entertainment

How Sony sanitized Sandler movie to please Chinese censors

42 Comments
By Clare Baldwin and Kristina Cooke

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42 Comments
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I used to think China was a crappy country. Now I think it's a really crappy country. This is the 21st century and the one party dictatorship is applying 1950's Stalinist censorship to control how the "world" sees China.

16 ( +18 / -3 )

I don't give a hoot if China censors everything in their own cesspool land but when the US and other nations censor their own productions to sell out and bow down to the Chinese then that's even worse.

Sony and their ilk are perpetuating China's heavy handedness. Grow a backbone for godsake.

It's allowing the Chinese govt. to dictate to other nations and peoples. I didn't vote in this totalitarian regime.

Leave the finished products/movies alone. If they don't like them the way they are then they can stew and watch the crap they produce in their own country.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

China does more damage to its image by discouraging such movie scenes than those scenes ever could!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Pathetic.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

What's funny is that a lot of Chinese come to the USA and once they experience the freedoms we have, along with the lack of censorship in movies and websites, decide that they want to stay.

At any rate, this is simply another example of Sony caving...

4 ( +5 / -1 )

This is nothing new. China has been dictating Hollywood for years now. You bad mouth China, lose possible millions. The American Dream up for sale.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

No, Sony didn't.

Yes, Sony did!

In no way am I praising China's censorship, or anybody's censorship for that matter! All censorship sucks, including the non-government censorship that happens in America all that time that so many here have a blind spot for.

But Sony sucks for censoring things that may well have passed a Chinese censorship board. They didn't even try! If they are such wussies they should just give up the Chinese market.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

So while Japanese are happy to watch giant monsters flatten parts of the country and kill untold thousands, the Chinese throw a wobbly because aliens blast a hole in the Great Wall? Come on people, get a bloody grip! Idiots.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Market dictates product.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I wonder what the law is about writing a story based on material stolen from a company...

2 ( +3 / -1 )

If China didn't censor every little thing, Sony wouldn't have self-censored. Therefore, China censored the movie.

Logic failure. Sony self-censored so as to not have to deal with Chinese censors. You can blame China for the circumstance, but the actions were Sony's.

Sony is turning into a spineless company.

They're a company trying to make profits. Not a group of activists.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

China can really be thin-skinned, which is silly but also dangerous when notn applied to somke lame movie but to territorial disputes and the like. Adam Sandler movies deserve to be cut far more than they are.....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If someone made a film showing a hole being made in the Tower of London the British wouldn't object. And the Great Wall is full of holes anyway! Touchy lot, the Chinese.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It's not only Chinese censorship that annoys me, it's the fact that the plot of every major action movie inevitably leads to China with panoramic views of a the Shanghai skyline. I stopped going to the cinema a few years ago. It's so predictable.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Getting back to Adam Sandler though, was Sony's sanitization able to make the film funny or watchable? Because that is usually the issue with him...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

On the plus side, the Chinese might at some point decide to censor all of Adam Sandler`s movies. Like, in their entirety from start to finish.

Then the world will be a better place.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Now I think it's a really crappy country.

Curious what you'd think about North Korea, then.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A number of films have also been "edited" for the Japanese market, many (but not all) having to do with the late unpleasantness that Abe & Co seek to disavow. Probably easier (and better PR) just to let potentially controversial films fail to find distribution due to fear of poor attendance or pickets from neo-fascists. I believe the govt ministry (MEXT) that censors pornography and vets public school textbooks also censors what it views as politically-objectionable content.

Unbroken http://www.kunitakahashi.com/blog/2015/03/31/censored-anti-japan-hollywood-movie/

Empire of the Sun http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/21/movies/japanese-cut-last-emperor.html

Chappie http://kotaku.com/chappie-censored-in-japan-director-wasnt-told-1698169136

Nanjing (did this open here?)

Lethal Weapon the torture scene, (okay, pretty much the entire movie was torture to watch) in which the torturer (Endo, played by a Chinese-American) was edited out

The list is probably substantially longer...

1 ( +3 / -2 )

If someone made a film showing a hole being made in the Tower of London the British wouldn't object. And the Great Wall is full of holes anyway! Touchy lot, the Chinese.

Maybe I will be declared touchy too, but when people fail to read the articles it annoys me greatly.

It was Sony that decided on its own to edit out the bit with the Great Wall, not the Chinese. The article even clearly indicates that the Chinese probably would not have complained about it had it been left in.

Sometimes I wish there was a rule where people had to read an article twice before being allowed to comment. Sometimes even once is not enough.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The Great Wall Of China is full of holes anyway, with a lot of it missing or completely fallen down piles of rubble for mile after mile.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

China did not censor the movie. Sony did.

No, Sony didn't. If China didn't censor every little thing, Sony wouldn't have self-censored. Therefore, China censored the movie. QED. This is the most insidious thing about self-censorship, and saying that 'well, gee, Sony is the one doing the censoring' is falling right into the trap.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Sony is turning into a spineless company.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@gogogo

I wonder what the law is about writing a story based on material stolen from a company...

That's an interesting question. In the US (where this site is based), almost anything goes. The almost unrestricted right to free speech means this is most certainly legal. In countries like Japan, the UK, Australia, there is probably a difference between reporting on the information contained in the emails and publishing actual excerpts from the emails. Publishing parts of the emails could amount to copyright infringement if the publisher knows that they've been obtained illegally.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Sanitize it out of existence please, bleach it!!! The guy is not funny just like his movies.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Lethal Weapon was alright. Rubbish but fun. Endo was clearly an evil Oriental torturer. and he is in my DVD version that i bought downstairs at Tsutaya.....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The reality is that Hollywood self censors to fit American prejudices all the time, but there's no email trail as the scripts and story lines that contain things that the US audience would react negatively to are simply not selected, and the vast majority of writers and their editors know that, so tailor their work to fit. So Iranians, if they're featured at all, must either be 'political exiles', or bad guys, Israelis must be good guys, and not shown as Apartheid characters. That Hollywood is beginning to see that not giving Chinese sensitivities as much consideration as American sensitivities shows the power not of the Chinese government, but the power of the Chinese consumer, and, in the not too distant future, scripts and story lines that don't take the prejudices of those consumers into account the way the prejudices of the American consumer prejudices are will simply not be picked up, and writers and editors will adjust to fit the market.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's not unlawful so your definition isn't applicable.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Erroneous you say? Which part?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Pixels is bad on a level rarely seen in cinema. I'm not sure censorship would not improve it......wow I actually said that

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Seems Sony, Hollywood and even varied multiple companies are seemingly censoring alot of movies for the current situation..

Well, nowadays i feel with these type of cases being reported, it makes me feel that entertainment companies are getting self-paranoiac ("i'm scared of whoever's being mad if they see this") in terms of the sensitivity subject, which leads me to...

We have a Chinese culture saying, "saving face". I think mostly everyone's trying to do that now... if not just mostly entertainment companies.

ps team player - some even just avoid reading the article, and scrolls to the comment section below to just write whatever that sounds cynical, at the least.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I used to think China was a crappy country. Now I think it's a really crappy country.

OssanAmerica, you should read the article. China did not censor the movie. Sony did. Sony did not even attempt to pass a censorship board with the original product and edit out only what they were told. Instead they unilaterally over-edited on purpose. This was because they are in a hurry to make money.

But those who worship capitalism (as opposed to simply preferring it) will surely have a blind spot when it comes to how crappy uber capitalist societies can be. As much as you may despise China, try to keep in mind that so-called "free" society's companies are happy to play China's game if it means lining their pockets with cash.

My best suggestion for you is to stop seeing things in terms of countries. Slime is in control in any country. When you can see the slime irregardless of the flag on their sleeve, you will be able to see the good and good people on all sides.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

Getting back to Adam Sandler though, was Sony's sanitization able to make the film funny or watchable? Because that is usually the issue with him...

To each it's own. I like his movies with only a few missteps like Jack & Jill and Grown Ups 2.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

So what ? Just don't watch it, the same way you don't watch many movies made by the Chinese for themselves. Also, get used to movies made for Chinese, just like the world has gotten used to Americans saving the Earth, and humanity from all sorts of "evil" people and aliens that want to destroy it.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

StrangerlandJul. 27, 2015 - 11:03AM JST "If China didn't censor every little thing, Sony wouldn't have self-censored. Therefore, China censored the movie."

Logic failure. Sony self-censored so as to not have to deal with Chinese censors. You can blame China for the >circumstance, but the actions were Sony's.

Wrong. Economic Duress: "Unlawful use of economic pressure and/or threats intended to overcome the free will of a person, in order to force him or her to an involuntary agreement or to do something that he or she would not otherwise do. See also duress."

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

StrangerlandJul. 27, 2015 - 09:35PM JST It's not unlawful so your definition isn't applicable.

Only in a totalitarian dictatorship like China where expressing opinions counter that of the CCP government is officially illegal and horrible crimes such as "advocating democracy" are prosecuted. Go ahead, tells us "not only in China but North Korea too". Issues like this are real and have an effect on our lives. They are not some pointless academic internet forum fodder. That the major corporations of the world must yield to China's censorship in order to access and profit from China's domestic market is one thing. But to mold China's "global image" as the CCP would like , to influence and direct the views and opinions of the rest of the world is something else.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Take a wild guess genius.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Logic failure. Sony self-censored so as to not have to deal with Chinese censors. You can blame China for the circumstance, but the actions were Sony's.

Gee, you're right! So if I hold a gun to your head and tell you to kill someone, you're the one committing murder, not me. Thanks for educating me on that.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This movie has to censorship all the world! Is so sad....and well bad baked this movie....

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Logically speaking you are incorrect. I believe its logical that you crave praise for an imagined sense of intelligence which has not been forthcoming on this website. Logically, your cache of thumbs down from fellow commentators points towards a logical condemnation of your boorish blowhardiness. Logically speaking, your illogical fear of offering an opinion, however minute, suggests the absence of cojones. Which is logical.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

To be honest, your words would mean a lot more if they were coming from someone not from America.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

StrangerlandJul. 27, 2015 - 10:53PM JST To be honest, your words would mean a lot more if they were coming from someone not from America.

Not only is your statement erroneous, but it has absolutely no relevance to the discussion and therefore both thoughtless and meaningless. Please come back when you've grown up.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

No matter what you do, you can't sanitize Pixels or your own eyeballs after even just seeing the preview. I feel dirty all over just thinking about this movie.

Can we just scrub away Sandler period? You know, from Earth?

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

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