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The Big [Censored] Theory

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Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#81

Post by altruios »

inglor_cz wrote: post #38
Dig1t wrote: post #18

[flagged]

"The political left is supposed to be very sex-positive" That is not my impression at all. See all the attempts to formalize consent in a way that does not really square with human sexuality. Consent apps ? Wtf. Not to mention all the attempts to criminalize buying of sex, which is basically an ultraconservative position multiplied by -1.

It's not all the left, as much as it is the auth-left, lib-left are the free love hippies... they still exist... auth from every direction though drowns out the peace/freedom loving group from having a strong voice.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#82

Post by jjcon »

deepdriver wrote: post #51

This type of censorship isn’t unique to China. Numerous scenes and whole episodes of The Office were silently removed from streaming services. The episodes were renumbered so you wouldn’t notice: https://www.newsweek.com/comedy-central-caves-cancel-culture... This article goes so far as to praise the censorship: https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-office-edited-censor... As usual, piracy (or the legal purchase an…

> Numerous scenes and whole episodes of The Office were silently removed from streaming services

Some private companies vs entire undemocratically elected governments conversation aside…

What entire episode has been removed? I’m an office trivia buff and I’m not aware of this

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#83

Post by cutemonster »

darawk wrote: post #56
S201 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the people of China didn't choose this: their oppressive and authoritarian government did it for them.

This is right. If people vote for censorship in a democracy, that's a perfectly fine form of governmental heterogeneity. What's happening in China is not that.

I find it slightly amazing how often commenters here (hello aero-glide2) fail to see that the people in a country are not the same as the dictators controlling the country.

When such misunderstandings are common here at HN, where people are a bit brighter that elsewhere (or so I think) -- then, such misunderstandings must be dangerously common outside HN. I wonder what consequences follow from that

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#84

Post by kogus »

ndespres wrote: post #69
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #2

It's really interesting that such a bland, un-subversive show whose only mentions of sensitive topics are in bad throwaway jokes is so heavily censored. I guess a more interesting show would just not get aired at all.

Some of these jokes which are censored for criticism of China are so tasteless that they ought to be censored in the American version as well, or better still, never written at all. A joke about whether the "chicken" at the local Chinese takeout restaurant is actually chicken? In the 21st century? That is supposed to be amusing?

I think it's important to distinguish between government censorship and corporate self-censorship. Almost nothing should be censored by the government. Almost anything can be censored by private parties (however cowardly such censorship may often be).

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#85

Post by cowtools »

okasaki wrote: post #77
cutemonster wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> China has its own culture and mores Correction: Xi and the CCP have their own culture and mores The people, though, want to see The Big Bang Theory uncensored. The people are different from Xi . They don't want the same things as he (except for the ones Xi has successfully brainwashed, or those who have a highly tribal brain). > why should it allow that kind of soft projection That sounds paranoid, I hope you don't…

Good thing we have HN user cutemonster to tell us what the Chinese people want.

If the chinese people had the option between the censored and uncensored version, which one do you think they would prefer?

On an individual level it is obvious that almost no one advocates for self-censorship. Most people are only enthusiastic about censorship when they are the censor and not the censored.

The communist dictatorship is a parasitic form of governance, but most cannot escape because they're stuck at a local maxima.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#86

Post by jedberg »

sltkr wrote: post #57
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #2

It's really interesting that such a bland, un-subversive show whose only mentions of sensitive topics are in bad throwaway jokes is so heavily censored. I guess a more interesting show would just not get aired at all.

Personally I'm mostly offended how stale and unoriginal a lot of these jokes are, but I can definitely see why the censors took offense at some of them. For example, the joke about the Chinese restaurant ("I'd be more concerned about what they're passing off as chicken") plays off of the stereotype that Chinese people eat dogs and cats, and the “passing off” remark implies that the Chinese restaurant owners are decep…

> I dare you to show that scene at a liberal college and notice how few laughs you get.

Did you see the recent video where the white guy dressed up in a poncho, big hat, and fake mustache and carried around maracas? He asked a bunch of white kids on a college campus if they thought his outfit was offensive to Mexicans, and they all said yes.

Then he went to the Mexican part of town and asked actual Mexicans, and they all said it was funny or that they liked that he was trying to honor their culture. Not one of them was offended.

So perhaps it would be good to ask a Chinese person if this joke offends them.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#87

Post by ThePadawan »

omegaworks wrote: post #71
ThePadawan wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked at 5 sources and could not verify this statement. Do you have any that state this?

>Some see the plus at the end of LGBTQIA+ to signify support and acceptance of those who live with HIV. https://www.bustle.com/p/what-does-the-plus-in-lgbtqia-mean-... Though I'll admit the contentiousness of this designation, I don't think the intent of "+" was to include incest.

Thanks for qualifying.

After reading that article that in various places calls out...

- "The plus is widely taken as a symbol to represent self-identifying members of the community who are not included in the LGBTQIA acronym"

- "The plus in LGBTQIA+ not only represents other sexual labels and identifiers, but also the experiences of those within the community."

besides the quote you already mentioned which includes the weasely "Some say", I personally don't really see as a strong of a consensus as your first comment suggests, but appreciate the perspective.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#88

Post by vorpalhex »

lwansbrough wrote: post #78

Interesting to see what passes for a joke on The Big Bang Theory. I knew the show was bad but wow. Perhaps just as surprising is the author's suggestion that a xenophobic remark about a Chinese restaurant is "harmless". I'm not even particularly sensitive when it comes to race relations, but that's just such a negative stereotype it's hard to ignore. I despise Chinese censorship, but I would support the Chinese gover…

No work of fiction only has heroes and reasonable people.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#89

Post by glouwbug »

cutemonster wrote: post #83
darawk wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is right. If people vote for censorship in a democracy, that's a perfectly fine form of governmental heterogeneity. What's happening in China is not that.

I find it slightly amazing how often commenters here (hello aero-glide2) fail to see that the people in a country are not the same as the dictators controlling the country. When such misunderstandings are common here at HN, where people are a bit brighter that elsewhere (or so I think) -- then, such misunderstandings must be dangerously common outside HN. I wonder what consequences follow from that

Their comment feels like astro-turfing. I see it on reddit pretty often when anything CCP roles around

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#90

Post by jollybean »

swayvil wrote: post #75
jollybean wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I think there's a more benign reason and that is references to those kinds of things are just a bit below bar for normally civil programming. If you've ever watched the banal things that people go through to get something past daytime censors, or, get a PG rating for films etc. it's similar. This is not 'Xi's authoritarian' system so much as 'different cultural standards of the moment'. Respect that in some…

I wonder how China protects its censors from wrong ideas (seeing as how they must necessarily come into contact with it). Extra indoctrination? Some kind of surveillance layercake? I read a scifi where digital personality-recordings became popular for various office/industrial applications. Sorta like an AI, but human. They were used for censorship. The remedy for ideological contamination? Full reboot every morning.

Chinese people know about 'STDs' - they just don't put them in programming.

I'm sure they all know about Taiwan as well.

So mostly it's just keeping programming in terms of what they define as 'civil' - and - with the added element of pulling 'political censorship'.

It's about large audiences and averages not about the knowledge of a specific thing.

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