From the BBC (26 Mar.)

Bohemian Rhapsody opens in China, minus all the gay bits

Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was released in China on Friday, but references to the Queen singer's sexuality and AIDS diagnosis were censored.

Several minutes of footage were edited out of the film, including scenes of two men kissing and the word "gay".

There has been significant reaction to the film's release online. More than 50,000 users have posted reviews on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like micro-blogging platform.

Though some users complained of "half watching and half guessing" as a result of the deleted scenes, others were pleased the film had been released at all.

What was removed?

In the Chinese version of the film, several scenes have been amended or deleted.

Explicit and implicit references to Mercury's sexuality were edited out, including an important scene in which he comes out to his then-girlfriend.

Other scenes to be removed include a close-up of Mercury's crotch as he performs, interactions with his male partner Jim Hutton and the entire sequence in which the character and his onscreen band-mates recreate Queen's iconic music video for 1984 single I Want to Break Free, in which they dress in women's clothes.

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-47693115

Weird. Strange.

I really don’t understand the point of the censorship. They might as well have simply banned the film as his battle with HIV and AIDS was kind of central to the story (although the timeline in the film was way out of whack). 

At least the Chinese politburo has an appreciation for the splendid music and showmanship in the film. 

It is easy to forget that censorship of movies is alive and well in the UK where the regulations are some of the most tightly controlled n the western world! Every film comes under The Obscene Publications Act which prohibits material that tends to deprave or corrupt persons who are likely to read, see or hear it. Every commercially released movie for theatre showing or on video must be granted a certificate by the British Board of Film Classification. This probably seems odd even to the Brits given that theatre and book censorship  was abolished about half a century ago.

The film Visions of Ecstasy was banned for 23 years because it broke blasphemy laws. But it was then granted a certificate in 2008 enabling it to be shown to those 18 years and older.

Even America has a form of censorship. Classic movies like Kubricks A Clockwork Orange and Sam Peckinpahs Straw Dogs appeared first in the UK in longer versions that when shown in the USA.

 

I love Suits and it is from USA network (I think) and have noticed that the word fuck is wiped out each time. I assume this is from a local station or somewhere else but it has been consistently wiped clean from that word. Censorship of content takes place all over. All the gay Thailand websites have been blocked in the past inside Thailand and you have trouble accessing porn in many places.