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The Big [Censored] Theory

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Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#711

Post by drraj32 »

anthropodie wrote: post #640
4m1rk wrote: post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't expect India! Iran for sure does that too. The zoom part was kind of nostalgic :) they are getting better and better (just technically). They were even covering women bodies! Shit load of money and resources for these nonesense censorships.

I'm from India and I have seen shows like BBT, HIMYM, Friends, etc,. dozen of times on different national televisions and then again on streaming platforms. I have not seen a single instance of censorship in these shows(except for subtitles replacing words like Fuck with ** on national television). I'm not saying we don't censor at all but it's definitely not as bad as this post or GP is saying.

Thanks for chiming in. I am really surprised to see the grand parent comment to be the top one on this thread. I guess facts don't come in the way here when people want to collect some brownie points by self-flagellating.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#712

Post by nomilk »

> To find out, I compared 100 episodes of the original version of The Big Bang Theory with the edited Youku version to understand what was cut out and decipher the logic behind the decision.

Is there any website that keeps track of censored parts of shows more generally?

The BBC has been censoring parts of shows it deems 'insensitive'. It would be interesting to know what the banned parts contain and to see how it changes over time.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#713

Post by Dylan16807 »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #571
Dylan16807 wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So put a minimum rental time on things. Banning online rental is a bad solution.

No-one's saying that online rental should be banned. Instead, the solution that the USA's current legal system is going with is "You _can_ run an online rental service, as long as you have the copyright owner's permission (e.g., you have a contract with them in which you give them money and they give you their permission)"

That's a ban on the normal mechanism via which rentals work. Sorry for shortening it. It's a bad solution.

It should require no cooperation to build an online version of DVD rental.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#714

Post by gpt5 »

Agentlien wrote: post #628
andruby wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We (the HN crowd, often living in less-censored societies) would be very curious. I’d like to know how curious this would make non-HN people, and those living in more censored places. My assumption is that they take it for granted and just continue to watch the show. It might be hard for them to even find the uncensored clips.

Growing up in Sweden, I mainly watched Swedish (original or dubbed) shows as a kid. Once we got satellite and I started watching American channels I had my first encounter with censorship. Bleeps and blurs and random spots where audio cuts out. It was very jarring. I couldn't understand it at all and still can't. It really stands out, breaks the flow, makes everything feel cheap and ugly. In real life people swear an…

This relates to PG rating and the way national TV works. In order to secure prime time spots, the show must hit a certain "family friendly" rating that matches the audience of the TV network. They chose the beeps as a way to cater for both adults and kids together. FWIW, these are far less common today.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#715

Post by npteljes »

eyear wrote: post #592

Where is the diversity we advocate? Must the whole world accept one value? We accept homosexuality so we won't accept other people like Muslims not accepting it? So WE are definitely right and people who are different from us are absolutely wrong?

>we won't accept other[s] not accepting it

I think that's right. Paraphrasing Popper: "In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must retain the right to be intolerant of intolerance". It's not about being right or wrong, it's about how people should treat each other, even if they dislike how the other one acts.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#716

Post by unsupp0rted »

etothepii wrote: post #704
thaumasiotes wrote: post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still astounded that Enchanted (the 2007 film) prominently features a scene of the chipmunk sidekick pooping on screen.

Isn't pooping something we all do from birth? Hard to put it in the same category as fornication.

Because fornication is something we all want to do from puberty, therefore it’s a less neutral bodily function.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#717

Post by SanderNL »

nineplay wrote: post #255
wizofaus wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because why else would such an aversion arise? I don't think there are any sensible "defaults" for human cultures. But I wouldn't expect aversion to talking any sex to arise spontaneously among a population that hadn't had it imposed by prior generations or from outside. We're naturally curious beings and have lots of sex (compared to other species).

Talking about sex is taboo because having sex is taboo. Having sex is taboo because if women have sex with more than one man, none of men can be sure whose child she is carrying. Men, in general, really like having their genes carried on. Men, in general, really hate wondering if a child is theirs or not.

I am no psychologist and as such have no idea what I am saying, but we're on a discussion forum so yeah. Something tells me sex is taboo because of some very fundamental psychological dissonance.

Sex by its nature completely shatters any notion we have of being civilized, rational actors made of pure white spiritual light. Alas, it shows us as sweaty, ape-like animals needing, nay, wanting to exchange fluids to produce our offspring. Nothing about it is pure and orderly and it is completely at odds with common mental strategies handling our issues with mortality. Being made of divine spiritual energy is quite at odds with the actual reality of it all.

Oh yeah, that and it being a means of production: it makes workers. Which is to be controlled at all times. But that alone does not explain why this taboo is also common in other type of societies.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#718

Post by npteljes »

briantakita wrote: post #129

Companies & Governments in the US & West censor for political reasons. Why is this any different?

It's a different instance, and this was the one that tickled the author's fancy. Who was, according to her own bio, "a data reporter in China, covering topics like business, gender, and government policies".

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#719

Post by seszett »

thrown_22 wrote: post #515
shusaku wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people in the west (especially the US) are raised with the Sunday school idea that religion is something you choose after an objective weighing of ideas. The reality is that both China and the US have engrained cultural values which lead to these regulations. Those cultural values sometimes manifest as religious practice, but there is no hard distinction.

The current discussion around 'harm' from AI generated images is the most hilarious example of a cultural more trying to find a justification for its existence after it is no longer applicable. Will no one think of the pixels being exploited? The older I get the more I realize that culture is what keeps us back. The Romans didn't invent steam engines not because they didn't want them but because they couldn't imagine…

> The Catholic Church didn't survive the printing press.

It's a little bit off-topic, but you have to live in a very different world to believe that, as the Catholic Church is by far the largest Christian church still today.

The only religion that is larger than it, not by an extremely large margin, is Islam (not sure if you split Islam in its different branches).

The reality is that after a short initial resistance, the Catholic Church quickly turned around and embraced printing. I would argue that the Catholic Church is probably one of the most agile among the main organised religions and adapts rather well to changes. It pains me to say that, but it's clearly not going to die anytime soon.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#720

Post by Agentlien »

gpt5 wrote: post #714
Agentlien wrote: post #628

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up in Sweden, I mainly watched Swedish (original or dubbed) shows as a kid. Once we got satellite and I started watching American channels I had my first encounter with censorship. Bleeps and blurs and random spots where audio cuts out. It was very jarring. I couldn't understand it at all and still can't. It really stands out, breaks the flow, makes everything feel cheap and ugly. In real life people swear an…

This relates to PG rating and the way national TV works. In order to secure prime time spots, the show must hit a certain "family friendly" rating that matches the audience of the TV network. They chose the beeps as a way to cater for both adults and kids together. FWIW, these are far less common today.

I'm quite familiar with PG ratings. Not just because it's mentioned everywhere, but also because we had some passionate discussions about which to go for during the making of one of the Need for Speed games. Honestly, I feel they warp a lot of not just how media is presented but even how it is produced, sometimes in ways which make things feel very weird and inauthentic.

However, when I first started seeing this stuff as a kid I had no idea why and it really struck me as odd.

I think the funniest thing I've heard about censorship was Magnus Uggla, a Swedish artist, complaining that because he had a UK firm produce one of his music videos it was a real struggle getting them not to blur a scene where they're drinking shots.

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