Although Django Unchained already satisfied the most important demand of Chinese censors by having everyone in it not be Chinese, Quentin Tarantino will still have to make certain “slight adjustments” in order for it to become his first film to be released there commercially. Specifically, he’ll have to adjust the blood—“tuning the blood to a darker color,” presumably differentiating it from the bright red that symbolizes the glory of China, and “lowering the height of the splatter of blood,” so that the arterial spray is more in line with the modesty that is the Chinese way of life and bleeding. And while some may regard this blood dimming and shortening as yet more evidence of China’s intrusion on free artistic expression, Zhang Miao, the director of Sony Pictures’ Chinese branch assures that Tarantino will be doing the adjusting personally, because—like the whole of China—he recognizes that China’s leaders know what’s best for him. “This adjustment for him is progress rather than a compromise,” Zhang said on Tarantino’s behalf, as the Chinese words for “progress” and “money” are interchangeable.
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