It seems the Chinese officials have finally made up their mind. Memoirs of a Geisha is now officially banned in China. Looks like public pressure finally got to them and they axed it. This is following over a month of deliberation. They initially approved the film for launch in January, but delayed the film because of public outcry. The movie was stopped in the middle of dubbing to Chinese no less.
At least the censored stopped their confusion and made a decision. The whole thing was because the Government was worried that it would raise anti-Japanese sentiment.
The Chinese really know how to hold a grudge:
China, and many Chinese, believe that Japan has not done enough to atone for its occupation from 1937 to 1945 in which some 37 million Chinese were killed or wounded.
So HA! We ban your film! That ought to teach those Japanese a thing or two!
Really though, the outcry was more than just for the Japanese theme, as noted below:
The casting of Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li in the Japanese drama has already caused outrage in China - because many regard geishas as prostitutes.
Geishas are like prostitutes? No way! Who made that remarkable connection? Geisha are of course first and foremost entertainers, but what really is the ultimate form of entertainment?
Anyhow, enjoy your DVD version for those of you who have already bought or will buy it.
[...] The Chinese government goes to excruciating lengths to limit the amount of foreign films that are allowed into China. Even after they “approved” Memoirs of a Geisha to be shown in China, public outcry made them recount their decision. Think about this for a second- the strict Chinese government which always decides what is suitable for it’s citizens to see, now gives into pressure from people who don’t want to see a movie. Kind of a reverse situation isn’t it? Though, all this banning and censorship of movies seems utterly futile. Just go to your nearest DVD shop and you can see why. As I have mentioned before, Chinese people do not frequent movie theaters like western folks do. When you think that China has a ratio of 1 movie screen per 442,000 people compared to 1 screen per 7700 people in the US you get the idea. So noone really goes to the movie theaters, everyone just buys DVDs or downloads their movies online. The Chinese government even seems to turn a blind eye to all this piracy, as it also brings in a lot of revenue for them. It seems currently more profitable for them to benefit from the profits of piracy than to build more theaters, so really, what is all the ruckus about? Banning films with one hand, while allowing them on the other is a unique situation that China finds itself in. What do you think? « The Real World of Warcraft [...]
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