Posted on Mar 26, 2023
Opinion: The autocrat threatened by Winnie the Pooh
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/25/ [login to see] /opinion-the-autocrat-threatened-by-winnie-the-pooh
Authoritarian rulers can't take a joke. And they see jokes...everywhere.
The film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has been pulled from theaters in Hong Kong and Macau for "technical reasons." But the film has reportedly already been shown on thousands of cinema screens around the world without any "technical problems" like those mentioned by Chinese officials.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey takes A. A. Milne's endearing storybook characters and turns them into murderous revenge-fiends. The filmmakers can do this because the book's copyright expired and it's now in the public domain.
I don't think I'd want to see this film if it was the only one being shown on a 19-hour flight, and all I had to read was the air sickness bag. But China-watchers speculate the film isn't being suppressed over matters of taste; it's political censorship.
According to reports, some in China thought President Xi Jinping resembled Winnie the Pooh in a 2013 photo of him walking alongside President Barack Obama. President Obama was supposed to be Tigger.
Authoritarian rulers can't take a joke. And they see jokes...everywhere.
The film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has been pulled from theaters in Hong Kong and Macau for "technical reasons." But the film has reportedly already been shown on thousands of cinema screens around the world without any "technical problems" like those mentioned by Chinese officials.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey takes A. A. Milne's endearing storybook characters and turns them into murderous revenge-fiends. The filmmakers can do this because the book's copyright expired and it's now in the public domain.
I don't think I'd want to see this film if it was the only one being shown on a 19-hour flight, and all I had to read was the air sickness bag. But China-watchers speculate the film isn't being suppressed over matters of taste; it's political censorship.
According to reports, some in China thought President Xi Jinping resembled Winnie the Pooh in a 2013 photo of him walking alongside President Barack Obama. President Obama was supposed to be Tigger.
Opinion: The autocrat threatened by Winnie the Pooh
Posted from npr.org
Movies
Hong Kong
China
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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Never heard of the film so I looked at the trailer ... I think I'm with the comment the author of the story made ... "I don't think I'd want to see this film if it was the only one being shown on a 19-hour flight, and all I had to read was the air sickness bag."
In a nutshell - Winnie and his friends go feral after Christopher Robbins stops visiting them ... 20 years later, they are a bunch of rampaging psychos that looks like people in animal masks (spoiler alert - it's bad, but if you're into that sort of thing, it's probably a good movie!)
This is one of those Free Speech situations that people like me face (strongly support Free Speech unless Constitutionally unprotected) and allow censorship only of those unprotected categories. So, I swallow my disgust about what is being said (or shown in this case) and move on.
In a nutshell - Winnie and his friends go feral after Christopher Robbins stops visiting them ... 20 years later, they are a bunch of rampaging psychos that looks like people in animal masks (spoiler alert - it's bad, but if you're into that sort of thing, it's probably a good movie!)
This is one of those Free Speech situations that people like me face (strongly support Free Speech unless Constitutionally unprotected) and allow censorship only of those unprotected categories. So, I swallow my disgust about what is being said (or shown in this case) and move on.
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