Chinese censors have decided to not allow The Departed entry into their country, at least not on the big screens. The people over at yahoo.com give us this:
China’s movie censor will not approve Golden Globe-honored film “The Departed” for domestic cinematic release due to its mention of a Chinese plan to buy military equipment, government sources said on Wednesday. That part of the plot is definitely unnecessary,” added the source, who asked not to be identified as he does not have permission to speak to the foreign media.”The regulators just cannot understand why the movie wanted to involve China. They can talk about Iran or Iraq or whatever, but there’s no reason to get China in,” added the source, who is close to the country’s movie regulator.
This is not the first time Chinese censorship has been discussed on the movie blog, it came up just a month or so ago with the movie Miami Vice. You can see that post here.
It’s very sad to me that the Government is so critical of anything that may even hint at an imperfect China. Because frankly perfect is boring. I don’t love countries for their perfections, it’s their interesting characteristics that make them attractive, the hot crowded streets of India, the different accents you hear across America, the way everything in Italy is fattening, it’s all so real and lively.
It’s a shame that China only wants to show cold perfection, because by doing so it puts ice around the hearts of many who live there or would otherwise consider visiting