The Times - UK (2022-04-13)

the times | Wednesday April 13 2022 2GM 27

News

ALAMY

References to a gay relationship have
been edited out of the Hollywood film
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumble-
dore for its release in China — at the
request of the authorities.
Warner Bros said that it accepted a
request for a six-second cut from cen-
sors to remove allusions to a romantic
link between Albus Dumbledore,
played by Jude Law, and the evil wizard
Gellert Grindelwald, portrayed by
Mads Mikkelsen.
The lines removed from the film,
which is a Harry Potter spin-off, were
“because I was in love with you” and

Potter spin-off cuts gay lines to appease Beijing

“the summer Gellert and I fell in love”.

Warner Bros said that despite the

cuts, “the spirit of the film remains

intact”. It said: “As a studio, we’re com-

mitted to safeguarding the integrity of

every film we release, and that extends

to circumstances that necessitate mak-

ing nuanced cuts in order to respond

sensitively to a variety of in-market

factors.

“Our hope is to release our features

worldwide as released by their creators

but historically we have faced small

edits made in local markets.

“In the case of Fantastic Beasts: The

Secrets of Dumbledore, a six-second cut

was requested and Warner Bros accept-

ed those changes to comply with local

requirements but the spirit of the film

remains intact.

“We want audiences everywhere in

the world to see and enjoy this film, and

it’s important to us that Chinese

audiences have the opportunity to ex-

perience it as well, even with these

minor edits.”

JK Rowling, who co-wrote Fantastic

Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, said

in 2007 that Dumbledore was gay,

though it was never explicitly stated in

the Harry Potter books.

The third film in the spin-off fran-

chise received a Chinese release and

arrived in cinemas on April 8, the same

as Britain, but a week before its launch

in America — China often has release

dates later than countries in the West.

It topped the box office with earnings

of about $9.7 million over its first three

days. Roughly half of cinemas in China

are closed because of Covid-19.

It is not uncommon for Hollywood

films and television shows to be cen-

sored for the lucrative Chinese market

and studios have been criticised for

their willingness to do so.

In February a lesbian plotline in the

TV series Friends was removed, while

the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody

was released in China in 2019 with its

references to Freddie Mercury’s homo-

sexuality and his diagnosis with Aids

removed.

Homosexuality has been legal in

China for more than two decades and

the Chinese Society of Psychiatry re-

moved it from the official list of mental

disorders in 2001, but despite this it re-

mains a taboo subject in many areas of

the country.

Grindr, the gay dating app, was

removed from several app stores in Jan-

uary after censors vowed to ensure a

“healthy, festive and auspicious online

environment” during the lunar new

year. Regulators last year called for the

boycott of effeminate men and boy

bands on television.

Keiran Southern Los Angeles

T

he Briton

behind the

installation

on Trafalgar

Square’s

fourth plinth of

whipped cream

topped with a cherry,

a drone and a fly is

one of four artists

shortlisted for the

Turner prize

(Miranda Bryant

writes).

Heather Phillipson,

43, was nominated

alongside the

Canadian artist Sin

Wai Kin, 31, the

British photographer

Ingrid Pollard, 69,

and the British

sculptor Veronica

Ryan, 66.

Phillipson’s fourth

plinth sculpture The

End was described as

“transformative” and

her solo exhibition at

Tate Britain, Rupture

No 1: Blowtorching

The Bitten Peach, as

“overwhelming”.

Sin, who identifies

as non-binary, was

nominated for a work

in the British Art

Show 9 and a solo

show at Frieze

London. The jury

highlighted Sin’s film

A Dream of

Wholeness In

Parts, which

draws on

traditional

Chinese

philosophy and

dramaturgy and

contempor-

ary drag.

Pollard

was

nominated for the

Carbon Slowly

Turning exhibition,

which questions

humans’ relationship

with nature. Ryan was

praised for her work

Along A Spectrum,

exploring the

psychological impact

of the pandemic.

The Turner prize

was established in

1984 and awards

£25,000 to the

winner and

£10,000 to those

who are

shortlisted. The

winner will be

announced

at the end

of the

year.

Cream of

art world

on Turner

shortlist

ess In

hich

n

nal

phy and

urgy and

por-

g.

d

1984 an

£ 25 , 000

winner

£10,00 0

who are

shortlist

winne

ann

at

o

y

Heather Phillipson and

her work The End, and

Sin Wai Kin, below, are

two of the four artists

on the shortlist for

this year’s prize