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Media censorship in China is something that the channel has covered many times in the
past and how the Chinese government has strict approval processes for things like games and
movies and a long list of content that they won't allow to be depicted within media.
These regulations ended up causing nearly 3 minutes of content to be completely cut
from the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and also other scenes to be altered in various
ways - such as changing the onscreen visuals or deliberately mistranslating the subtitles.
The movie was recently launched in China last month but Chinese officials did not approve
of the movie's LGBT themes, with it depicting frontman Freddie Mercury's homosexuality numerous
times over the course of the movie.
Media containing LGBT themes have been banned by the Chinese censors, which led to the sizable
changes.
It has been reported that some Chinese cinema-goers were left confused due to the alterations.
Mercury's homosexuality plays a big role in the story and so viewers have expressed that
scenes didn't seem to make sense due to the changes.
Examples of the various changes have been reported by various online websites.
Six of them are as follows: Firstly there were changes to a scene early
on in the film, where a BBC producer managing Queen's live performance gets angry after
the camera zooms in on Mercury's flamboyant pelvic movements.
In the Chinese version, special effects were added so that the TV screen instead starts
to glitch out, which hides the view of Mercury and is also what the producer now gets mad
about in the Chinese version instead.
Next is the complete removal of a kiss between Mercury and his long-time manager Paul Prenter.
This then has the effect of disguising the fact that the pair were actually in a romantic
relationship in the movie.
Then there was the removal of some dialogue between Mercury and his female lover and friend
Mary.
This scene shows Mary finally confronting Mercury over his homosexuality, yet the relevant
lines within the scene were removed in China.
Another scene altered in the country originally showed Queen drummer Roger Taylor making a
comment about Mercury's new haircut - saying that it looked "gayer".
In China, this part of the scene is removed and it just shows the drummer giving Mercury
a sceptical look.
A change that especially confused Chinese viewers occurs roughly an hour in, where Mercury
gropes his future partner Jim, who was working as a server at a party.
The whole scene was cut in China, leading to viewers having no idea where Jim came from.
A later kiss scene between the characters was also removed.
Then, for a sixth example of the changes made in China, the entire 'I Want To Break Free'
scene was removed as well.
This famous scene shows Queen dressing up in women's clothing to shoot the music video
for "I Want To Break Free.
It was completely removed in China and the movie simply cuts to the next scene showing
MTV banning the music video, but with Chinese viewers not being sure why exactly it had
been banned.
There were also some further changes to the movie to remove any drug use, with drugs being
another depiction that the Chinese officials regulate in the country.
Furthermore, even the broadcast of the real life Oscar acceptance speech for best actor
was changed in China.
Whilst originally the actor told the crowd "We made a film about a gay man" Chinese broadcasters
changed the subtitles to remove the words "gay man" and changed it to the term "special
group" instead.
China receiving altered versions of Western media is nothing new for the country.
For instance, the final season of Game Of Thrones just premiered earlier today worldwide
and Chinese viewers took to social media to complain about the Chinese version's censorship,
with the hashtag related to the topic racking up more than 100 million views on Chinese
social media site Weibo.
Previous seasons have aired in China with scenes of violence and sex heavily changed,
leading to Chinese viewers to describe the show as a "medieval castle documentary" instead.
What do you think about the strict regulations that media faces in China?
As always, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below and consider subscribing
to see more videos on how media is changed around the world.
Until next time, thank you for watching!