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Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2020

Has Hollywood edited films to appease the Chinese government?

Christopher Hutton, Gigafact
yes

Hollywood film studios, eager to grow box office revenues and attract new capital, has frequently deferred to unofficial Chinese cultural and political sensitivities, as well as to the country's official censorship. In some cases, content has been cropped (such as Kate Winslet's breasts in "Titanic"), muffled (such as mentions of Russia during "Iron Man 2") or edited out altogether (such as 38 minutes of sexual content in "Cloud Atlas").

Edits have also included mentions of Tibet or Taiwan, villainous portrayals of the Chinese government and even images that have been used in anti-Chinese propaganda. The 2018 release of a Disney Winnie the Pooh film, "Christopher Robin," was banned from China, presumably because of the bear's frequent appearances in Chinese social media as a stand-in for Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

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