Ghostbusters, the 2016 edition, it was revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, was not released in China. The decision to ban the film’s release was explained in reference to China’s official censorship guidelines, which technically prohibit movies that “promote cults or superstition”. This is a country whose official film release guidelines also ban content that references time-travel, Brad Pitt, reincarnation and the 2D (but not the 3D) version of Avatar. Those familiar with the workings of the Chinese government in such matters know better.
Such arcane regulations are often invoked by Chinese officials in order to punish Western production houses that don’t sufficiently kowtow to Chinese wishes. If Melissa McCarthy and her Ghostbusting team had taken a flight to battle the supernatural on the Bund in Shanghai or in scenic Hong Kong, does anyone really believe the film’s themes would have triggered the ban?
Such awkward excursions have become too commonplace in modern cinema. The most egregious example from recent times was the whoring out of the Transformers plot in 2014. In that sad scenario, the once-reveared shell of Optimus Prime brings the Autobots to Hong Kong, where a series of bizarre events take place, generally aimed at showering the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with false glory. In one particularly painful episode, what appears to be a mall security guard picks up a phone and calls… wait for it… the President of China, who in turn orders some of China’s shiny new stealth fighters to defend Hong Kong and help save the day.
The 2014 Transformers tragedy may have been one of the most egregious and damaging moments for Hollywood’s credibility, but it was definitely not the first or the last.
Who could forget the smart, attractive and beautiful Chinese that helped command and defend the international space station at the beginning of 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence?
Lest we forget, the Chinese also our saved our precious Matt Damon in The Martian, by supplying the desperately needed supply rocket when NASA mysteriously blew up its own hastily readied launch vehicle.
Chinese involvements in Hollywood story arcs might seem benign, if they weren’t specifically designed to boost China’s nationalist identity. The Chinese military dazzled us in Transformers, the genius of its citizens and its space program was on full display in The Martian. Could these stories have been made just as well, if not better without these plot inclusions?
