Attorney General William Barr criticized Hollywood on Thursday for what he called self-censorship to appease China and ensure entry into its market, as studies have given the Communist Party “a massive propaganda coup.”
Barr made the remarks in a speech Thursday at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, and while he also singled out other industries, such as Silicon Valley, for becoming “Chinese-influenced pawns,” he spent some of the leadership attacking the practices of studies.
“Hollywood producers and actor directors take pride in celebrating freedom and the human spirit, and each year at the Academy Awards, Americans are lecturing on how this country fails to meet Hollywood’s ideals of social justice.” Barr said. But Hollywood now regularly censors its own movies to appease the Chinese Communist Party, the world’s most powerful human rights violator. This censorship infects not only the movie versions that are released in China, but also many that are shown in theaters in the United States before the American public. “
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Barr, other administration figures, and congressional Republicans have increased their rhetoric about China amid the coronavirus crisis. President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed China, although in February he offered words of praise for President Xi Jinping’s response to the virus in his country, where the outbreak originated.
Barr’s attack on the film industry had similarities to that of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who introduced legislation in May to restrict federal government assistance to studios that alter their films to overcome China’s censors and enter the country’s lucrative market. . The bill has no co-sponsors.
Studios for years have edited movies to enter international markets, not just China, but other countries, and those edits have occasionally created considerable attention.
The Motion Picture Association had no immediate comment.
Before becoming attorney general, Barr was a board member of Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros. When AT&T bought Time Warner, the media company changed its name to WarnerMedia.
In his speech, Barr pointed to two examples. One was the case of Paramount World War Z, citing reports that Paramount told producers to edit references to a virus originating in China, “in hopes of reaching a Chinese distribution agreement,” Barr said, adding that the agreement never materialized.
He also cited Marvel Studios’ Strange doctor, in which he stated that the filmmakers changed the nationality of a main character from a Tibetan monk to Celtic.
“When questioned about this, a screenwriter explained that if he recognizes that Tibet is a place, and then a Tibetan, he risks alienating a billion people, or as the Chinese government might say: ‘We are not going to show his movie because you decided to get political, ‘”Barr said.
Barr said that “many screenplays never see the light of day because writers and producers know they shouldn’t test limits,” and that “Chinese censors don’t need to say a word because Hollywood is doing its job for them.”
“This is a massive propaganda coup for the Chinese Communist Party,” added Barr. “The story of the film industry’s presentation to the CCP is a familiar one.”
He said that in the past two decades, when China has become the world’s largest box office, the ruling Communist party has strictly controlled market access “with quotas on American films in violation of China’s WTO obligations and a strict censorship regime. “
He also said that “more and more Hollywood also depends on Chinese money for its financing,” and that in 2018 films with Chinese investors accounted for 20% of box office ticket sales in the United States, compared to just 3%. five years earlier.
“As with other Chinese industries, the People’s Republic of China may be less interested in cooperating with Hollywood than co-opting Hollywood and ultimately replacing it with its own local film productions,” Barr said, stating that China is using limitations. of your film share. to force American studios to start joint ventures
