OTT giant Netflix has started streaming Brad Pitt’s movie on Tibet which got him banned from China. One of the most iconic Hollywood movies starring superstar Brad Pitt, Seven Years in Tibet, made the authorities in China very angry. This led to China banning one of the hottest-selling Hollywood stars from the country. Now Netflix is streaming it openly.
The importance of China’s impact on American international movies has been seen clearly since the 90s. The growing economic importance of Chinese investors and the market became strong leverage for the political leadership of China to influence Hollywood creativity. Some of the most prominent movies that stood up to China’s influence are Disney’s Kundun and Sony’s Seven Years in Tibet. These feature films from Hollywood are essentially the first and the last such major studio film from Hollywood on Tibet.
Martin Scorsese’s Kundun was produced by Disney and the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the head of Strategic Planning at Disney then within two days of beginning the shoot. Since Kundun was based on the biography of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, it was a very sensitive story for the authorities in Beijing. It told the story of the early life of the Dalai Lama which features China’s invasion of Tibet in the 1950s. This movie led to China banning Disney for around a period of one year.
Brad Pitt’s Seven Years in Tibet was also released in 1997. Despite the movie being banned in China, it became a box office blockbuster. Pitt was since then banned from China for over a decade along with the director and the co-star. Such suppressive behavior from Chinese officials has pushed Hollywood into kowtowing to their influence. We have recently seen Keanu Reeves being brutally criticized by Chinese netizens just for reports of the Matrix star taking part in a charity show for Tibet!
The very movie is now streaming on Netflix and it is interesting to see what will be the reaction. Is it going to be another aggressive move from China by influencing Netflix to take it down or is it a new beginning for a rise of freedom from China’s censorship effort.