Sony Refuses to Bow to China’s Censorship Requests in Spiderman Movie
The Chinese government is walking a tightrope in the 21st century, both holding their citizenry hostage via authoritarian communism, and also importing plenty of intellectual property from around the world in order to improve their meager standard of living. The only problem being that the messages in art and culture around the world just don’t jibe with being under the boot of a tyrannical government.
And so China leverages the consumer power of their enormous, captive population against western media giants in hopes of influencing their art. Beijing simply cannot have freedom-centric plot lines infiltrating their citizen’s minds.
While many companies have capitulated to China on account of the massive buying power of the nation, Sony has turned down Beijing’s recent request to alter one of Marvel’s recent blockbusters.
Sony reportedly refused the Chinese government’s demand to scrub the Statue of Liberty from Spider-Man: No Way Home.
According to Puck on Sunday, citing “multiple sources,” the Chinese government requested the Statue of Liberty be digitally removed from the film, despite its inclusion in a pivotal scene. Sony rejected the request.
The Chinese government then asked if the Statue of Liberty could be, according to Puck, “minimized in the sequence: if Sony could cut a few of the more patriotic shots of [Tom] Holland standing atop the crown, or dull the lighting so that Lady Liberty’s visage wasn’t so front-and-center.” Sony considered the request, but declined.
Not everyone has the same integrity as Sony, however.
The NBA recently ran into trouble in China after a team owner tweeted their support for Hong Kong’s long-held independence. Beijing threatened to boycott the league altogether, and the next thing you know LeBron James was trotted out to say heavily complimentary things about China.