Gay Love (Photo : Weibo)
The heavy axe of China’s censors apparently fell again with the popular gay-themed online drama “Addiction” as its victim. Followers of the show, aired before on v.qq.com, a video streaming website, missed the show which did not air on Monday.
The popular show tackles homosexual love between two teenage boys. It was supposed to be a 15-episode series, but even the public relations department of Tencent, owner of v.qq.com, declined to comment why “Addiction” was abruptly taken off air, reported Global Times.
Since its debut on Jan. 29, the show rated high and became the second most-viewed series on iqiyi.com despite the topic of LGBT relations still being a taboo in conservative Chinese society, but not among the youth of the land. According to The Wall Street Journal, on its premiere, "Addiction" was viewed more than 10 million times.
On Tuesday, Chaijidan, the series writer, gave a cryptic reply to ifeng.com. He said, “There’s no reason. It’s a result of the broader context.”
The last three episodes are still available on YouTube, but the popular video-sharing site is blocked in China.
The writer’s response appeared not understood or accepted by followers of the show that the hashtag #removalofAddiction was used more than 110 million times on online discussion forums in Sina Weibo. The lack of official explanation from the regulator, Tencent and the writer only led to more online speculations why the show went missing. A common opinion was the gay theme and sexy dialogues caught the ire of the censors.
Fan Popo, LGBT documentary producer, noted that despite the increase in number of gay-themed videos and films produced and shown in China, the movies were eventually yanked off the air like what happened to “Addiction.”
