[continued from previous message]   
      
   > removal is harder to understand, as they seem really… harmless.   
   >   
   > Meanwhile, some types of scenes that were removed from The Big Bang   
   > Theory were allowed to remain in native productions.   
   >   
   > For instance, in season two, episode 15 of The Big Bang Theory, a six-   
   > second kissing scene was cut from the Youku version, while the   
   > streaming platform allowed a 42-second kissing scene in the Chinese   
   > drama Because of Love to air.   
   >   
   > Penny and Leonard are kissing on a couch.   
   > The Big Bang Theory: Season 2 Episode 15   
   > A female character and a male character are kissing under the shower.   
   > Because of Love: Episode 12   
   > Similarly, a naked back in season three, episode 21 was cut   
      
   Ah, the infamous slasher episode   
      
      
      
   while in a   
   > show called Stealth Walker (2021) on Youku, the nude back remained.   
   >   
   > Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton is taking off her pajamas.   
   > The Big Bang Theory: Season 3 Episode 21   
   > A woman with a naked back under shower.   
   > Stealth Walker: Episode 1   
   > Such unequal treatment is bizarre. According to the governmental   
   > guidelines, imported productions have only one more forbidden content   
   > category to consider than national ones — the imported productions must   
   > not show anything that would do harm to minors’ physical and mental   
   > health. The remaining forbidden content types, including nudity,   
   > violence, and promoting the negative parts of society, are the same for   
   > national and imported productions.   
   >   
   > As there are no legal roots, this may come down to self-policing by   
   > Chinese companies, who actually make the cuts and seek official   
   > approval before releasing the show. The self-policing can be rather   
   > relaxed, but that may result in multiple rounds of months-long   
   > scrutiny.   
   >   
   > Here is where things get especially interesting — to avoid the rabbit   
   > hole of scrutiny, streaming platforms may go overboard to censor   
   > themselves to make sure a video can pass the national censorship   
   > authority’s review on the very first try. And that often results in   
   > inconsistency, even in a national show itself.   
   >   
   > The TV show Marvelous Women   
      
   Are they talking about marvelous woman and fabulous cat?   
      
      
      
    streamed a very controversial scene last   
   > year, in which a real cat dropped from a table and landed on the ground   
   > on its back. It was meant to show a cat being poisoned, but after it   
   > was aired, netizens suspected that the crew might have killed an actual   
   > cat, instead of using CGI.   
   >   
   > Missy is talking about putting down a dog due to illness.   
   > The Big Bang Theory: Season 1 Episode 15   
   > A cat drops to the ground after being poisoned.   
   > Marvelous Women: Episode 32   
   > The scene was removed after the resulting controversy. Notably, it was   
   > not removed ahead of time through censorship. Meanwhile, a three-second   
   > line was cut out of The Big Bang Theory because the character mentioned   
   > the mercy killing of a dog.   
      
   Outside of a restaurant context   
      
      
   >   
   > These acts of censorship not only limit the impact of foreign-based   
   > productions, they also help the Chinese government maintain control.   
   > That is why Facebook and Twitter are banned in the country, as well as   
   > Netflix, HBO, and others. The government wants to have final say on the   
   > messages reaching the public.   
   >   
   > This approach could severely limit the quality and types of shows that   
   > are produced in China. Infernal Affairs (2002), a classic Hong Kong   
   > crime movie, reshot a different ending for the Chinese mainland and   
   > Malaysia. The new ending was considered a clunker, but perfectly   
   > aligned with China’s “main melody” perspective that justice always   
   > wins. The Departed (2006), an Oscar-winning remake of Infernal Affairs,   
   > is not allowed to air in the Chinese mainland, even though its ending   
   > also highlights justice.   
   >   
   > The movie was also remade into a namesake Chinese TV series in 2016,   
   > developed by a Chinese mainland production team. That TV series is only   
   > rated 6.1 out of 10 on China’s IMDb while the 2002 movie version has a   
   > 9.3 rating and the American version has a 7.3.   
   >   
   > Hong Kong-based journalist and author Nury Vittachi shared a similar   
   > experience in a New York Times opinion piece, describing that a crime   
   > story he co-wrote with a Chinese director had to be rejiggered multiple   
   > times, finally resulting in an “implausible tale” that involves noble   
   > detectives of Chinese origin in order to pass the authorities’ review.   
   >   
   > “The rules kill creativity,” Vittachi added.   
   >   
   > When the Netflix-produced Korean show Squid Game went viral and won   
   > awards worldwide, many Chinese netizens were asking on social media —   
   > when can a Chinese TV show be recognized in that way?   
   >   
   > I can’t blame the sites for not importing more big-name TV shows, or   
   > the domestic studios for not producing similar content. For some, even   
   > if the show or concept is popular as hell, it just isn’t worth the   
   > hassle.   
   >   
   > Even though China has been trying to boost its cultural soft power for   
   > years, it’s unlikely that the dream of making a worldwide popular show   
   > will come true any time soon. To appeal to a global audience, the   
   > government would first need to be more tolerant of the kind of material   
   > it removes from TV-14 sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory.   
   >   
   > Data and Methods: I watched the first 100 episodes of The Big Bang   
   > Theory that stream in the U.S. and on Youku, side by side, and tracked   
   > 206 missing scenes from the Youku version. The sample videos   
   > demonstrated above are all picked out from the pool of missing scenes.   
   >   
   > The first scene is an original cut from Youku. The censored version of   
   > other scenes are based on timestamping the Youku version and then   
   > programmatically skipping using the original scene.   
   >   
   > In order to figure out the reason for the video censorship, I   
   > categorized the missing scenes into seven categories.   
   >   
   > (1) Sex: scenes include conversations with sexual descriptions, body   
   > parts, and relevant keywords, such as “coitus” or “have sex.” Scenes   
   > that demonstrate two characters’ kissing for several seconds or show   
   > partial nudity will also be included in this category.   
   >   
   > (2) LGBTQ+ and atypical heterosexual relationships: scenes in which   
   > characters mention things like the LGBTQ+ community or romantic   
   > encounters with family members or inanimate objects. Scenes   
   > demonstrating kissing or other physical intimacy between two characters   
   > of the same gender are included as well.   
   >   
   > (3) Disrespect: scenes include dialogues that could potentially defame   
   > Chinese culture, China’s society, Chinese people, or even Chinese   
   > restaurants in the U.S.   
   >   
   > (4) Illegal actions: scenes in which characters mentioned anything that   
   > is illegal in China, including murder, drunk driving, and egg freezing.   
   >   
   > (5) Religion: scenes in which characters said anything that could   
   > potentially offend habits or beliefs of a religion.   
   >   
   > (6) Unhealthy addictions: scenes in which unhealthy addictions came up   
   > in a conversation, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, and gambling.   
   >   
   > (7) Miscellaneous: scenes that do not belong to any one of the former   
   > six categories.   
   >   
   > To see the clips and such:   
   > https://pudding.cool/2022/08/censorship/   
   >   
   > --   
   > Let's go Brandon!   
   >   
   >   
      
      
      
   --   
   The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)