Movies are not a priority in my life, partly because we simply don't feel we have time for them, and partly because so much of what passes for entertainment these days is at best a distraction and often a major detour from the path of happiness, in my opinion. Don't worry about me missing out on all the fun, though, because on my international flights from China to the US and back, I have the stomach-turning pleasure of being exposed to dozens of flicks on the personal monitors that passengers have. For those moments when I don't have a blindfold on, it's hard to avoid seeing abundant evidence of just how unwholesome Hollywood has become.

On my recent flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, for example, I was seated behind a lovely family with two young boys. Were the parents worried about all the scenes of violence and salaciousness that the kids might encounter? Probably not, because I had to be careful not to pay attention to either of the two monitors that the parents were viewing. One was some kind of splatter-flick with a woman in leather fighting hordes of zombies or something. The dad was watching something about rock stars with offensive sexuality. R-rated and unrated but questionable movies seemed to dominate the selections. For parents who wish to avoid R-rated content for themselves and their children, it's almost impossible. It wasn't this way a few years ago, but the advent of increased personal choice for passengers means parents have a lot less choice about what they and their kids are exposed to.

Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this nuisance? Have you found any international airlines that are more family friendly?
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