China Bans Time Travel Films

Having decided that time travel stories are guilty of “treating serious history in a frivolous way,” China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has issued guidance that critics predict will stifle future productions of that kind. A story in The Hollywood Reporter explains:    

This sort of guidance, while not a black-and-white ban, commonly acts as an effective catalyst for filmmakers’ self-censorship.  In a country that has no film law on the books, what SARFT says often goes…

Since China’s ruling party bases much of its doctrine and strict media management on scientific Marxism, the fantasy of time travel – which potentially gives the individual the freedom to reorder reality – conflicts with politically correct thought completely ruled by the CPC.

Journalist Raymond Zhou Liming is quoted in the article as saying:

Most time travel content that I’ve seen (in literature and theater, that is) is actually not heavy on science, but an excuse to comment on current affairs.

Which is by no means an unfamiliar concept to fans, many of whom agree with the axiom that “science fiction is never about the future, it is always about the present.” Or as Ray Bradbury expressed the idea in poetic imagery – “Perseus, looking forward into his mirrored shield, reaches behind and decapitates Medusa.”

[Thanks to Craig Miller for the link.]

One thought on “China Bans Time Travel Films

  1. Clearly, no future (or past) can exist in which the Communist Party did not emerge victorious!

    It’s only a wonder that the Church didn’t think of the same thing, and ban all fiction in which Jesus didn’t die for our sins, and won’t make a Second Coming. But I suppose the Church preferred banning specific instances rather than general topics. Better to suppress one book than a thousand that merely do away with the invention of steampower, or suppose gunpowder were discovered by Red Indians before Columbus.

Comments are closed.