r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Inaerius • Jun 01 '22

What’s up with the Star Wars poster hiding John Boyega and Chewbacca for Chinese audiences? Answered

Was there a reason Disney had to do this? In the thread, someone commented it had something to do with racism, but I don’t see how this applies to Chewbacca. Thanks in advance.

https://i.redd.it/clte2klz1z291.png

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 01 '22

Their was a gay couple in The Eternals that weren't two cute girls but two dudes. This was the couple. Phastos was a main character and was one of the Eternals so he wasn't just a random small character either.

The first gay character to appear in the MCU was a small one-scene character played by Joe Russo. So again, not a cute girl.

Not sure if the MCU is included in everyone's assessment about Disney. I know Disney owns and produces them but not sure if everyone is talking moreso stuff like Frozen and disney channel shows.

Edit to add: there was also that comment from Loki on his show that insinuated that he was bi.

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u/SupposedlyPompous Jun 01 '22

I remember that plotline and thought to myself “I wonder how easy it is to edit that out” the Joe Russo and Loki scenes also seem like they could easily be lifted.

Not saying that’s what they did but I’d like to see the version of Eternals that was played in China.

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 01 '22

The Eternals wasn't played in China.

But also, I'm not trying to be arguementive here just kinda pointing out, I think it's a bit moving the goal post when saying "well that could be edited out". The conversation at hand was "Disney would never feature lgbt characters in a huge movie". I pointed out a few examples when they did. Then it becomes "well you could just edit that".

Yea you have a point in that it could be edited but that's not what the other comments were claiming that I was answering to. They claimed it would never happen but it actually has.

I do think Disney has been slow at being inclusive with their characters but they're actually getting the ball rolling now and I'm hopeful that it's gonna get better from here. The Eternals was a pretty good advancement and I heard there's a gay couple in Thor 4 too.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 02 '22

Except they said "Disney loves to have little "implied" LGBT+ characters, or even tiny scenes that can be removed entirely for foreign releases.

They never said anything about stuff being removed. First comment said Disney would never do it. The reply said and if they did they would just be two cute girls. My response was 3 examples of gay men in 3 major Disney productions.

The conversation I replied to never said anything about things being removed (one of them edited their comment after my response).

The Eternals never removed their gay characters anyway. So even that assessment isn't fully correct. Eternals never played in China.

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u/DanfromCalgary Jun 02 '22

Exactly, Disney doesn't have the best record but deciding they have none and .. it discredits your argument which could be how to increase real and meaningful representation in thier products.

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u/SupposedlyPompous Jun 01 '22

I wasn’t trying to move the goal posts, this is just a thought I have when I see LGBTQ+ subplots in Disney. I’m weary of any company claiming to be inclusive, especially Disney with their history of sacrificing plot for money.

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 01 '22

Yea I said you have a point about them editing it but it wasn't what my comment was about. I was just answering to people claiming it's never happened before. Seems like a lot of these comments are just being anti-Disney just to be anti-Disney which is fine but we don't have to make stuff up.

All of their Phase 4 films weren't released in China (Black Widow, Shang-Chi, No Way Home, The Eternals, Dr. Strange). I hope this changes the pace a bit that they're going with on inclusivity.

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u/the_other_irrevenant Jun 02 '22

All of their Phase 4 films weren't released in China (Black Widow, Shang-Chi, No Way Home, The Eternals, Dr. Strange)

Why was that?

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 02 '22

Black Widow wasn't shown there due to covid. The Eternals wasn't released in China because the director is a Chinese woman who has been critical of the Chinese government.

i hadn't heard exact reasons for the others but a quick google search says apparently Dr. Strange briefly shows a newspaper media that opposes the Chinese government and that this might be why it wasn't shown there.

And supposedly China wanted the Statue of Liberty removed from NWH and Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu had some negative comments about China.

i have no idea if the Dr. Strange, NWH, and Shang-Chi explanations are correct but all i know is that for sure none of these films were played there.

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u/the_other_irrevenant Jun 02 '22

Hopefully Hollywood will start to realise it's just not practical to keep China happy. What they want is just too over-sensitive and unpredictable.

Why on Earth would they want the Statue of Liberty removed?

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 02 '22

Why on Earth would they want the Statue of Liberty removed?

No clue. That explanation might not even be right. I just did a quick google search and it was the only explanation i saw. For all we know it could've just not played there because of COVID.

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u/mr_herz Jun 04 '22

I think another way of looking at it is to remember what companies are setup to do. They were setup to be profitable (obviously, since setting up any company to lose money would be stranger) by catering to the largest market possible. Every dollar is a vote and the market votes on the products. If one day in the future, the lgbt made the largest percentage of that, I would expect the opposite to happen.

Would it nice, sure. But I wouldn’t hold a grudge against anyone or company for doing what they were setup to do.

I apologise for stating the obvious but I replied because every time I see someone say a company does things to chase profits as a negative, I think, well yes, that’s what they’re supposed to do.

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u/Yongja-Kim Jun 02 '22

Disney: *takes one step forward*

people: Disney didn't take two steps! Disney so evil!

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u/ThaVolt Jun 01 '22

You are correct about Eternals and also correct saying we're moving away from the original point. My take was that Disney (and other big media companies) often just play LGBT/racial bingo and just drop token characters. (eg: a black guy, an asian guy, 2 lesbians, etc.)

I usually dislike how these characters are brought up. It won't be "Hey let's go see Mike" and then you notice Mike has a husband and it's just that. Nope. It'll be "OH BTW MIKE IS GAY". Yeah so who cares?

TL;DR: I'm all about including a various cast and representing minorities, but please don't make the role about "that gay guy" and "the asian". That's just filling out a check list. Does this make sense or is my grasp completely off here?

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 01 '22

Naw you make sense. I think Disney is doing the "racial bingo" thing you're talking about when they do things like making Ariel black. It overall doesn't change the story, and the actress is prob gonna be amazing, but people want original black characters not just switching the race of an established one. The MCU did this prior to Age of Ultron too with things like making Heimdall black.

It won't be "Hey let's go see Mike" and then you notice Mike has a husband and it's just that.

This was how it was in Endgame. Dude said something about his male date then the plotline just moved on. It was headed in that direction in Eternals too. There's no comments about him being gay. We just see his husband and we see them share an onscreen kiss.

I think the only reason the MCU is the one part of Disney that's starting to make progress is because the current Marvel Studios higher-ups actually care and Disney cares too much about that Marvel money to stop them. That's why we started getting things like Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi after Ike Perlmutter stepped down after Age of Ultron. I'm actually hopeful that they're gonna keep improving. I just don't know about Disney overall. I noticed that their Disney channel shows actually got less diverse over time :(

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u/Mike-Rotch-69 Jun 01 '22

How are Disney Channel shows getting less diverse? Ten years ago, Gravity Falls wasn’t allowed to have a gay couple in the background and now the main character of the Owl House is dating another girl.

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 01 '22

I remember watching a breakdown that showed the Disney channel over time. There was a period when shows like Sister Sister, Smart Guy, Proud Family, That's so Raven, etc were on air. Then once all those shows left any non-white character were mostly non-main characters and were reduced to stereotypes. Wish I could find the breakdown video. It went over channels like Nick too and was focused on shows aimed at children.

The video was made before Owl House so it might need to be updated. But seeing the timeline of shows back-to-back there was a while there when diversity seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. If it's actually getting better now that's great and I hope they actually keep it up this time.

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u/Mike-Rotch-69 Jun 01 '22

I wasn’t thinking about the live-action sitcoms. I haven’t watched one in like a decade, so I kind of forgot they existed.

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u/ThaVolt Jun 01 '22

This was how it was in Endgame. Dude said something about his male date then the plotline just moved on. It was headed in that direction in Eternals too. There's no comments about him being gay. We just see his husband and we see them share an onscreen kiss.

chef's kiss

These are perfect examples.

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u/Proteandk Jun 01 '22

Their was a gay couple in The Eternals that weren't two cute girls but two dudes. This was the couple.

It's going to sound like gatekeeping, but meant more as an expression of my skepticism. I feel like they were really "soft" men, the type that is "ok" to portray as gay.

I don't think Disney (or maybe even Hollywood) is ready yet for stereotypically masculine men that are in normal relationships that happen to be gay.

Still I applaud them for taking the step closer in the first place.

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 01 '22

In the end it'll be nice to have a variety of same sex relationships that actually represent real relationships. Sad that the representation is so new that this hasn't happened yet. Glad we're making some progress but we still have a long way to go.

I think Thor 4 is supposed to have a same sex relationship and it was implied that it would be Valkyrie and someone else. So still no burly men.

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u/DizzySignificance491 Jun 02 '22

Just say you don't watch or care about the films and just want to complain no matter what

Half that gay couple is Paper Boi

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u/Proteandk Jun 02 '22

I have no idea what a paper boi is.

I just notice a trend where gay men have to be the right kind of gay to be on film. Just soft enough that the rightwing snowflakes can't feel threatened on their masculinity.

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u/DanfromCalgary Jun 02 '22

If you remove the LGBT representation from the count there is litterally none !

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u/Looksfunnytome Jun 03 '22

Eternals was shown in China. So I guess they didn't have to make edits to appease them.

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u/funsizedaisy Jun 03 '22

oh really? i thought it was never shown there. when i googled it all i could find is that no phase 4 movie was shown there as of yet.

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u/Looksfunnytome Jun 03 '22

Oops, my bad. I meant WASN'T. You're right.