There’s been a variety of debates about kids on planes for years. People with kids are, of course, are usually all about the ins and outs of having kids on planes. People without kids? Maybe sometimes not so much.
For those who are on Team No Kids, the possibility of child-free zones on planes has been considered, and one airline even goes as far as to “warn” others where babies were going to be sitting.
For people who are on the Yay, Kids On Planes team, they may be happy to know that if they buy Basic Economy, they may not have to pay extra to sit together with their little ones pretty soon.
But then things happen on planes where those on Team No Kids and the Yay Kids On Plane team are in a power struggle. Case in point, when airlines play movies geared towards adults, kids on planes, and where the line should be drawn, which brought up a healthy debate a while back.
That conversation, regarding when Delta was playing an edited version of “Booksmart” on its flights that had, among other things, the removal of a lesbian kissing scene, while kissing scenes between males and females remained uncut, was of a movie that the airline was playing.
But then you have a situation like this…
Zola was a movie about a stripper, her pimp, and a friend she had had for 1 whole day. It was released late last June. NPR described it best:
In 2015, a Detroit waitress and exotic dancer named A’Ziah “Zola” King crafted a viral, vivid 148-tweet thread recounting a wild trip she took to Tampa, Fla. upon an invitation from Jessica, a white woman and fellow exotic dancer she’d known for exactly one day. The story involved a cast of indelible characters, including Jessica’s pimp Z, a menacing dude who would suddenly possess an “African accent” during fits of rage, and Jessica’s boyfriend Jarret, an awkward, pitiful guy who just wanted her to stop being a sex worker.
Yet Zola herself was undoubtedly the star of this story. From that very first opening line, accompanied by selfies of the author and Jessica together, it was obvious she has a bold personality and a spiky way with words: “Y’all wanna hear a story about why me and this b—- here fell out???????? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.”
And now Zola’s comedy of errors has been dramatized for the screen, directed by Janicza Bravo, who co-wrote the script with Jeremy O. Harris. Their Zola wisely takes its cues from the source, hewing closely to the main plot twists and turns, sometimes quoting King’s Tweets directly. Names have been changed: Jessica is now Stefani (Riley Keough), Z is now X (Colman Domingo) and Jarrett is now Derrek (Nicholas Braun). But these colorful characters build on the energy of that thread, playing even more vividly than you might have imagined them in your head.
You can also read more about Zola in this Nov. 2015 Rolling Stone article.
Here’s the movie’s trailer:
So yeah…probably not exactly what most would consider “family entertainment.”
Frankly, I don’t think that any airline would be progressive enough to show Zola as their in-flight entertainment (if any are or did, my bad). But I DO know that a handful of airlines out there have brown seats (Fun Fact! Most airline seats are blue. Here’s why.) And an even smaller handful of THOSE allows content from passengers’ devices to play on their in-flight entertainment screens.
But this is what someone caught on video a few months back:
My bro captured this moment on the flight back 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/8qCzfGZ2lo
— BLANCO (@MILLYZ) March 22, 2022
Should the guy have been watching something like that on his IFE system? Maybe yes, maybe no. But assuming the woman (picking her nose?) with the brown hair and glasses sitting next to the kid was a parent or guardian, well, I kind of wish she had turned her head for a second or two. 😉
Feature Photo: Nathan / flickr / CC by 2.0 attribution
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