Silly Little Country

Bleeping the 'Queen'

H/T to Mark for this hilarious article.

So much for God and country, at least during some in-flight showings of the Oscar-nominated movie "The Queen." That's because all mentions of God were bleeped out in a version of the film given to some commercial airlines.

Even in these politically correct times, censoring references to God in the film was not a statement of some kind. Rather, it was the mistake of an overzealous and inexperienced employee for a California company that edits movies selected for onboard entertainment.

The censor was told to edit out all profanities -- including any blasphemy -- for the version of the movie distributed to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand, and other carriers.

So the new censor mistakenly bleeped out each time a character said "God," instead of just when it was used as part of a profanity, said Jeff Klein, president of Jaguar Distribution, the company that distributed the movie to airlines this month.

...

Jaguar has been replacing all the cassettes it sent out -- in English and other languages -- to its airline clients with the original, unedited version of the movie.

I did notice mysterious silences in the version I watched on my flight last weekend.

I shall certainly watch it again today on my return flight if I have the ability; I shall be attentive to those previous silences.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 6:24 AM