For most of us, when we think of Jackie Chan movies, what comes to mind is comedy and crazy action, not scenes that could get anyone who broadcasts one of his films fired for the inappropriateness of the content. But, that's exactly what's now happened to the head of Iran's regional TV channel Kish IRIB, after a Jackie Chan movie which featured a love scene between the star and an actress playing a prostitute was allowed to air on Iran's Kish Island. The fact that the scene missed the nation's censors came to light when it began circulating on social media and it was noted that it was shown on television.
The film, Shinjuku Incident, is mostly a crime drama, but the sex scene in the 2009 movie shocked viewers when it aired recently. If you thought that the fact that Chan's character sleeps with a prostitute is what drew the ire of Iran's strict censorship laws, you'd be wrong. Iran doesn't allow men and women to touch on screen at all, so the idea of a love scene of any kind being broadcast on television is a big no-no. The BBC reports that the country's censors also block things such as men and women exchanging "tender words or jokes," women who are not wearing veils, as well as close-ups of any woman's face or their exposed necklines, along with negative portrayals of police and men with beards.
According to the New York Post, the regional director general of the IRIB was fired after the airing was revealed, and several other staffers at the station were either fired as well or reprimanded. Aliasgari Ali Askari, head of the IRIB, noted to Iranian news agency ISNA that he's launched a full investigation to see just how this love scene missed the censors, and promised surprised viewers that he's looking to make sure they "seriously deal with the offenders and report them to the relevant authorities."
While many who tuned in to watch Jackie Chan's simple Chinese immigrant wage a seemingly un-winnable war against one of the largest (and most dangerous) criminal enterprises in the world were likely horrified to be suddenly subjected to a sex scene, it's clear by the fact that the airing hit social media that some people were not so taken aback. In fact, after the firing of IRIB's regional director, many Iranians took to Twitter to decry the move as hypocritical, citing last week's bus crash that killed 10 students at Tehran's Azad University, and the fact that no one has been fired over that fatal crash.
If the head of the IRIB's words are to be believed, the firings and reprimands over this incident are probably not over yet. Be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we'll keep you up to date on the most important news in TV, movies and pop culture.
