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Tuesday, October 22, 2019

They Welcome Their New Insect Overlords

Hollywood doesn't mind insulting half of America, but doesn't want to offend the Chinese Communist Party. This has been coming for some time.

In Hollywood, there's no speaking truth to power when it comes to China (because it is much safer to verbally assault Trump):

From Mulan actress Crystal Liu to the Lakers’ LeBron James, most top stars are taking no chances and are lining up to either side with the Chinese regime or denounce any criticism of its authoritarian tactics. Similarly, companies like ESPN (which used a controversial map on SportsCenter that indicated the self ruled island of Taiwan was part of China) and Apple (which removed from its online stores the so-called Hong Kong protest app and quietly dropped the Gere series Bastards, despite picking it up straight to series late last year) appear to be toeing the party line.

All the while, observers say an overt self-censorship has begun to creep into the entertainment industry. Inside Hollywood, the film industry faces the greatest risk in rocking the China boat.

I've long noted China's reach to enforce "respect" for China

I've noted that China goes to great efforts to shape international views of China or China's positions. Hollywood movies that wish to enter the China market have been altered to make them compliant with China's positions. There's even more involved. ...

It's like the first line of defense to reduce the work load on China's vast army of censors who work hard to keep Chinese Internet users from seeing information that runs counter to the official party line.

Hollywood is willing to bend the knee to China's communist oppressors. It just doesn't want to be seen as doing it.