Censors have eyes in the sky

Frequent flyers find plenty to complain about — the quality of airline food, the indignity of extra security screening, the attractiveness of flight attendants.

Recently, however, some travelers voiced a gripe of a different sort: They wondered if political correctness had run amok on in-flight movie screens.

After seeing “The Queen,” passengers on a number of U.S. airlines complained about edits made to the film, which stars Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in the days after Diana, Princess of Wales, died.

The film isn’t violent. Neither is there nudity. In fact, “The Queen,” up for a best picture Oscar this month, is rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

So what changes had viewers fuming in online discussion groups?

The word “God” was excised seven times. The censorship didn’t fool listeners, who could tell what word was missing. “(Bleep) bless you, ma’am,” is what they heard one character tell the queen.

The word “homosexuals” was also redacted, leading to some confusion. When Prince Philip snidely says that Diana’s funeral would be attended mainly by “celebrities and homosexuals,” one FlyerTalk.com poster said he thought the queen’s husband was talking about “celebrities and God.”

Most of those complaining accused the airlines of censorship. “How patronizing of AA,” one FlyerTalk.com patron posted after seeing the film on an American Airlines flight.

“[T]his seems to be Political Correctness taken to the extreme,” another declared. “Is God (or god) Dead on United?”

“The Queen” was booked by every major U.S. carrier. But don’t blame any of them for the heavy-handed editing. There’s an entire industry responsible for your airborne entertainment.

“The Queen” was provided by Jaguar Distribution Corp., a 25-year-old California company that distributes films to airlines. President Jeff Klein said he was as surprised as anybody when he heard about the film’s edits. Describing them as “almost funny,” he says, “The instructions generally would not include any such excision. I think it was just a young, inexperienced editor who was trying to be as ultra-conservative as possible and thought this might be a problem.”

Mr. Klein thought “The Queen” had just one instance of foul language that needed editing. His company has sent out new versions of the film.

Jaguar outsources its editing. In some cases — Mr. Klein says it’s not the norm — the director himself might handle the editing. Sometimes producers request approval of changes.

“Language, visuals, nudity and excessive violence” are the most common targets, Mr. Klein says, adding: the goal is to preserve the “integrity” of the film.

Last month, for example, the Uma Thurman vehicle “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” aired. This reporter noticed that a threat to put a chain saw in someone’s rear end turned into a threat to put a chain saw in someone’s nose. Such re-dubs for broadcast television and in-flight viewing are often recorded when the movie is filmed.

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