MiloCast

I was walking around Target yesterday and I saw a product which makes me sad. It’s a DVD player which uses a subscription service to sanitize DVDs you watch. The company behind the product watches the DVDs, and marks the exact moments when profanity, nudity, violence, or gore are shown during the movie. They then add those time codes to their software. You buy the DVD and allow your children to watch it. Any “objectionable” material is automatically removed, and anyone watching can’t tell that anything is missing — unless they saw the full movie already.

The sales pitch for this Big Brother product is that you can finally watch all those great movies you’ve been wanting to see, but can’t because you have children. Apparently they don’t think much of your ability to select appropriate movies for your family viewing, time management which might allow the adults to watch these movies alone, or your judgment regarding what your own children should be watching.

I suppose if you are outraged at the thought of a visible nipple then this is music to your ears. But for those of us who make decisions based upon facts and reason, this is a huge joke. The only pleasure I take from this is that some people are evidently getting paid to watch movies and take special note of all the sex, violence, and colorful language. However, if there are actually enough people willing to pay anonymous strangers to decide what is appropriate for them and their children to watch to keep this company in business, then I fear for the future of this country.