Touch and Go on Censorship Abroad

In India this week, planned (peaceful) protests by an alliance of Catholics prompted the nation's film ratings board to reverse its approval of the film, pending a screening for concerned Catholics. Representatives of the Catholic Church also decried last week's "dead or alive" bounty called for by one prominent protestor. The latest word is now that, following a screening of the film as previously mentioned, one of India's prime ministers has declared that the release will proceed as planned, with the film receiving an adults-only rating, also as planned. He further reiterated that the film must have disclaimers attached, granting that negotiations with the film's producers on that score may delay the film's release by a few days. (I should say so, given that prints of the film have undoubtedly already arrived in exhibitor's hands.)

But the movie faced its most severe challenge in Thailand, where the police-run censorship board seemed set at one point to demand that the final ten minutes of the film be cut—this in response to calls from Christian protestors. Sony's local distributor, however, filed an appeal, and a review panel reversed the decision, allowing the film to be screened under an adults-only rating—provided that it is screened with a disclaimer prior to and after the film, as in India's decision.

In the Philippines, meanwhile, the Manila city council reportedly passed a resolution banning screenings of the film, despite the national government's refusal to block the film, which is also carrying an adults-only rating there.

Korean courts rejected lawsuits aimed at preventing the movie from being screened.

In an interesting related twist, Muslims in India and Russia are also calling for restrictions on screenings of the film due to their own reverence of Jesus as a prophet.