A scene from the movie’Bohemian Rhapsody’. The film highlights the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of the rock band’Queen’, and also deals with her life as a LGBTQ. Provided by 20th Century Fox Korea
The movie’Bohemian Rhapsody’, which deals with the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of the rock band’Queen’, was aired as a special feature film for the Lunar New Year holidays, but it is controversial that it exported part of the movie such as same-sex kiss scenes edited.
Not only was it criticized by LGBTQ human rights groups in Korea, but it was also reported in foreign media, pointing out that “the censorship of LGBT content in China took place again.”
On the 16th (local time), Korean broadcaster SBS aired’Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the 16th (local time) on the 16th (local time). The kissing scene was deleted, and the scene where the gay couple appeared was blurred, citing the Korea Herald.
SBS said, “There was no special intention to discriminate against LGBTI people.” “If the kissing scenes of men and women other than men and men are too long, they will be edited the same because they look sensational,” he said, “because the family can feel uncomfortable watching together.”
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ censored in China and Malaysia
The kiss scene of Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton in the film’Bohemian Rhapsody’, which was edited. Twitter capture
However, netizens who watched the broadcast pointed out that “the scene where Freddie and Mary Austin (Freddy’s first lover, woman) kiss was not edited in the movie,” and responded that it was difficult to accept the broadcaster’s explanation.
In a commentary released on the 15th, “The Bohemian Rhapsody is a biographical film that contains not only Mercury’s music but also his life as a LGBTQ, but SBS, which deleted or mosaicized same-sex kissing scenes, not only the deceased, but also all LGBTI people. It’s like insulting.” In addition, he argued, “SBS officials treated the existence of LGBTI people in a violent and sensational manner, revealing their attitude of censorship.”
Overseas LGBTQ media also dealt with the news in a tone that is generally unconvincing. ‘Pink News’ said, “The movie rating of’Bohemian Rhapsody’ is PG-13 (available to watch all ages under parental guidance), but it is unclear how it judged that the content could be viewed as sensational.”
Magazine’Out’ said, “In 2019, a Chinese movie theater also showed six minutes of’Bohemian Rhapsody’, but a similar censorship took place again.”
The Chinese screening of’Bohemian Rhapsody’ is the kiss of Mercury and Hutton, the kiss of Mercury and Paul Prenter (second lover, male), as well as of Queen’s song’I Want to Break Free’, where Mercury appears in a female makeup. It is a compilation that has also deleted all music videos.
The same level of censorship was screened in Malaysia, and Singapore classified the film as’not allowed to be viewed under the age of 18′.
“An opposition public opinion diary after dealing with LGBT content in Korean broadcasting”
Live-Aid performance scene, the highlight of the movie’Bohemian Rhapsody’. At the time of 2018,’Bohemian Rhapsody’ mobilized close to 10 million Korean audiences and succeeded in a rare big hit for a film dealing with LGBTQ issues. Provided by 20th Century Fox Korea
Some netizens also analyzed that Korean broadcasters are not in a situation where they can fully accept content related to LGBTI people. Unlike the West, the support for LGBTI people in Korea is still not great, but rather, the situation where there is a large voice of opposition was forced by broadcasters to consider.
A user of the English community site’Reddit’ introduced, “When watching’Bohemian Rhapsody’ in a Korean movie theater, there was no censorship, but when a man and a man kissed (in the audience), there was a new sound of sighing about eight people.” .
In fact, according to a poll last year by the Pew Research Center, an American public opinion polling agency, 44% of respondents say that LGBTQ people can be socially accepted, which is still less than half.
Earlier, whenever broadcasters dealt with LGBTI content, they encountered fierce opposition. ‘Drama Special Club’s Daughters’, which aired on KBS 2TV in 2011, was a drama about the love stories of lesbians representing each generation, but after the broadcast there was a backlash and eventually stopped the replay service.
The drama’Life is Beautiful’, which aired on SBS in 2010, was also a drama about same-sex couples.
In 2015, the JTBC drama’Seonam Girls’ High School Detectives’ received a warning from the number of broadcasting and communication deliberation committees. The reason was that “in a drama targeting young people, it violated the rules of broadcasting review to broadcast a close-up of a kissing scene between high school girls for a long time while dealing with homosexuality as a subject.”
Hyunwoo In reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
