[Zero Hedge via Rantingly] Boot lickers get the boot.
Despite the franchises popularity with Chinese consumers, China's censors blocked all four of Disney's Marvel movies released last year from being shown in the Chinese market. The films contained nothing that would obviously anger China's censors (no references to Taiwan as an independent country were included in any of the four films), but as Axios points out, they were banned because of what they didn't include: mass messaging that would subtly support the CCP's long-term political aims.
According to Axios, the CCP leadership and President Xi have set an ambitious goal of making China a "strong film power" by 2035. In the title of its post, Axios also described it as a "movie empire". And how could they accomplish this goal if domestic films don't dominate in their own backyard? Clearly, US films pose a serious threat to this.
So instead, China's censors were given "the nudge" to raise objections about the films' unacceptable "political" overtones - despite the fact that these movies all take place in a fantasy universe with little bearing on humanity's reality.
This CCP-ordered crackdown doesn't bode well for Hollywood, which has long treated China like a critical growth market. "It's a real turning away from the global entertainment industry," said Rebecca Davis, China bureau chief for Variety, who was quoted by Axios. |