Seriously, I use the word "invention" loosely here. Here's the lowdown:

You pop a DVD into this clearplay DVD player and it automatically edits the movie based on your preferences. This is done by updating the player with "patches" that identify the objectionable material.

http://www.clearplay.com/

Does anyone think this is as pointless as I do? I mean I guess it could be handy if you want to skip one certain scene in Titanic, but what about movies that are nothing but violence? I mean could you imagine watching a neutered version of Full Metal Jacket? I can imagine a movie opening with a title screen and immediately going to the credits (ok, I'm being silly here).

The thing that really gets me is what if you remove a violent scene from a movie but at the same time remove an important plot point? I can just imagine a kid scratching there head wondering what's the hell is going on as a result. What about when they're old enough to watch the movie uncut - whoa! I don't remember that scene! That was cool!

Anyway, I'm not trying to justify allowing younger viewers to watch such movies, I guess I'm in shock that being a parent has never been easier now that this machine does it for you! Why let the kid even watch an such a movie to begin with if it's such a concern? The whole premise seems self defeating when one can take that route. Maybe it could be used as a paperweight or a doorstop?

Yea, its pretty sick from many standpoints - censorship, laziness on the part of parents, and use of brainpower that could have been better spent trying to make ANYTHING else.

EDIT:  For a real good laugh, check out the "How it Works" link

DEUXIEME EDIT:  Actually, for an even funnier clip, check the one underneath!  My guess is during the "GRAPHIC VIOLENCE" the firefighters were beating up the people in the house, but who knows

If only they would specify what/how they filter in their movie listings, this could have been a gold mine of a time killer.

Love the well-thought-out concept though. "If only I could remove the horrific violence, Saw is a movie I'd really like my kids to see. For the story."

Hell, if you could create your own filters--like overdubbing curse words--this would be one helluva entertaining device.

As it stands, though, this seems like a joke come to life. "Censor out anything you find objectionable... just like real life!"

.

Instead of trying to watch Casino with your children, pick another movie that's suitable for all ages. This "invention" is lame.

Interesting. I finished reading a book about pterosaurs today and the author stated that investigating those creatures through the fossil record is like watching a murder mystery movie with key scenes deleted, which leaves one to guess what happened.

Hahaha...but what happens if the movie isn't in their database? It just doesn't play the movie, or plays it without editing?!

I hope the woman I marry doesn't end up being a stickler for censorship...

I agree. Also, I think hammers are pointless. I mean, I guess a hammer could come in handy if you wanted to drive in a nail or something, but what if you wanted to drive in a screw? Could you imagine trying to do that with a hammer?

I sense sarcasm. Are you trying to tell us that this "ClearPlay" thing is an actually useful device? Care to share with us why you might think that way?

if someone tries to put in a titanic dvd it snaps it in half and spits it out...

Well said.  Bite the bullet and watch "Milo and Otis" or something else.

I only brought it up being "useful" in regards with Titanic because I was taking a personal jab at my friends parents - who made us leave the room during that one scene when we watched it at his house. Considering we 17-18 years old at the time I don't think our eyes where going to bug out at the sight of a naked woman. It was actually pretty insulting and well, what teenager hasn't seen something like that even if they don't for looking for it specifically?

Anyway, no - this invention serves no purpose other than placing people in a plastic bubble.

It's useful insofar as limiting your children's exposure to objectionable content is desirable. Granted, I can think of some reasons why this might not be a worthwhile goal, but if you want to go down that road and say that anything goes, then the whole concept of ratings goes out the window, too. I think most parents want to exercise some degree of control over their children's media exposure.

Full Metal Jacket, Casino, and Saw are strawmen, and they're not listed on ClearPlay's web site. Using ClearPlay to sanitize one of those would be like using a hammer to drive screws into a piece of wood--that's just not what it's for. As far as I can tell, it's intended primarily for movies which are mostly okay, but have a few scenes or lines that many parents might feel uncomfortable about letting their kids watch.

Sure, you could only let your kids see G-rated movies, but there just aren't that many of them. There are lots of kids' movies that throw in a couple of swear words just for the hell of it (I've heard that they do this specifically to avoid a G rating, but I don't know whether that's true). Personally, I think it's futile to try to shield your children from crude language--you probably couldn't slip half what they hear at school every day into a PG-13 movie--but I can see why some parents might want to try, and also why they might want to edit out gratuitous nudity or sexual content from an otherwise unobjectionable movie. IMO, seeing Kate Winslet naked was the best part of Titanic, and it would have been improved significantly by much more of the same, but I suppose I can see why not everyone would feel that way (at least why some women might not).

And it's not like this is something entirely new--movies are edited for network TV and airlines all the time. ClearPlay just allows you to watch bowdlerized movies at your convenience.

Also, I suspect that the assumption that this is for people who just want to hand over their parenting duties to a machine is way off base. I see it as appealing more to overprotective parents who obsess over controlling their childrens' environments. Most lazy parents probably just don't care enough. I'm not sure it's just for children, either. The comments on the web site (and also the list of movies, many of which seem to be thematically unsuitable for children) suggest that some people are using it just because they don't want to see certain things themselves. Seems a bit strange to me, but it's no skin off my nose.

Anyway, the main point of my hammer analogy was just that it's silly to say "X can do Y, but it can't do Z; therefore X is pointless." A product's usefulness is a function of the things it can do, not the things it can't do.