Titanic 3-D Censored in China Due to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio Sex Scene
Film enthusiasts in China will have one less thing to look forward to after the classification board announced that they will censor Kate Winslet’s titillating nude scene in Titanic 3-D because viewers may try to “touch” Winslet’s breasts.
China lacks a film classification system, and has officially ruled out imposing one, as it has deemed this “unworkable” for reasons that have not been explained.
As a result, films like Avatar, Memoirs of a Geisha, Brokeback Mountain, Farewell My Concubine, and Lust Caution faced the chopping block for various reasons including scenes with sex and religion, scenes that incite violence, and those that depictcrime.
Titanic is the highest grossing film in China, but its 3-D equivalent now joins a club of films that have had to make their way through this peculiar maze of censorship. Here are some of the most notable and amusing ones:
1. Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End
The third instalment of this Buccaneering adventure saw Chow Yun-Fat’s scenes cut for its negative portrayal of Chinese people. It could also be the fact that the “Chinese pirate” reminds people of China’s thriving piracy industry. But, of course that would just be speculation.
2. Mission Impossible 3
No one likes having their dirty laundry hung out for all to see, which is why censors demanded that scenes of laundry and villagers gambling with Mah-jong be removed. The authorities argued that such scenes would harm Shanghai’s image as a buzzing metropolis. To be fair, it’s going to take more than dirty laundry to tarnish anyone’s reputation.
3. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
This movie may be the only time which Bob Hoskins shared the screen with Jessica Rabbit, but China felt it would threaten their domestic animation industry and that this combination would ‘mislead’ animation production in China.
4. Back to the Future
Anyone know of a film that involves time travelling to a historic event in China? No? That’s because films about time travel are banned becausethey allegedly tamper with history; kind of ironic coming from a country that refuses to acknowledge Tiananmen Square. No chance of finding a Chinese Trekkie then.
5. Babe
Like Roger Rabbit, this movie also mixed some form of computer animation with live-acting, and just like Back to the Future, it wasn’t quite rooted in reality. As a result, this cute family film about a pig that thinks it’s a sheepdog was banned purely because pigs don’t talk in real life. This is coming from a country whose many legends include the Monkey King where one of the characters is a talking pig.