The Paramount film studio’s recent decision to censor portions of its remake of the classic film Top Gun to appease Chinese Communist Party propaganda rules is the clearest sign to date that “Hollywood is afraid to stand up for free speech,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) told the Washington Free Beacon.
Following its premiere last week at the Comic-Con 2019 gathering, fans on the internet quickly found that the iconic jacket worn by lead actor Tom Cruise in the film had been altered from its original look to remove two patches displaying the Japanese and Taiwanese flags. It was soon pointed out these patches were altered in order to appease the Chinese Communist Party and ensure the film can be run in the lucrative, but highly censored, market.
“There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And [Cruise’s character] Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket—only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone,” Mark MacKinnon, a senior international correspondent for the Globe and Mail, wrote in a tweet that has since garnered thousands of retweets and comments.
Subsequent reports in the Hollywood press indicate that the Chinese internet giant Tencent co-financed the Top Gun remake along with Paramount, a further indication that the film was changed in order to appease the Communist Party. – READ MORE