China bans horror

humanji

I saw this today and had to laugh at the absurdity:

Reuters wrote:

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has added ghosts, monsters and other things that go bump in the night to its list of banned video and audio content in an intensified crackdown ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Producers have around three weeks to look through their tapes for "horror" and report it to authorities, the General Administration of Press and Publications said in a statement posted on the government Web site.
Offending content included "wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror," the administration said.
The new guidelines aim to "control and cleanse the negative effect these items have on society, and to prevent horror, violent, cruel publications from entering the market through official channels and to protect adolescents' psychological health."
The regulations suggest China, where graphic, pirated sex and horror movies are available on most street corners, is keen to step up its control of the cultural arena ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August, which are widely seen as a coming-out party for the rising political and economic power.
They come just weeks after Beijing clamped down on "vulgar" video and audio content, slapped restrictions on Internet sites and handed down a two-year film-making ban to the team behind the steamy "Lost in Beijing."

jameshayes

Does this remind anyone of the run up to WW2?

Karl Hungus

Wow. That's ****ed.

koneko

Hah, ban ghost/horror movies, but keep the death penalty (mobile executions vans, execution by firearm, great stuff)

humanji

I love the way that it's been done for the run up to the olympics. I mean, did someone there actually think that clamping down on peoples freedoms shows off the olympic spirit?

faceman

Im going to be in china in May. So much for picking up cheap Asian horror dvd's

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

how did they get to host the olypmics anyway?
hitler you can kind of understand, he hadn't destroyed europe yet and there were still plenty of jews alive and unharmed when germany hosted it.. but china.. my god. It's not as if what they do is a secret.

humanji

Just imagin all the things they do that are top secret!

aurel

From my understanding of reading that article it doesn't say that possession of these films is banned rather the distribution of such films. Lets not forget that this goes on here also. There are loads of horror films that still are not allowed to be released uncut in Ireland.

Galvasean

No Godzilla for China so.
Sucks to be them.

humanji

aurel wrote: »

From my understanding of reading that article it doesn't say that possession of these films is banned rather the distribution of such films. Lets not forget that this goes on here also. There are loads of horror films that still are not allowed to be released uncut in Ireland.

But not all horror films. And most of the censorship is now being removed here.

senordingdong

Look at them there.
The Chinese.

A great bunch of lads.