Despite ban, Geisha is all over China
Filed under: Drama, Romance, Newsstand, Politics
The recent decision by the Chinese
government to ban Memoirs
of a Geisha from domestic screens isn't going to stop anyone from seeing Rob Marshall's film. In fact, Chinese citizens have been watching the
movie for months: thanks to the country's thriving piracy industry, DVDs of Geisha are widely available for
prices much lower than those paid for movie tickets. Though the Chinese government is restrictive enough that it
routinely "protects" its citizens from the harmful influence of foreign cultural elements, the fact that
roughly 95% of the DVDs available in the country are thought to be pirated (the numbers, obviously, are even higher for
banned films and TV shows) sort of removes the teeth from the government's actions. I wonder what the reaction to the
ban has been among Chinese citizens - it sounds as if, under current circumstances, it's little more than political
window dressing.
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