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Chinese Censors Crack Down on Time Travel

Posted by samzenpus on from the leaving-the-past-alone dept.

H_Fisher writes "Disrespect the Chinese government at your peril ... and this includes anything you do with the past. Time magazine's Techland blog reports that China is banning references to time travel which are disrespectful to the nation's culture and history. No word on whether this includes a travel ban on time lords."

12 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. First Post by digitac · · Score: 4, Funny

    From Friday, April 15, 2011. PS, gas prices went up again.

    1. Re:First Post by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

      So the chinese have invented the Frux Capacitor then?

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    2. Re:First Post by rubycodez · · Score: 4, Funny

      They actually stole the plans and modified them, along with the ones for their riced-up DeRorean.

    3. Re:First Post by cosm · · Score: 5, Funny

      RMAO

      --
      'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
    4. Re:First Post by treeves · · Score: 4, Funny

      Since DeLoreans don't have hair what effect does lice have on them?

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
  2. It's not paradoxical at all but... by xMrFishx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if the Chinese traveled back in time to tell themselves to ban talking about time travel because it was possible. Will this prevent the discovery of time travel so that they can not warn themselves? The plot thickens...

    1. Re:It's not paradoxical at all but... by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny

      Take it easy on the State Administration for Radio, Film & Television, xMrFishx; everybody kills Hong Xiuquan on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what's the harm?

  3. Really Slashdot?!? Really? by cosm · · Score: 5, Informative
    Another Samzenpus FacePalm. The /. title is seriously misleading. FTA:

    With the way things are run, the state controls and monitors everything shown on your television or your computer. So yeah, China can randomly go back in time and say Marty McFly never existed. Scary, huh? The Doc would be furious. Fortunately, that's not what they're saying. But somehow the government has taken a sudden disliking to the idea of distorting certain historical events, things and people. (Cough.) ....The decision was made earlier this month, with the country's State Administration for Radio, Film & Television stating that "The producers and writers are treating the serious history in a frivolous way, which should by no means be encouraged anymore." What's wrong with these shows? They “casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation.”

    So time travel comes in because the article decided to link the concept of time-travel to television and movies that convey alternative histories (Which, to the pedants, can include time-travel). But it the main theme discussed is regarding misrepresenting history. Nowhere does it say sitting in your back-yard and working on that warp-drive is verboten. It seems to me they want to cut down on media that strays from the government dictated and allowed 'historical context'. Far from a ban on time-travel. Censorship...Yes...Sensationalist...Unfortunately.

    --
    'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
    1. Re:Really Slashdot?!? Really? by D+H+NG · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, this is not just the article singling out time travel. According to The New York Times, the original government report does single out TV dramas that involve characters traveling back in time.

  4. Alternative history by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems to me that their real fear is people latching on to the idea that things could ever have worked out differently. If people explore alternative histories and conjecture what would have happened if the ruling regime didn't come to power, how things might have been changed... perhaps for the better.

    Better to nip those flights of fancy in the bud and keep everyone's horizons nicely blinkered and focused on the factory assembly line.

    --
    Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
    altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
    1. Re:Alternative history by vivian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No I think the real problem is they want to maintain their monopoly on making up history. If someone else starts doing it too, people might start getting the idea that perhaps all history they read isn't quite as true as they currently think it is.

  5. Obligatory Chinese Time Travel Commercial by Rollgunner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is here