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Q: Star Wars in China... how will it change?
I followed an Incif link, which led to another link which led... yeah, you know you this intranetz zaps our lives and time...
Anyway, Star Wars VII is being made, and I thought to myself - will BJ insist on changes/alterations etc for it to be released here?
If so, how?
Will we see a reprising of AiBi Wang KeNoBi?? (any good characters that make that work well??)
9 years 28 weeks ago in Arts & Entertainment - China
Perhaps they will remove the Chinese flag from the Death Star...
As there are no Chinese people in this movie, and no references to China, the only danger it poses is a commercial one. The Twilight sequels were removed from cinemas in China (under some pretext) because the first one was way too popular with young people. See also the government's recent clamp-down on Big Bang Theory, etc.
Meanwhile, V for Vendetta - perhaps the most explicitly anti-authoritarian movie ever - has been aired, unedited, on Chinese TV. At that time (about 2 years ago), I was rather surprised, and I recently had a conversation with my best Chinese friend (a very perceptive girl) about it.
Despite V for Vendetta's "censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity", Chinese people do not perceive the movie to have any relevance to their own situation, because the people in the movie are not Chinese. (...sigh)
Secondly, movies in China aren't regarded as anything other than a distraction, and if you've seen a Chinese movie, you know why. Movies are not considered to have depth or meaning or artistry - they are just something that happens in the background while you text people. The only time Chinese people analyse movies is when they're looking for ways to be offended.
If Star Wars threatens to be too popular, maybe its theatrical release will be restricted. But I doubt it will be edited.
"Will we see a reprising of AiBi Wang KeNoBi??"
Haha! I think the phonetic imitation of Star Wars names is a great topic. I have the series here, but speculation is much more fun:
YouDe
LuKe SiKaiWoKe
DaSi WeiDe (a bit of a stretch)
Han** SouLou
LeiA (wow, that works just fine)
JiaBa (...the Hutt)
QuBaKe
**: Holy shit! HAN Solo. If that doesn't inspire national pride, or prove that China invented Star Wars, I don't know what will!
Shining_brow:
Nice - but can you put it into Hanzi, and have meaning for each of those??
xunliang:
Always makes me laugh how V got past the censors. Just shows how stupid the Chinese are.
laowaigentleman:
I always think of the scene in V for Vendetta when V broadcasts his message from the BTN and says "if you think as I think and if you feel as I feel..." I'm sure most Chinese people would be too busy posting pictures of their dinner on weibo and taking selfies to pay any attention to anything as abstract as that. Even those blokes at the pub are more sophisticated than them.
Samsara:
@ Shining: That's just me guessing (I'll look at the credits on the DVD later and find out the real names). Choosing meaningful HanZi names that remain phonetically similar would be quite a challenge, and I only know one or two characters for most of those sounds.
I think the censors will just lean back and do nothing. Since by 2015 all cinemas will allow the audience to post messages to the screen, movies become self-censoring. No one can actually see the screen
They will just change the name of the Empire to the Japanese Empire, and Rebels to China, and it will become the highest grossing movie in the history of ever.
No idea but anyone who can access Youtube might want to look up Snatch Wars if you fancy a laugh. Also, interesting factoid, if not a bit of a name drop but fu** it, Star Wars is cinematic history so i'm gonna; I went to the first ever showing, my dad was in the LSO so we got free tickets, had Alec Guinness, Carrie Fisher and Anthony Andrews sitting right near us. Trippy dippy.
Original translations for SW in China
莉娅公主 = Leia
歐比王·肯諾比= Obi Wan Kenobi
卢克·天行者= Luke Skywalker
韩·索罗= Han Solo
丘百卡=Chewbacca
贾巴=Jiaba
达斯·维达 = Darth Vader
钛战机的= Tie Fighter
绝地武士= Jedi
千年鹰= The Millenium Falcon
死亡之星= Death Star
精锐部队= Stormtroopers
