[Chinese film and television censorship] AIDS has been silenced and homosexuality has disappeared in foreign film dramas that have been censored in recent years

Written by: Justina
Text Editor: Cindy
Website Editor: EQ

The Chinese government has always implemented a strict censorship system for film and television works released and screened in the mainland, and it is not uncommon for films to have sex/gender minor plots deleted, even international blockbusters that grossed more than 100 million yuan and nominated for Oscars are no exception. The more sensational examples in recent years include "The Monster and Dumbledore's Secret", "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Friends", the homosexual themes or characters in the play have been cut to varying degrees, and even mentioned "AIDS" II. The dialogue of the words is muted. In fact, as early as 2020, it has been circulated on the Internet that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) promulgated the "20 Types of Subject Matters Review and Avoidance" for the film and television industry. According to the list of prohibited subjects, sexual minorities are creative subjects that need to be avoided: "Same sex The relationship must end, and if necessary, turn into friendship. All explicit homosexual themes and character settings must be banned.” Although the information on the Internet cannot be independently verified, I have seen that foreign films released in the mainland in recent years have been censored for gay content, gender/gender The creative freedom and screening space for niche themes are obviously narrowing. Back in Hong Kong, will sex/gender themes disappear from the local film and television industry?

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Inventory of foreign movies and dramas that have been deleted from gay plots in mainland China over the years

1. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

In the original version, Dumbledore had a love dialogue with Grindelwald, which mentioned "because I love you" and "the summer I fell in love with Geller". This short 6-second but important scene shows that the two had developed a relationship beyond friends, but it was deleted when it was released in China. The publisher Warner explained that "in order to respond sensitively to market factors", in response to China's request , the ambiguous 6 seconds were deleted, but it was emphasized that the intimate relationship between the two could still be shown at the content level.

2. Bohemian Rhapsody

The biographical film about Freddie Mercury, frontman of the rock band Queen, of course includes references to his personal life as a gay man and his awakening to sexuality/gender identity. However, in the censored Chinese version, episodes about sexual orientation and male-to-male kissing, and Freddie coming out of the closet to his girlfriend have been deleted , or the subtitle translation has been changed. The scene of Freddie's same-sex partner Jim Hutton has also been deleted, and even the word "AIDS" has been silenced in the key scene when Freddie confesses to the band members that he has AIDS. Although the cut version is only 3 minutes shorter than the original, it has greatly affected the portrayal of the characters and the integrity of the plot in the film.

3. Friends

The evergreen drama "Friends" has always held a high status in the hearts of fans. Earlier, various mainland video platforms such as Youku, iQiyi, and bilibili also bought the copyright for 10 seasons. However, after the first broadcast on the platform, mainland fans found that homosexual-related content was deleted , including the episode where Ross' ex-wife Carol left him because he realized that she was a lesbian. The search keyword of "friends deleted" even appeared on Weibo Hot search list.

4. Alien: Covenant

In the film, actor Michael Fassbender played two roles, and the male-male kissing scene of robot David and Walter was deleted from the Chinese version because the scene had a same-sex relationship. This deletion caused the subsequent development of the plot to be unsmooth, and the change of attitude of the two is a little strange. In fact, the kissing of two robots does not necessarily represent homosexuality, but may imply philosophical thinking such as artificial intelligence's self-awareness.

5. "Call me by your name"

"Call Me by Your Name", which won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, was originally screened at the Beijing International Film Festival in 2018, but was eventually withdrawn without warning, sparking discussion among fans. Distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment later confirmed that the festival's organizers had made an impromptu decision to withdraw the film, but declined to say why the film was withdrawn. Sources said the film could not be broadcast because it was not approved by Chinese regulators.

'Fish slipping through the net' shows censorship has a grey area

Although the Chinese government has tightened its censorship over the content of sex/gender minority films, there are still occasional "fish that slip through the net", and the scenes or scenes of the sex/gender minority are preserved and fully presented on the mainland screen. For example, at the end of the movie "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", the resistance forces triumphed, and a few seconds of footage captured the two female members kissing and celebrating amid a roar of cheers.

In the movie "Beauty and the Beast", LeFou, the entourage of the villain Gaston, has always had feelings for the master, but he was deeply troubled by emotions and did not dare to show it directly. Although he is Disney's first public gender/gender minority character, director Bill Condon also stated in an interview that this is a beautiful and special moment for a Disney film, but LeFou's emotional presentation of Gaston in the film is very subtle and deliberately ambiguous. The audience judges for themselves. Perhaps because there is no obvious dialogue and behavior to show the relationship between the two characters, the Chinese version does not deal much with the plot of the two.

In recent years, the Chinese government has strengthened the supervision and censorship of the film and television industry in order to eliminate content themes that the government considers sensitive or "harmful to society". ” notice, instructing the creative industry to avoid themes such as ghosts, ghosts, fantasy, time-travel, and puppy love, and sexual minority relationships are also “clearly on the list”, pointing out that “same-sex relationships need to stop, and if necessary, turn to friendship; all clear Homosexual themes and characters must be banned." However, in practice, the censorship mechanism is not a one-size-fits-all approach to the content of sex/gender niche films. Instead, there are gray areas and room for luck. The censorship will vary with different regions and platforms, with subjectivity and tightness. point.

Further reading: Disney was revealed to have deleted the gay animation element "Don't say gay bill" and did not express employee protests

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