And the American tradition is not finite; rather it’s the totality of practices over the course of time. The Great Experiment took place over 100 years after the founding of the country, was it the American tradition at the time? Our founding fathers were all brewers, public morality changes with the public’s mood. But I guess if we could all go back a hundred years there would be nary an offensive scene for our children to witness. Are you in favor of all the morality laws you cited? Slavery was a tradition as well, should we hold on to that as well? was that a conservative value?

I am somewhere between a conservative (not a prude, there is a difference) and a libertarian. If they played Sex and the City on the plane I would agree with you it would be inappropriate, however, even if they did you and everyone else has the opportunity to look up what is playing and take personal responsibility in avoiding it.

I figured as much after reading your responses in the comments section, however, the parents who you are speaking up for, if any on the flight were offended (which I highly doubt), had the opportunity to do so, so you outrage on their behalf is unwarrented.

BTW, were you offended? If yes, well then you had the opportunity to ovoid the flight by checking the inflight movie on the website, if no, well then leave it up to the parents on the flight to fight their own fight if so inclined(and be wrong).

You just strike me as hyper sensitive. Leering sexual content? You have to be kidding me. You make it sound like you flew Clockwork Orange Airlines. There was no nudity, the scene was tame (and United gave all parents on the flight the chance to review the movie selection before booking), and the audio of The Office would not be accessible to the children on the flight unless the parents allowed them to do so (the penis joke would have gone unnoticed). Your points are invalid. Sorry.

Conservative != libertarian. The American tradition is not libertarian–or we wouldn’t have a long history of laws that seek to promote public morality. Laws discouraging alcohol consumption. Laws prohibiting adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, polygamy, obscene publications and entertainments, etc.

Argue if you want that these laws are a bad idea. But that’s a libertarian argument, not a conservative one.

I agree that without the audio, it would be less clear, but the sexual connotations of the exotic dancer are still pretty obvious. It says quite a bit about your sense of humor that was “the only comedic device” that you found entertaining.

It is your fault for not pursuing, with the same level of due diligence to shield your children from this movie, that you expect United to do by not showing it in the first place.

If you had read what I wrote, I never mentioned having any children with me. I didn’t bother to check because I didn’t have any children on the flight. (Mine are now adults.)

Whereas graphic torture is objectively offensive, the two scenes you mentioned can be considered subjectively offensive by the prudish of prudes.

Why is graphic torture objectively offensive, while leering sexual content is not? Other than your confusion of your morals (torture bad, sex good) with an objective standard?

I think the problem is that people in the US don’t know how to handle sex. In Europe, they allow kids to see most everything and their children have more morals than ours ever thought of. Perhaps you should get rid of the moral attitude and let everyone alone. Then teach your children life lessions based on what is seen and observed.

I’m not so sure that your statement is true. Reading Theodore Dalrymple’s descriptions of working in a Britain as a doctor, about the only thing that they are doing better is starting kids on birth control earlier. His description of the excuses that police have for not doing anything about child prostitution on the streets are pretty chilling.

And just to reiterate, you were not captive on that flight – United gave you the ability to review the inflight entertainment before you booked the flight on their website, you chose to no explore that option. It is your fault for not pursuing, with the same level of due diligence to shield your children from this movie, that you expect United to do by not showing it in the first place.

I have no problem with family values or family friendly entertainment, but I believe in personal responsibility foremost. If what you experience is so offensive you have been given the tools to make informed decisions to avoid it without ruining the entertainment of everyone else.

I believe my viewpoint on this issue is in both accord with being a conservative as it is with being a staunch believer in personal freedoms.

I respect your concern but do not agree with your remedy.

Although I agree with your premise that highly offensive content such as gratuitous torture should not be shown on an airplane, I am amazed that an inverted penis joke and a tame “stripper” scene in a lame movie actually prompted you to write this article. Whereas graphic torture is objectively offensive, the two scenes you mentioned can be considered subjectively offensive by the prudish of prudes.

You also failed to mention that the audio can only be accessed via headphones (or maybe you did but I just glazed over).

Also if you are so concerned about the in-flight movie, the airlines have given you the ability to become an informed consumer. Simply go to this site and you will see a full list of the in flight entertainment on all United Airline flights. If you need further assistance in determining the content of the movie a website called Google may offer additional help. This is America, and for now we are still free, exercise your capitalistic power by choosing an airline that has individual entertainment devices, or chooses movies of your liking.

I know pre-planning your travel plans based on the inflight movie may seem trivial and overreactive, but then again so was your article.

1. Not everyone that posts comments here is a conservative, or even a libertarian.

2. Part of what often causes people to end up as libertarians, not conservatives, is disdain for traditional morality. Not always; I went through a libertarian phase, because I was under the delusion that in the absence of any governmental encouragement, most people would lean towards a relatively traditional moral code, and even if not, it didn’t much matter, because what other people do doesn’t necessarily have that much influence on others. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for a few years cured me of that delusion!

Trying to raise kids in such a culture isn’t easy. Some parents were providing pot and alcohol to their junior high age kids. (I talked to a drug rehab counselor there who was treating second graders with marijuana dependency problems.) Parents were so busy trying to be friends to their children that they wouldn’t think of violating their privacy–and so there were eighth graders who would invite all their friends over for group sex in the bedroom while the parents were home. (For a while, there were lots of very young girls pushing baby strollers around Rohnert Park.) Smart kids were dropping out of high school, just waiting for their parents to die so that they could inherit the wealth.

Worst of all, the dominant culture wasn’t content with just living this way and leading others astray; there was enormous pressure, sometimes including violence, against kids from traditional morality families: join us, or you will get hurt.