China's Censorship Hits "Memoirs"
Ostenisibly, China has banned "Memoirs of a Geisha," to prevent anit-Japanese ideologies from spreading.
With the recent ruckus caused by China's censorship of the internet it comes to no surprise that the country has banned "Memoirs of a Geisha." However, the film is not being banned for authorities' sake so to speak, but more to protect political relations. The film has already caused some racial tension in terms of its casting. Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li are portrayed in the Japanese film as Geishas, which causes unrest, because the majority of people in China view Geishas as prostitutes.
China's government bans the film in order to protect the fragile state of Sino-Japanese relations. The main concern is that the film may reignite historic feuds between the two countries. During the Second World War, Japanese armies subjected thousands of Chinese women to ineffable sexual torture.
