Sen. Ted Cruz: Hollywood is complicit in Chinese censorship
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz drafts bill to cut off Hollywood from Pentagon assets if studios censor films for China.
In a document obtained by Politico, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has updated its guidelines for advising and working with Hollywood films, declaring it will not work with films that have been altered due to Chinese censorship demands.
The update follows Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, efforts to fight back against Chinese government requests for censorship of American movies distributed to Chinese audiences.
The issue became prominent several early trailers for last year’s "Top Gun: Maverick" had the Taiwan and Japan flags removed from the iconic flight jacket worn Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, the classic character made played by Tom Cruise.
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The U.S. Department of Defense has reportedly updated its policy to declare it will not work with any Hollywood production that bows to Chinese censorship. (Getty)
The request was made to appease one of the film’s investors, Chinese company Tencent, though after criticism here in the U.S. – and after Tencent dropped its investment – the flags returned to the film.
A DoD document provided to Politico this week, revealed the department updated policy when it comes to working with Hollywood. It claimed the department "will not provide production assistance when there is demonstrable evidence that the production has complied or is likely to comply with a demand from the Government of the People’s Republic of China … to censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People’s Republic of China."
The Department of Defense has worked with Hollywood on films for decades, advising the film industry on military elements portrayed in films, allowing Hollywood to shoot projects on bases or ships, among other locations.
Famously, the U.S. Navy allowed the cast and crew of the latest "Top Gun" film to use its F/A-18 Super Hornets fighter jets for the film’s high-octane action sequences.
The production had to pay $11,000 an hour for use of the jets, though it was given strict instructions that no non-military member was allowed to touch the planes’ controls. The actors were able to ride in the jets behind the military pilots, provided they complete training on how to eject in case of emergency.
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Tom Cruise's sequel film "Top Gun: Maverick," a film made with help form the U.S. DoD, was initially censored at the behest of Chinese censors. Ultimately the censorship would never make it into the final cut of the film. (Skydance Media/Paramount Pictures)
Tensions between the U.S. military and Hollywood have grown as Chinese government censors have tried to increase their say in U.S. made movies that screen in China or are produced with partial involvement from Chinese companies.
Recently, Chinese censors have requested that Warner Brothers remove references to a gay relationship in its "Harry Potter" spinoff, "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore." According to reports, the studio accepted the request and cut six seconds from the movie.
Chinese censors have also requested that Disney/Pixar remove a same-sex kiss from its 2022 movie "Lightyear," though that request was rejected by the American studios and the film not shown in China.
Sen. Cruz has led the charge against getting Chinese censorship out of Hollywood films, and authored legislation called the SCRIPT Act in 2020 to block the DoD from cooperating with movie studios that censor their films because of foreign government.
Though the Senate bill was never enacted, similar provisions therein were inserted by Cruz into a Fiscal Year 2023 defense policy bill. The DoD’s updated guidelines reflect it is implementing these provisions.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Sen. Cruz for comment. He replied, "The Chinese Communist Party spends billions on propaganda and censorship. For years Hollywood helped them by censoring movies so they could be screened in China, while still working with the US government to get those very same movies developed. This new guidance--implementing the legislation I authored in the SCRIPT Act--will force studios to choose one or the other, and I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll make the right choice and reject China's blackmailing."
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