MCLC: Saga of Wu Zetian cancelled

[MCLC LIST]

MCLC LIST
Saga of Wu Zetian cancelled
Source: The Telegraph (12/29/14)
China halts racy Empress drama due to ‘technical difficulties’
The televised saga of a 7th Century Chinese empress has proved too hot to handle for China’s censors, who have cancelled the wildly-popular show after only a week
By Robert Foyle Hunwick, Beijing
A much-anticipated TV drama about China’s first female emperor has been pulled after just one week, prompting speculation that its flamboyant and revealing costumes may have irked censors.
The Saga of Wu Zetian, known in English as Empress of China, and starring Fan Bingbing – one of China’s most famous actress – began its run on December 21.
Bingbing, best known to foreign audiences for roles in Iron Man 3 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, also produced the series, in which she stars as the controversial Empress Wu, from the Tang dynasty.
But commercial satellite station Hunan TV, no stranger to censorship after its hit show Super Girl was banned for vulgarity, announced that Sunday’s episode would not be aired due to “technical reasons.”
Observers widely interpreted this as punishment for the much-discussed costumes of its female characters.
Viewers online had previously dubbed it “The Saga of Squeezed Breasts.” The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), China’s chief censors, has issued regulations banning depictions of one-night stands, adultery, sexual abuse, rape, polyamory, necrophilia, prostitution, nudity and masturbation, as well as murder, suicide, drug use, gambling and even racy subtitles and puns.
Wu Zetian, who entered the 7th-century court as a 13-year-old concubine, only to rise to monarch for the last 15 years of her life, makes for a brave choice of subject, as her blood-soaked reign is notorious for allegations of multiple murder, physical cruelty and a wanton sexual appetite.
In histories of the period, and films such as 1963′s Wu Tsi-tien, Wu is claimed to have smothered her baby, killed her brothers and sister, had rivals dismembered and enjoyed a harem of younger lovers in her dying years, details of which are well known to Chinese viewers.
“Wasn’t this the Tang dynasty style?” complained one viewer. “Why don’t you just let a bunch aunties play them?”
But the country’s often-vague and erratic enforcement of regulations means TV shows are often delayed or pulled afterwards.
A supposed quota exists for historical dramas but such content still makes up much of Chinese drama, as contemporaneous shows suffer even stricter censorship. Another reason could be that lavish show, said to have cost around £30 million, has simply proved too popular.
“Calling stop in the middle of the show is either [SAPPRFT] admitting that it didn’t do its job properly,” noted one savvy viewer, “Or it’s to give way to a new show produced by [state broadcaster] CCTV, because the viewing figures are too high.”
by denton.2 at osu.edu on December 30, 2014
You are subscribed to email updates from MCLC Resource Center  
To stop receiving these emails, click here.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/mclc/attachments/20141230/185dfb78/attachment-0001.html>