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 seems to bring in a lot of revenue for them. Though, they appear to be making an effort. 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?