Quantas Airs ‘Cheeky’ In-Flight Movie

AUSTRALIA—Here’s a quick quiz for airline aficionados. Quantas Airlines’ most popular in-flight documentary is about: a) A history of the country’s aboriginal population. b) How to cook awesome shrimp on the barbie. c)  Secrets of the female orgasm. Okay, okay, the headline gave it away. The answer is ‘c,’ of course. At 35,000 feet, passengers are being exposed to “cheeky” programming, reported news.com.au, which added, “The SBS program The Female Orgasm Explained is available for viewing by all international travelers and features excerpts from old porn flicks, graphics and sound effects that would make conservative commuters squirm. Originally shown on SBS, the French film aims to assist viewers ‘understand the intricacies of the female orgasm’—and it seems many people are keen to learn.” An airline spokesperson told the news site that Orgasm Explained is the most popular program on its Edge channel and will be available to all passengers until November. Book your flights now! For those traveling with children, the crew will block the program upon request, unless of course the parent decides that they’d rather have their child grow up to actually know something about their own or their partner’s body. (Disclaimer: This bit of editorial excess was sponsored by Air New Zealand.) Not having seen the documentary, we are unable to assess its explicitness or its educational value, but being fans of the subject-matter we feel confident in imbuing it sight unseen with an inherently high value quotient. According to a sociologist at the University of Wollongong, however, airing the documentary is "fascinating but problematic.” Dr. Michael Flood told news.com.au, “I think it's great if children and young people learn about sexual pleasure because most children [are] only taught about the biology of sex. But I don't think this documentary is age appropriate and it's not designed as a sexual education tool. There's a growing sexuality in our culture and perhaps it reflects how sexual material is being made increasingly available." That comment appears to contain a contradiction, but whatever. Just talking about “sexual pleasure” will do that to some men. Photo: Image from 1965 Quantas television campaign