Society's Child
The latest film to get adapted is the 1999 classic 'Fight Club.' The original ending saw the main character (spoilers, if you haven't seen the film), who suffers from a split identity disorder, shoot himself in the face to kill his alter ego, Tyler Durden, and then proceed to watch a bunch of corporate buildings explode, sending an anarchistic message about the dangers and trappings of a society obsessed with consumerism.
In the Chinese version, however, this ending is completely cut out and the viewer is instead informed that the police saved the day and stopped all the bombs from exploding. All of this is delivered in a simple caption that reads: "Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding. After the trial, Tyler was sent to lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012."
The film was released on Tencent Video and it's unclear if the edit was the result of self-censorship on the part of the streaming service or the result of direct orders from the Chinese government, as neither has commented on the matter as of yet. However, a source familiar with the matter, according to Vice, said the film was edited by the copyright owner, and was sold to streaming sites after receiving government approval.
Released in 1999, most Chinese viewers seem to have already seen 'Fight Club' before, and after screenshots of the new ending went viral on Chinese social media, many have mocked the blatant censorship and said it is the main reason why most Chinese viewers prefer bootleg copies of foreign films.
Reader Comments
I can't even get myself to watch Chinese movies anymore, includingthose pseudo-historical martial arts one's.
The blatant propaganda, nationalism and government worship just makes me sick.
In the Chinese version, however, this ending is completely cut out and the viewer is instead informed that the police saved the day and stopped all the bombs from exploding.
Does that mean they cut out the final dick screen too?
When an agenda is afoot, and reality can be changed, using a digital format. China is not the only country, that uses this technology.
The push to evermore digitalize our society, it begs the question? Is what we see, hear and read nothing more than the rewriting of everything. It has been noted, I think it is Sony, that are buying leading up such music collections as Bob Dylan for instance. Now why would that be.
Maybe it was because of some controversial songs, such as this
[Link]
And this
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The "Great Reset" comes to mind.
Now I know it's not really art, it's Hollywood propaganda. Nihilistic, narcissistic, anarchistic, terroristic, purposeless, meaningless sh*te that heralded - and perhaps directly contributed to - precisely such values 'taking' in Westerners these last 20 years.