel episode just through a tube. Yeah, and you

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<v Speaker 1>watched that same movie. And because there's all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>different people with all sorts of different tastes, the movie

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<v Speaker 1>you saw was radically different from the movie that that

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<v Speaker 1>you would find on like your at your video store.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, for sure, one movie whole plane. We will tell you.

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<v Speaker 2>The very first in flight movie, believe it or not,

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<v Speaker 2>was in nineteen twenty nine. It was a newsreel and

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<v Speaker 2>a couple of cartoons on a trans continental air transport flight. Right,

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<v Speaker 2>but real deal movie service started in the early sixties.

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<v Speaker 2>This comes from Variety and CNN and how stuff works.

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<v Speaker 2>But nowadays it's a whole different deal because we have

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<v Speaker 2>broadband connections, we have servers on board. Everyone knows. Now

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<v Speaker 2>you can stream like over one hundred movies. Probably even

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<v Speaker 2>a couple of decades ago, you probably just had ten

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<v Speaker 2>or fifteen movies you could watch because they were just

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<v Speaker 2>you know, stored on a hard drive, I guess. But

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<v Speaker 2>now they have all kinds of movies. You can play

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<v Speaker 2>games against passengers, you can read ebooks, listen to podcasts

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<v Speaker 2>or music or whatever. Right there, either on the seatback

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<v Speaker 2>screen or on your laptop or tablet or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it is quite a time to be alive for that.

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<v Speaker 1>But the I guess the whole problem, the whole issue

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<v Speaker 1>that faced airlines back in the day, which was how

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<v Speaker 1>can you show a movie to a bunch of different people,

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<v Speaker 1>is still around in different forms.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure. I mean it cost them a ton

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<v Speaker 2>of money. Apparently some airlines spend like twenty million dollars

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<v Speaker 2>per year just on like licensing the content. Then you

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<v Speaker 2>got to outfit the planes. That can cost about five

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<v Speaker 2>million dollars per aircraft and it makes a lot heavier.

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<v Speaker 2>So that was a guy, an econ professor in Norway

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<v Speaker 2>that basically calculated all the weight and everything and said,

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<v Speaker 2>if the airlines got rid of this stuff, they can

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<v Speaker 2>save about three million dollars per year per aircraft by

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<v Speaker 2>not having this on board.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, which I mean they're like, well, so what, we

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<v Speaker 1>make so much more than that, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>But they'd pass along the savings to us, I'm sure

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<v Speaker 2>for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, of course, apparently depending on where you are. I

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<v Speaker 1>think in the United States you pay something like ninety

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<v Speaker 1>grand for one movie for a couple of months, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and then other yeah, for a license, and then other

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<v Speaker 1>licenses are like by a per view, so every time

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<v Speaker 1>somebody watches a movie, you have to pay a certain amount,

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<v Speaker 1>probably not ninety grand, but still, like there's all sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of different ways that airlines have to kind of dig

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<v Speaker 1>in their pockets to make sure you have all the

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<v Speaker 1>movies you want. So feel bad for the airlines.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I don't know if this is for everybody, but

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<v Speaker 2>I even call them airplane movies. It's sort of like

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<v Speaker 2>a hotel movie. It's a movie that, like I probably

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<v Speaker 2>wouldn't pay for or go see in a theater, but

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<v Speaker 2>I will totally get, like, had enough interest to watch it.

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<v Speaker 2>I will do that on airplanes almost one hundred percent

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<v Speaker 2>of the time. I won't watch either that or like

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<v Speaker 2>an old favorite. But I watched f one Brad Pitt

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<v Speaker 2>Formula one movie on this last flight recently, and it

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<v Speaker 2>was okay. It was an airplane movie.

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<v Speaker 1>Too much minimalist like office stuff for me.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, yeah, I mean.

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<v Speaker 1>It was lousy with that. I saw some I was

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<v Speaker 1>watching it over somebody's shoulder.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, there was a lot of that. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>the racing stuff was really really great. I'm sure obviously

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<v Speaker 2>much better on a big screen. But it was one

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<v Speaker 2>of those where like not most, but a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>people don't understand Formula one racing. So the entire time,

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<v Speaker 2>like the race commentary was so explanatory and now he

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<v Speaker 2>has to go do this because that means this, because

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<v Speaker 2>the rules say this, and it's just incessant and it

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<v Speaker 2>helped you understand it, but it was really pretty pretty bad,

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<v Speaker 2>like inception and that respect like inception.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's take a little break and we'll come back and

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<v Speaker 1>we'll talk about some of the stuff that airlines have

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<v Speaker 1>to do to make sure that no one gets offended

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<v Speaker 1>by their movies. All right, we'll be right back, all right.

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<v Speaker 1>So you were saying airplane movies are ones that you

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<v Speaker 1>would normally never pay to see. I get that. There's

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<v Speaker 1>also airline versions of movies, and they come in a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of different ways. Sometimes the airlines like commission companies

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<v Speaker 1>to edit the movies that they're gonna show. Other times

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<v Speaker 1>the studios themselves will make an airline cut where they

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<v Speaker 1>edit out, you know, the the sexiest stuff or the

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<v Speaker 1>most violent or gory stuff, or like jokes like you

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<v Speaker 1>probably couldn't show any of the Austin Powers movies because

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<v Speaker 1>of all the mean stuff about different cultures, they figure

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<v Speaker 1>out how to edit that out in the best way

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<v Speaker 1>possible so that it doesn't screw up the plot, which

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<v Speaker 1>is was not what they were doing before when they

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<v Speaker 1>showed the same movie to everybody at the same time.

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<v Speaker 1>It was just really clumsy editing.

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<v Speaker 2>Then, yeah, for sure, it's kind of funny some of

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<v Speaker 2>the things I'll edit out. Apparently they'll add out other

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<v Speaker 2>airline logos which I didn't know, which is hysterical not

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<v Speaker 2>so hysterical. You're never going to see a movie about

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<v Speaker 2>a terrorist or certainly like a hijacking or a plane

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<v Speaker 2>crash or anything. You're not going to see that Denzel

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<v Speaker 2>Washington movie, Like, You're not going to see anything like that,

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<v Speaker 2>which makes a lot of sense, of course, sure, But

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<v Speaker 2>depending on where you are in the world too, there's

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<v Speaker 2>different cultures that are going to find different things offensive

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<v Speaker 2>and you've got to be aware of that. So like

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<v Speaker 2>in Europe they're way more okay with like a little

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<v Speaker 2>bit of nudity, maybe a little bit more sexy stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>but they're not as much as into the gore and violence.

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<v Speaker 2>The Middle East, apparently any kind of bear skin or

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<v Speaker 2>sexy stuff you can't have. But they have a little

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<v Speaker 2>higher tolerance for violent scenes on their flights.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, airlines that carry a lot of Muslim passengers will

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<v Speaker 1>frequently have like any references to pig or pork or

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<v Speaker 1>anything like that edited out. Yeah, Singapore apparently is sensitive

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<v Speaker 1>to scenes or movies with LGBTQ plus content, which means

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<v Speaker 1>they can't get enough of it, is what I'm reading.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think that's the case.

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<v Speaker 1>And language you would think like, well, they got to

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<v Speaker 1>edit that out, but that's not the case anymore. It

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't seem to have been the case ever since they

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<v Speaker 1>started showing on demand individually selected movies because you listen

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<v Speaker 1>to them through headphones generally, yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Through headphones. And also they have the little sort of

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<v Speaker 2>caveat now where they tell you beforehand, this contains scenes

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<v Speaker 2>of you know, violence or whatever brief nudity and you

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<v Speaker 2>have to tell whether or not you want to proceed

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<v Speaker 2>right beforehand. And you know this. I think because I

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<v Speaker 2>was I'm still a bit of a prude. I was

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<v Speaker 2>raised Baptist, so I'm always very sensitive to other people's

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<v Speaker 2>experience around me, Like I would never be the guy

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<v Speaker 2>that's just watching some awful like thing on their screen

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<v Speaker 2>with people all around them, just totally clueless that like

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<v Speaker 2>kids are around or other people that might be offended.

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<v Speaker 2>So I've always been sensitive to that. But there are

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<v Speaker 2>there's an actual trade group, the Airline Passenger Experience Association.

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<v Speaker 2>Because there are no laws about this, they they will

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<v Speaker 2>offer guidance, I guess to movie distributors and to airlines

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<v Speaker 2>and stuff like that. There's been some sort of I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know about famous, but like at least gone viral

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<v Speaker 2>online for like how could they edit that out? I

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<v Speaker 2>know when the film Carol came out in twenty fifteen,

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<v Speaker 2>which is about a lesbian couple in the nineteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 2>Delta got a lot of guff because they edited out

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<v Speaker 2>scenes of like women kissing, and so Delta was like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>that's not us, Like that's the movie they gave us.

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<v Speaker 1>But apparently there's a guy who runs a company that

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works. Talked to Amir sum Nani. He's vice

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<v Speaker 1>president of content services for Global Eagle, which is like

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<v Speaker 1>the big company that edits films for airlines. Yeah, he

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<v Speaker 1>had said he wasn't saying this to contradict Delta, but

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<v Speaker 1>he said, like airlines actually have a lot of say

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<v Speaker 1>in what gets edited out, so it seems like Delta

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<v Speaker 1>is like, no, we can't show lesbian stuff, whereas American

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<v Speaker 1>airlines in United are like they're all like they're like Singapore,

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<v Speaker 1>They're like, bring it on, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there was in two thousand and seven that was

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<v Speaker 2>a co sponsored bill called the Family Friendly Flies Act,

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<v Speaker 2>where they wanted to have child safe viewing areas on

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<v Speaker 2>the planes where anything over g couldn't be played. But

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<v Speaker 2>I think it never passed. And I'm sure it didn't

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<v Speaker 2>pass because that's a near impossibility or just a terrible

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<v Speaker 2>idea to be like we'll put all the kids in

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<v Speaker 2>the back of the plane together right without their parents.

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<v Speaker 1>I was looking at this and it was congress people,

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<v Speaker 1>congressmen from North Carolina, and it does, especially today, sound

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<v Speaker 1>just preposterous. But to in their defense, this was two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand and seven, and this was a time when planes

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<v Speaker 1>still mostly showed the same movie to the entire airplane

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<v Speaker 1>at the same time.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, that makes sense a little more sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, it did. It did to me too, And I

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<v Speaker 1>was reading like a just basically an article on it

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<v Speaker 1>from the time, and they were like, well, one of

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<v Speaker 1>the problems is like you don't want to just show

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<v Speaker 1>only G rated movies because everybody on the airplane is

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<v Speaker 1>going to hate kids even more than they already do.

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<v Speaker 1>That was a quote from it. So they landed on

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<v Speaker 1>if this did happen, to just show PG thirteen as

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<v Speaker 1>a compromise.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, all right, well that makes sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah yeah, And.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're wondering how much gets edited out, someone actually

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<v Speaker 2>did check running times of movies shown on Virgin Air

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<v Speaker 2>and Air Canada.

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<v Speaker 1>They had funding that's.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, which will be flying soon when we do our

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<v Speaker 2>Canadian tour. We got some Air Canada flights book, can't wait.

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<v Speaker 1>You got that straight.

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<v Speaker 2>And they found that two thirds of the movies shown

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<v Speaker 2>on these two airlines were the same length as the

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<v Speaker 2>theater presentation. Fourteen percent were shorter, not fourteen percent shorter,

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<v Speaker 2>but fourteen percent of the movies overall. So that, like

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<v Speaker 2>that just sort of tells you how many movies are

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<v Speaker 2>being edited down for content. Twenty one percent were longer,

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<v Speaker 2>which is sort of interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I would guess Virgin is not huge on editing

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<v Speaker 1>down movies. But you never know, you never know, so yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck said, you never know. I guess, Chuck, doesn't that

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<v Speaker 1>mean that short Stuff is Out.

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<v Speaker 2>Indeed, Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

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