Fight Club, a film produced by 20th Century Fox, and now ostensibly owned by The Walt Disney Company, is finally being released in China. Getting the online release treatment by the giant Communist Party linked Tencent company, Fight Club is not being released in its original form. Instead, the movie has an ending that is totally different than what everyone else in the world will see.
From Vice:
In the version on the Chinese streaming site Tencent Video, the explosion scene has been removed. Instead, viewers are told that the state successfully busted Tyler’s plan to destroy the world.
“Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding,” a caption said. “After the trial, Tyler was sent to lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012.”
As said by Mike Vanderbilt over on Yahoo! News:
China’s censorship system is strict and makes sure that all media fall in line with Communist Party ideals. Films from Hong Kong, the United States, and beyond are altered by the censors to cut out subversive concepts, nudity, and gore… you know, the good stuff.
So far there is no answer from The Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, or Tencent as to who is responsible for this Chinese Communist Party propaganda censorship of the movie that reverses the film’s story. American companies making alterations to their films in a way that might be deemed detestable has become a growing issue of concern in the United States and other western nations.
One of the worst parts of this is that the movie’s cheaply-made new ending attempts to appear as if it was always the ending in every other country. And because Chinese citizens are locked behind a digital curtain that prevents them from accessing most parts of the free worldwide web, it will be difficult for them to find out there was every anything else.
For more on entertainment and the industry’s interactions with China, keep checking out That Park Place.
