MEDIA WINNER: Jake Tapper Jake Tapper criticized Hollywood studios during yesterday's show, taking them to task for censoring American films so that they adhere to China’s strict content censors. The CNN host announced last week he would spend a portion of each day's show during the Olympics highlighting the “horrors” of the county’s communist regime. "The Chinese government obviously hoping to use the games to distract the world from its crackdowns on freedoms, and crimes against humanity, and genocide," said Tapper. On Tuesday the specific aspect of the series was dedicated to Hollywood. "Today we're going to take a look at how the Chinese government, in effect, censors much of what comes out of the Hollywood film industry," he said. "They don't do this, of course, through direct control. They do it through enormous economic leverage." Tapper spoke with author Erich Schwartzel about details, using specific film examples such as the Top Gun sequel removing Taiwan's flag, and the 2012 remake of Red Dawn altering the bad guys to be North Korea in a considerably expensive post-production censorship edit. “In the time between the original Top Gun and this reboot, China’s box office has grown to be the biggest in the world,” said Schwartzel. “And any movie produced by a Hollywood studio as expensive as Top Gun needs that market often to turn a profit. So that means that even down to something as small as a flag on a jacket might need to be removed in case it offends the Chinese censors who decide whether or not it will get into those theaters.” After discussing several film examples, Schwartzel made a somewhat breathtaking observation. "Since [the Red Dawn edit], and it’s been more than a decade, we have not had a major studio put into production with China as the villain." “Of course not," said Tapper. "Profits above all else.” The daily dose of reality on China's many abuses, not to mention complicity from corporate America, is a welcome breath of air in a stifled news and media marketplace, and it's great journalism on Tapper's part. |