Ah yes, the never ending, but successful, saga of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The film finally opened in select Chinese theaters on March 22, of course the version that is being shown has removed any dialogue or scenes referring, explicitly or unexplicitly, to Freddie Mercury’s homosexuality. China has strict policies on exhibiting LGBTQ content. Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant” was released in China without the kiss between Michael Fassbender and himself. Also, recent LGBTQ classics such as Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” and. Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name,” were, of course, banned completely from ever being show in the country.
Here’s a little tidbit of info I found from the AP. The scrubbing of gay content has rendered the film completely confusing in China, For example, when a reporter asks Mercury about his “sexual orientation” during a press conference scene, the subtitle has been changed to “sex life.”
According to the AP, “One major scene between Mercury and his girlfriend Mary Austin where the singer says he is bisexual cuts out the coming out dialogue. Mary’s response, “No Freddie, you’re gay,” is also removed. In one moment where Mercury reveals his AIDS diagnosis to his Queen band members, the dialogue has been muted as to not say the disease aloud.”
CNN elaborates further that the film has been censored so much in China that some parts the movie’s narrative no longer makes sense. The introduction of character Jim Hutton, Freddie Mercury’s boyfriend, in the movie, has been edited out completely because it depicts Mercury groping Hutton’s crotch after a concert. And so, at the climax, when Mercury is trying to find Hutton and bring him to the Live Aid concert, Chinese audiences have been bewildered, wondering “who is that guy?” All of Mercury’s kisses with Hutton and manager Paul Prenterhave been removed. The sequence featuring Queen in drag shooting the music video to “I Want to Break Free” has also been deleted.