"What does it say to the world when Maverick is scared of the Chinese communists?" U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in a floor speech while discussing the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill.
Cruz was referring to what some eagle-eyed viewer saw in the trailer for the long-awaited "Top Gun" sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick." It turns out the filmmakers had removed the flags of Taiwan and Japan from Maverick's flight jacket. The reason, reported by Politico, was because the studio tried to "appease" Tencent, a China-based backer of the film.
Politico said it obtained a recent Pentagon document that says the U.S. military will no longer offer technical assistance to filmmakers unless they offer a pledge that the final product won't be altered for approval from the Chinese government.
Read: How Hollywood Films Get the US Military as a Co-Star
According to the document, the Department of Defense "will not provide production assistance when there is demonstrable evidence that the production has complied or is likely to comply with a demand from the Government of the People's Republic of China... to censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People's Republic of China."
The policy has been a long time coming. In May 2023, Cruz, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the "The Stopping Censorship, Restoring Integrity, Protecting Talkies Act" or SCRIPT Act, an amendment to the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill, which would limit or end Defense Department technical assistance to Hollywood productions if those productions censor their films for viewing in China.
"For too long, Hollywood has been complicit in China's censorship and propaganda in the name of bigger profits," Cruz said in a statement. "The SCRIPT Act will serve as a wakeup call by forcing Hollywood studios to choose between the assistance they need from the American government and the dollars they want from China."
This new Pentagon guidance contains most of the provisions of Cruz's intended legislation, without the legislation. It requires the production company working with the DoD to inform its liaison officer of any changes demanded by a Chinese official, and whether or not the company intends to comply with that demand.
The SCRIPT Act would also require an annual report of films that were submitted to Chinese officials and submitted to the Department of Commerce. Films produced in whole or in part in China will also not be allowed to censor their contents for the Chinese government.
Tencent eventually ended its investment in "Top Gun: Maverick" and the flags reappeared in the final version of the film, but this is just one moment in a long line of censorship requests from Beijing, many of which Hollywood is often only too happy to accommodate. China surpassed North America as the world's biggest market for Hollywood movies in 2020, and moviemakers often depend on its market to break even.
Changes are made despite the fact that Chinese censorship isn't limited to content that makes China look bad. It's known that any content involving Uyghurs, Taiwan or Hong Kong demonstrations won't pass, but the Chinese have also been known to censor same-sex kissing ("Bohemian Rhapsody") and even the Statue of Liberty (noticeably absent from "Spider-Man: No Way Home").
Studios have been editing films for China as far back as the late 1990s with "Titanic," where actress Kate Winslet's nude body was edited out of the final version. "Iron Man 3" featured Chinese product placement. Films such as "Fight Club" and "Lord of War" had their endings cut off and replaced with text that told audiences the criminals were apprehended.
"This new guidance -- implementing the legislation I authored in the SCRIPT Act -- will force studios to choose one or the other, and I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll make the right choice and reject China's blackmailing," Cruz told Politico.
-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, or on LinkedIn.
Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox.
Read more from the original source:
The Pentagon Will No Longer Offer Support to Moviemakers Who ... - Military.com
- Unnecessary Censorship in Skyrim Dawnguard by Normal Difficulty - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Is Censorship Ever Justified? - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Researchers fight censorship on China's Weibo - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- This Week in Unnecessary Censorship - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Censorship in Politics on the Rise - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Censorship Makes No Sense! - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Government Censorship Requests to Google Exploding - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Google Censorship Report - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Unnecessary Censorship in Video Games - Skyrim Part 5 - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Solar Censorship - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- euronews interview - Farhadi - self-censorship 'real danger' for Iranian filmmakers - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Youtube censorship. Let's make youtube the next Myspace - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Political Correctness SUCKS! Subliminal Censorship - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Iran Internet Censorship - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Unnecessary Censorship in Video Games - Mass Effect 3 Part 2 - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- In China, is censorship the mother of creativity? - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Unnecessary Censorship in Mass Effect 3 by Normal Difficulty - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- AOL censors blogs? - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Tunisia: Govt Drops Internet Censorship [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2012]
- Selectmen fear censorship at Saugus TV [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2012]
- Chinese 'blind spot' for Western readers [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2012]
- The New Yorker Got Temporarily Banned From Facebook for Posting Cartoon Boobs [Censorship] [Last Updated On: September 11th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 11th, 2012]
- Back Story: Orwellian-speak [Last Updated On: September 13th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 13th, 2012]
- EDIT: Facebook Censorship [Last Updated On: September 13th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 13th, 2012]
- Nothing, however vile, justifies censorship [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2012]
- 'US administration has put blame where it belongs' [Last Updated On: September 19th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 19th, 2012]
- Iran Shuts Down Google, Will Completely Cut Citizens Off the Internet [Censorship] [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2012]
- Belarus’s illusion of democracy [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2012]
- Censorship In The Americas: Google Brazil Chief Just Released From Custody [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2012]
- Global censorship of Internet on the rise [Last Updated On: September 29th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 29th, 2012]
- Big Brother still watching: Internet censorship is up, report says [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- Big Brother still watching: Internet censorship on the up, report says [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- Internet censorship up, report says [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- Internet Censorship on the Up, Report Says [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- Big Brother still watching: Internet censorship up, report says [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- National banned book week sheds light on censorship [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- Iran unblocks access to Gmail [Last Updated On: October 1st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 1st, 2012]
- Iran unblocks Gmail, plans local alternatives [Last Updated On: October 1st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 1st, 2012]
- Kurt Vonnegut, Harper Lee, and Other Literary Greats on Censorship [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2012]
- Read-out being held to raise awareness for banned book week [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2012]
- Bike Matadors and Censorship Towels Spring From Ad Firm’s Creative Offshoot [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Letter: White House guilty of censorship by stealth in seeking YouTube removal [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- YouTube goes legit in Turkey, bringing more sales and more censorship [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Cantor revisits 1937 degeneracy, censorship [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2012]
- Kent Free Library brings attention to censorship with participation in Banned Books Week [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2012]
- Media watchdog accuses Iran of intimidating journalists [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2012]
- ‘Media censorship is back…’ [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2012]
- Philippine president defends cybercrime law [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2012]
- Iran censors currency rates as rial suffers [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2012]
- Censorship Bill pushed aside by Parliament [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2012]
- Internet censorship: Let it rot in walled gardens [Last Updated On: October 12th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 12th, 2012]
- The Surprising Truth About Internet Censorship In The Middle East [Last Updated On: October 13th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 13th, 2012]
- As 9/11 Pretrial Begins, ACLU Calls Out "Orwellian" Censorship of CIA Torture [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2012]
- Theatre censorship set to be a thing of the past [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2012]
- China scrambles to censor novelist Mo Yan's Nobel Prize [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2012]
- Internet anti-censorship tools are being overwhelmed by demand [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Censorship would hinder the Internet revolution [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Pre-Election Reading: Wen Stephenson on Climate Self-Censorship [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Director takes Chinese censorship, business battles public [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- ‘Censorship would still be around were it not for divorce’ – Owen Bonnici [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Qatari draft media law criticized by rights group [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Avila Fine Arts Lovers "Forbidden Books Part 1 and 2" - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Anonymous - OpBigBrother: Worldwide Protests 12/08/2012 engl - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Journalists Resist: 'Where is the freedom of speech?' - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- G20 invisible plot Censorship International conference Dangerous information - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- 'Qatar media censorship law ill advised' - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Facebook Censorship of Navy Seals - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- NWO`s war against the press continues as Greek journalists go on strike, alleging state censorship - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Yung Glynn [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Social Media Censorship - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy's Christmas (Rare Australian Radio Edit) - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Introduction video about my Asperger's Syndrome - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2012]
- Forget SOPA, Russia Activates Web Censorship Blacklist Law [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Censorship fears loom as Russian law allowing 'Internet blacklisting' takes effect [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Exhibit Looks At Comic Book Censorship [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Their View: China censorship shows leaders still have much to hide [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Let's Play Lucius - Part 7 - Satanic Rituals and Shocking Baths - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Mike Malloy on censorship of US history in schools (10/26/12) - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Btooom! - Episode 5 Review - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- PSA OUTAKE 2 - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]