Fifty Shades of Censorship

Mr. Grey will see you now

The Announcement

 Last year, the teaser trailer to Fifty Shades of Grey announced movie's worldwide release on Valentine's Day. Worldwide release? I snickered a bit knowing that the announcement naturally excluded Japan, a country where movies were released months after their original release date.

 

Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the release dates for Mockingjay Pt. 1, where you'll notice Japan's ridiculously delayed release date in comparison to the original release date in the United States and its neighboring countries. 

 

U.S. release date was November 20th, 2014.  Japan's release date is May 15th, 2015!

 

I can't tell you why this is but multiple sources have suggested that certain movies are released during holidays for the convenience of families and, in particular, students. In short, no matter the reason, Japanese bureaucracy plays a heavy hand. Nevertheless, these delayed release dates, in conjunction with expensive ticket prices ($17), are the reason why I have mostly abstained from movie theaters and relied heavily on online streaming. Therefore, I was skeptical about this "world-wide release" until I saw the Japanese trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey.

 

 

 

Wait, what? February 13th! What! Whose first child did they sacrifice for this? I couldn't believe it, but I rallied the OkiJETs ladies for a Galentine's Day appointment with Mr. Grey either way. 

 

Censorship

There were a couple ladies who attempted to ruin my excitement with their distain over the movie's possible censorship. Censorship? Yes, as I discussed in this post, pornography, whether bought or streamed, is censored in Japan. However, I was unsure how this censorship law would transfer to a non-pornographic movie. To be honest, I didn't care much either way, but I found it interesting that the movie was given an R15+ rating.

 

The Result

I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone living in Japan, but just know that the movie is censored. It's difficult to explain, but it seemed like negotiations took place in order to see how far they could go with the mature content. For example, the audience got a good, close up view of Ana's pubic forest, but all other possible sightings were blurred. There was one strong sex scene, in particular, that would switch from a giant black blob to no censorship. I couldn't see the reason for censoring one scene but not another and thus, it seemed like a give-and-take situation; as though someone said, "We'll give you this nude scene, but censor the next." Despite the censored scenes, I saw plenty! We all saw too much! The movie definitely exceeded and surpassed my low expectations. The OkiJET ladies had a good laugh, and I was happy they eliminated most of the abusive elements from the book and made Ana's character stronger.

 

Once I see the original uncensored version, I'll have more insight as to why certain scenes were censored. Until then, enjoy the naughtiness! ;o)

 

Update!

I saw the uncensored version online and there wasn't really much to see aside from a man-bush shot. However, I am still unsure as to why certain scenes were censored over other similar scenes.