When SBS aired the movie’Bohemian Rhapsody’, the same-sex kiss scene was deleted or released with covert. In the process of expressing its position, SBS said, “There was no intention of’anti-homosexuality’,” and “it could be uncomfortable for the family to see,” and criticism is growing for “erasing LGBT people.”
At 8:30 on the evening of the 13th, SBS organized and aired the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody,” featuring Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen, cut off the same-sex kiss scene and put it on the cutting board. SBS deleted two kissing scenes of Mercury, including the kiss of Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) and Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker) in the movie. The kissing scenes of the male extras in the background were mosaicized. On the other hand, kissing scenes between the opposite sex, such as a kiss with Mercury’s wife, Mary Austin, were broadcast as they were.
As a result, criticism poured out online for erasing LGBTQ identity. The edited scene reveals the daily life of Mercury and occupies a large part of the film’s theme consciousness. This is why it was pointed out that it damaged the core theme of the movie. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ reflects the biography of Freddie Mercury and deals with his sexual orientation and LGBT identity as a music film and is considered a queer film.
SBS officials said, “There was no intention to’oppose’ to homosexuality,” as the reason for cutting the scene. He said, “Eight in the evening is the time zone with the highest ratings with families, and I was a 15-year-old audience, and I edited the scene with long physical contact.” The Bohemian Rhapsody was also screened as a 12-year-old spectator when it was released.
SBS also mentioned the possibility of deliberation by the Korea Communications Commission. An official from SBS said, “There has been a warning judgment about the past homosexual code kiss scene,” and “If we had sent it out as it was, it would have been sanctioned by the Security Council.” However, the sanctions were criticized at the time as well, and in the past five years, no sanctions have been decided on the scene of same-sex affection.
In April 2015, the Korea Communications Commission decided to sanction the JTBC drama’Seonam Girls’ High School Detectives’ after sending a scene of two high school students of the same sex kissing. The Korea Communications Standards Commission’s Communications Subcommittee also requested correction for the kiss scene in the web drama “The Trend of Lily” provided by Naver TV Cast in 2016.
Since then, the Korea Communications Commission introduced the broadcaster’s drug case and decided on sanctions on broadcast reports mentioning LGBTQ identity or treated as’no problem’ several times on LGBT rights related broadcasts. In 2018, the report on the issue of the Daegu Queer Culture Festival did not cover’opposite voices’ and made a decision to present opinions on the grounds of’violation of fairness’.
Yun Yeo-jin, executive director of the Center for Journalism and Human Rights, said, “The Bohemian Rhapsody is a movie that reflects the voice of Freddie Mercury and the discrimination he faced in the society. The deleted passage is a scene that contains the core,” he said. “It can be seen that the fact that the broadcaster arbitrarily judged it and cut it out actually violated the viewing rights so that the movie could not be understood properly. The broadcaster criticized that it was a wrong choice to decide not to highlight that part just because there was a recent discussion about the anti-discrimination law.”
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