‘Fight Club’ can now be streamed in China — with an altered ending where the authorities win
January 26, 2022
A Chinese streaming platform is airing David Fincher’s 1999 film “Fight Club” with an altered ending in which the authorities win.
Chinese fans of the classic thriller film based on Chuck Palahniuk’s novel of the same name were disappointed to see the movie’s iconic ending removed and replaced with a black slate and a caption detailing an alternative ending on local video streaming website Tencent Video.
As the original finale of “Fight Club” goes, the depressed narrator, played by Edward Norton, reveals that soap salesman Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, was just his imaginary alter ego that wished to escape and destroy the consumerist system.
The last scene in which Edward Norton stands next to Helena Bonham Carter’s Maria Singer as they witness the explosion of skyscrapers, indicating the victory of his plan to destroy the corporate system, was censored in China and replaced with an ending wherein the authorities win instead.
“Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding,” the caption from the altered ending read, according to CNN. “After the trial, Tyler was sent to [a] lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012.”
“The first rule of Fight Club in China? Don’t mention the original ending,” Bureau Chief for AFP Jerome Taylor tweeted. “The second rule of Fight Club in China? Change it so the police win.”
The alternative ending was also called “a pillar of shame in cinematic history,” in comment on the film’s page on Tencent Video, according to CNN.
While it is not known when or how the ending was changed, it is not the first time under China’s strict censorship system that a film or show has been altered. An episode from “The Simpsons” that referenced the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre was banned last year on Disney Plus in Hong Kong, as NextShark previously reported.
According to CNN, controversial themes and taboo subjects such as graphic sex and violence and LGBTQ storylines are also censored in the country.
Featured Image via ClipsTime
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