They can take our DVD's but they'll never take our F word!

Stalking around on The Times Online in the Tech and Web section...I found that there is new technology from America...that allows you to clear and screen parts in films, so that your children can watch a grown up film without being mentally scarred. So adults can choose to screen...Violence, sex, swearing, drug use...What's the point? I mean, what child is going to want to sit down and watch a film like that anyway?

Let's imagine, for a moment, one of my favourite films....Goodfellas. The beginning ties up the turning point in the middle of the film...a man repeatedly being stabbed and kicked in the face. Yes alright it's not a nice image, but what six year old is going to even know about the film let alone desire the need to watch it? Ok so that scene is gone. There is a whole section devoted to cocaine, a part of his downfall from success...That’s gone...a scene where his wife holds a gun to his head...that is of course gone...where he punches a guy repeatedly to protect his lady...Is that gone? Because according to the company making this, they can report if it is a good guy or a bad guy shooting, and what are the moral obligations of the attack...so we can watch the hero killing repeatedly but not the villain? So basically...Goodfellas would consist of the title screen....and the rolling credits.

And is there a desperate need for it? Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press did a survey in America and found that although a third of Americans are upset by violence and swearing, even more are annoyed at reality television that tricks and humiliates people! And about half of the people are worried about government censorship.

While I can see the logic in what Clearplay are doing...I think that grownups and children are more than capable of what they watch on TV or what DVDs they pick, anyone heard of parental control!?

The ways Disney, Pixar, Fox are churning out the DVDs and new blockbusters why is this even important? But, is it based for children?

According to Clearplay, the largest demographic is for the elderly. The elderly?! My gran couldn't even work terrestrial TV, when it was around, let alone a DVD player and then the software that comes with it to sensor anything! What is the point? It seems like a waste of time and money. If children want to watch these types of films, wait until they are the age where they can handle it without having nightmares for years to come. So what if parents have to watch Lion King repeatedly until that time comes, it's a great film! Or would some of that have to be cut? The bit where Scar holds him on the cliffs edge and then lets Mufasa plummet to his doom is pretty horrific for a child...so that's gone and four year olds are wondering why one minute Simba had a Daddy and now he's running into the sunset alone....