How local awareness can keep your content from being censored
Hardly a week goes by when a film or TV title isn't criticized for offending someone somewhere. This week alone, two lead news stories focused on titles some audiences will find offensive. Each example provides insight into title content judged and interpreted differently by the show's producers, regulators, and audiences.
"The White Lotus"
The first is HBO's series "The White Lotus." Showrunner Mike White revealed that the fifth episode of this season includes a "gay sex scene" between one of the lead characters, millionaire "Quentin" and "Jack"…his "nephew." Without considering the plot or answering the question of whether Quentin and Jack are related (White told Variety, "Well, you'll have to see"), and the fact the terms "uncle" and "nephew" are coded terms sex workers use when referring to clients is beside the point. It's the gay and implied incestuous relationship, as well as the visuals, that are the point.
As we've said many times , LGBTQIA+ content is among the most difficult to get past censors as it is, much less when it depicts same-sex scenes between relatives.
Portraying people in the act, especially relatives, creates a cultural problem in many more markets than those who frown on gay relationships. According to IMDb Pro, "The White Lotus" is available in 39 countries , 17 of which are known to censor LGBTQIA+ content (the link is behind a paywall). It's fair to say producers will be required to make edits or outright cuts if they want that episode to air in all 39. The extent of changes by regulators is yet unknown.
"The Kashmir Files"
This week's other controversy is the jury reaction to the Hindi film, "The Kashmir Files," included in this year's International Film Festival of India. Released in March, the film tells the story of the Kashmiri Hindus who fled persecution from the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s. It "reportedly stirred up anti-Muslim sentiments , with audiences erupting in hate speeches and calling for the slaughter of Muslims and a boycott of Muslim businesses after seeing the film."
Israeli Director and Festival Juror Nadav Lapid said, via Deadline , "We were all of us disturbed and shocked by… "The Kashmir Files," [it] felt to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival." Although banned in Singapore and the UAE, the film was " praised " by the Hindu community and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government provided tax credits and promotional resources for the film.
The saying, "Where you stand depends on where you sit," explains which side of the conflict the audience identifies with and how the public perceives those with an opposing view.
From the Kashmiri Hindu perspective, the story relates the impact of family members killed for religious and ethnic reasons resulting in their departure from a region where their families had established roots. From the Muslim perspective, a film depicting them as the oppressor and murderers wrongly implicates their faith and its adherents instead of those who committed the crimes for political and personal reasons.
Considering both "The White Lotus" and "The Kashmir Files," the collision of perspectives dramatically highlights the subjective emotion films cause and the potentially intense regulatory or public response. Content creators who understand their audiences will maintain story integrity while respecting cultural sensibilities. Those who don't understand them risk sanctions for attempting to release content into a market where it is culturally inappropriate or illegal.
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