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© Thomson Reuters FoundationDisney cuts lesbian kiss from 'Star Wars' in Singapore
By Beh Lih Yi KUALA LUMPUR©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
33 Comments
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Omachi
If you aren’t allowed to see the whole movie, why go? Not that I blame Disney, since they are only after the money, but it would be good to see some news of the backlash, however minor it might be.
Steve Martin
'Tolerance'?
Maybe.
If we can tolerate and consign ourselves to the fact that we are not talking about 'art' or its highest ideals.
We are talking about bread and circuses 'entertainment'.
After all, 'Disney is only after the money.'
Right?
I guess it depends as much on the audience as the creators, business interests, and moral policing.
Blacklabel
Yep why do “minor” characters need to have a lesbian kiss? Seems kinda forced.
davestrousers
Aaannd that's why its a kiss between two minor characters easy to edit out in the first place. We're all for diversity but we've still got to make our money! Poe and Finn should've been gay. Everyone wanted to see that.. the actors involved, probably the director too.
lostrune2
If they're minor characters, what's the problem
If 1% of the population are lesbians, they're the 1%
Or maybe they're alien species anyway, so they follow different conventions than humankind
Wouldn't it be more forced if all alien species follow the same conventions as humankind (blame it on the Midi-chlorians using The Force)
MSR Japan
Disney used to be a film company for children they used to make fantasy stories for kids, now they have lesbians kissing? Maybe it should have put this on pornhub not disney?
Minor characters too, so now its minors having lesbian kisses on disney WTF they teaching the children now days?
Jim Harper
Very scary. Two people of the same gender kissing. It's bound to shatter some poor child's innocence. sarcasm flag.
Not surprised by Disney bowing to local pressure. Nothing new there. Just not sure what the issue is here.
Bugle Boy of Company B
Perhaps Disney is buying PornHub next?
lostrune2
2 females kissing is automatically pr0n to ya guys? lol
starpunk
Yes it does. While there's nothing wrong with diversity do we really need to go out of our way to include 'token' characters or scenes for that? The GLBT thing does seem to be a forced or 'planted' thing lately in Hollywood and it doesn't need to be. How about everybody just getting along? Besides, what about asexual alien species? That would make STAR WARS movies even more exciting.
On the other side of the coin, shame on Singapore and other governments for their oppressive stupid censorship. They're even more immoral than the things they hate.
MSR Japan
So i see that some dont know how to read with a hint of sarcasm either. Never mind you will understand things one day.
Ascissor
Killing and violence: Ok. They're stormtroopers so they don't have feelings.
A little peck on the cheek: Oooh, the cultural marxists are forcing their agenda on us!
shogun36
I have no side to this argument, show it, don't show it, whatever. It wasn't the reason anyone saw or didn't see the movie.
But it did seem out of place in the movie, or the series really.
I'm just glad they cleaned up that mess that was episode 8.
Andrew Crisp
Political correctness starts as something small then explodes into mainstream roles - this was Disney hoping to sneak the scene through then pushing the agenda further the next, good on the Singaporeans for keeping the standards up.
Blacklabel
Same thing happened in Avengers. Dude was talking about dating again after half the people in the universe dead.
“I had a date. Heeeeeeeeeee blah blah”
was so out of place and forced due to the focus being on the word “he”. Then later we find out that actor is really the director or producer or something and that it was very intentional focus.
took the entire focus off of what should have been an emotional scene about loss and moving on. Bad filmmaking just to push an agenda.
Pukey2
Singapore is clean to the point it's sterile.
englisc aspyrgend
Agree it doesn’t have to be illegal but there is no justification for forcing it in to films or any entertainment just to virtue signal your PC credentials.
HJSLLS
Come on, Disney!! Where’s your backbone??? For a company that is so committed to diversity and inclusion in its films, you put profits over principle very quickly. Disney execs knew this would create controversy. Yet they weren’t prepared to go the extra mile by keeping the scene and accepting the higher rating. Disney execs, you let down the LGTBQ community by caving in so quickly. What else are you willing to compromise for the sake of profits?
Serrano
What else are you willing to compromise for the sake of profits?
Their self respect. I've passed up more than one chance at making a bundle of money but I still have my self respect which is way more important. I'd rather pinch pennies than lose my self respect.
CrazyJoe
Those who oppress others due to race, gender or sexual orientation do so out of fear of those whom they seek to oppress.
Gay happens. Deal with it. Sexuality rights are human rights, and if a country opts out of that, they should be forced to opt out of the whole deal.
Including the SWIFT international banking transfer system. That’ll get their attention.
ebisen
Is this really worth becoming news? The wholr movie was such a boring affair...
HJSLLS
And another thing...
Why would two women kissing warrant a higher rating? If there is anything requiring a higher rating, it would be Empire Strikes Back where Princess Leia French-kisses her brother. Because the audience didn’t know they were siblings then, George Lucas certainly knew the back story. Was this Lucas’ secret fantasy or something?? Watching this in hindsight, one can’t help but think, “ewwww”. If Singapore wanted to protect children from adult themes, this scene was clearly incestual. But no one brings this up - no one even raises the question. Yet two women kissing is suddenly “mature content”.
And what about Leia barely clothed as Jaba’s sex slave in Return of the Jedi? And the implied sexual abuse when Jaba took her prisoner and C3P0 says, “I can’t bare to watch.” This surely must be mature content not suitable for younger audiences.
With all of the heterosexual kissing in the Star Wars series and the mature themes stated above, I find it so hypocritical to take out a scene featuring lesbians kissing.
WilliB
What is a lesbian kiss doing in a Star Wars movie anyway? The Western entertainment companies push this PC nonsens on their audiences, but only the islamic countries have the backbone to say no.
WilliB
Jim Harper:
Talk about misplaced sarcasm. You tell us we have to confuse children with this PC agenda.
BertieWooster
Does it really matter?
I mean the Star Wars movies are so totally far fetched anyway. Oh, I'm pretty sure there are other life forms in other parts of the universe. But beings with all kinds of different bodies, from different parts of the galaxy, gathering in one city on one planet, breathing the same air, at the same atmospheric pressure, same temperature and same gravity and even communicating verbally?
The lesbian kiss might be the realest thing in the whole movie!
lostrune2
And The Last Jedi has slave Leia complete with revealing bikini and dog collar with chain - c'mon, where else do ya see that but pr0n? Lol
How many guys were turned on by that fantasy and ok with it being in the film. Let's see Singapore try to remove that, and countless guys would cry censorship (rather than praising Singapore for holding up some Puritan standard), lol
When they met, Padme look so much older than boy Anakin when everybody knew she was gonna get knocked up by him (she's a shotacon)
Wholesome my ass, Star Wars has always had its own fetishes. If ya want wholesome, don't watch Star Wars, lol
lostrune2
Also, Star Wars already has its history of various sexual orientation characters in its lore, from books to games to tv series, etc. That's to be expected with different species around. Just because ya guys don't know about it outside of the movies, does not mean it's not in Star Wars lore.
Heck, Disney even aired at least one on its Disney Channel from Star Wars: Clone Wars tv series:
"Lesbian Mandalorian slaps [Jedi padawan] Asohka's ass" (A lesbian Mandalorian slaps Asohkas tight teenage ass from Star Wars The Clone Wars S4 E14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqFI4w4DR5s
And Asohka is one of the more popular Jedi amongst Star Wars fandom, lol
lostrune2
Lol, ya guys don't know Star Wars like ya think ya do
lostrune2
Just as a heads-up, if ya guys are watching The Mandalorian on Disney Plus right now, don't be surprised about this
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Reproduction/Legends
So don't say it came out of left field, lol
starpunk
ROTJ was possibly the first PG-13 rated movie, but supposedly it was because of the violence against those cuddly little Ewoks.