AARP Hearing Center
Somewhere over the Midwest, I looked up from my sudoku and glimpsed a zombie apocalypse in the next seat. Blood spurted across my airplane neighbor’s tablet screen just as the flight attendant handed me a cranberry cocktail. I looked away, but the damage was done: As an anxious flier, the last thing I wanted was the sight of gore and guts.
Airplane movies used to be curated and edited like broadcast television, creating a PG-ish experience for the entire cabin. But as airlines retire communal screens and lean into BYOD (bring your own device) culture, passengers can stream whatever they want — including R-rated sex and violence.
“Even the most commonsense unofficial rules do not seem to prevent anyone from sharing whatever they’re watching,” says Lori Pearson, content editor for Kids-In-Mind.com, a movie-rating website. “Judging from experiences in other situations where I have to share space, many people do not practice even a modicum of self-censorship.”
The sky may be the limit, but queuing up The Substance or The Wolf of Wall Street when elbow to elbow with strangers can have consequences. “Phones at least make it possible to hide screens,” says Pearson, “but tablets and computers are too big to hide.”
Because you don’t know your seatmates’ sensibilities, experts advise balancing your personal freedom with respect for your fellow passengers.
“Violence, sex and nudity are certainly the principal categories with the potential to offend adults and disturb children,” Pearson says. But that’s not all. Scenes with accidents, gore and vomiting can also trigger anxiety, especially for those with PTSD.
A good bet for safe viewing, Pearson says, is a movie released before the 1970s. For more modern movies, you can check a site like Pearson’s Kids-In-Mind.com, or similar sites such as Common Sense Media or Parent Previews. Those resources flag content that may be inappropriate for young eyes, and when you’re on a plane, you never know who might be able to see your screen.
Airlines are generally pretty liberal when it comes to acceptable in-cabin entertainment, but a flight attendant can ask you to press stop. “I have had to ask passengers to turn off porn in-flight,” says Heather Poole, a flight attendant and author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet. Other than that, she says passengers can watch whatever they want on their personal device as long as they have headphones or earbuds. But if you’re unsure about what’s inappropriate, Poole offers this advice: “Pretend you’re in church with your mother, and you probably won’t go wrong.”
If you find yourself in view of something unsettling, you can make a polite request to your fellow passenger to turn it off. If that doesn’t work, turn on your own movie to get your eyes off the zombie apocalypse. Says Pearson: “The only way is distraction with your own devices.”
When all else fails? Take a nap.
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