That's exactly the kind of nonsense POV seems to specialise in giving airtime to, rather than legitimate issues. Time-shifting has been possible since the invention of the home video recorder, but in 2012 with all that's available the whole "the schedule is inconvenient for me" argument is well and truly redundant...
What if you are a 13 year old boy who has to go to bed at 9pm and is only allowed 30 minutes of internet time a day, using the only computer in the house which must be kept in the family room? It's all very well saying he gets an hour on Saturday but he has to use that time to do his homework too. As for Sunday, there will be no Internet access in this house on the Lord's day and certainly no TV viewing, iPlayer or otherwise, before Songs of Praise comes on.
No, you can't turn the television set on early and watch yourself on Points of View. How dare you even ask such a thing. Now, go to your wendy house and think about what you have done. There will be no bread and jam for you this evening, young man.
What then?
Do you get a kick out of posting fabricated drivel?
You are "Joshua" and I claim my £10.
There are a good amount of middle-class families around where David's description is the reality.
To go back to the Points of View film, I'd be very surprised if that kid does not have any of the following: a) a TV in his bedroom, b) a console that goes online and that one can add the iPlayer to as an option/channel/add-on or whatever, c) a computer system. d) access to a video or DVD recorder. What about going round somebody else's house and using their internet to watch a BBC Two documentary about the Romans?
a) His parents may be strict on the 9pm bedtime, so any TV that may be in there (which isn't a certainty by a lon chalk) might not be able to be used.
b) Not everyone has internet access, or if they do a decent wireless connection, or a download limit to allow BBC iPlayer streaming.
c) Likewise with the internet access
d) DVD recorders aren't common, and not everyone has a hard-disk PVR.
Is it really that inconceivable that his parents may be both middle-class and not spend lavishly? Or that they may not feel that post-watershed viewing is appropriate, no matter how innocent the programme actually is?
There is no "point" to be made here on that film. This is 2012. The iPlayer is on more-or-less every games console going, lots of TVs, the internet, I dare say even smartphones, and the channels are FTA if you point a satellite dish in the right direction with a receiver. It's almost impossible to miss. This is not 1946 where you have to be in the right part of the country to see anything, you can be in the middle of nowhere and see anything.
I think his main point is that soaps, with their adult themes, would be better suited to a post-watershed slot, and the quality documentaries should be more accessible in scheduling terms.
I don't really have a strong view either way, but it isn't that strange that this boy's situation may be shared by others, or even true. Despite what your friends may have told you back at school, very few children go to bed when they want - 9pm is on the early side, but not unthinkable for a 13-year-old, especially one that may have to get an early bus for school, for example.
