Censoring two kissing scenes in James Gunn’s latest Superman movie has landed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in the crosshairs of fans in India, with many pointing out the alleged dual standards of the board for allowing ‘harassment’ in garb of romance in films but snipping scenes of consensual intimacy.
The CBFC, as per reports, has made several cuts to the film starring David Corenswet as the caped Kryptonian and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Among the scenes snipped are two kissing scenes between Corenswet’s Superman and Brosnahan’s Lane.
While one of the scenes takes place in the first half of the film, the other takes place a little later. The second scene, featuring Superman and Lane kissing while floating in the air, has been cut almost entirely, as per reports.
Netizens fumed over CBFC’s decision to chop off the scenes. And what followed was a barrage of memes and posts targeting the board.
“Censor board of India has no problem with item dances and men objectifying and harassing the women they apparently love but a consensual kiss scene in Superman is where they draw a line,” wrote an X user.
“People wondering if India is progressive enough to be pro LGBTQ+ but they're not even progressive enough to show the superman kiss in cinemas so like. I feel like we've got a fairly long way to go,” wrote another netizen.
“The culture of Kamasutra can't tolerate half a minute of intimacy on screen,” wrote a Reddit user.
“This is the country where we have erotic sculptures carved out on temple walls and here we have these old f*** babus that can't handle even an iota of intimacy in a Superhero movie,” remarked another.
The backlash comes some days after CBFC was slammed for changing a middle finger emoji in Brad Pitt-starrer F1 to a fist emoji.
“The middle finger emoji in F1 and now this, I was so excited for this movie and now its ruined,” noted a social media user on Reddit.
“If only Clark Kent had gone through arranged marriage proposal with the blessings of his earth parents, then this wouldn't have been a problem,” quipped another netizen.
“Sanskaari cbfc is alone taking the responsibility to care for the sensitivity of a sexually repressed, lacking intimacy and vulnerability population of this country. Anything sexual we can't handle coz we aren't exposed to it in a healthy manner. And coz we aren't expose to it we try to bury it more and more. It's a vicious cycle,” wrote another Reddit user.
Superman traces the journey of Clark Kent as he struggles to reconcile his Kryptonian roots with his life in Smallville with his adoptive family. The cast also features Nicholas Hoult as the arch-nemesis Lex Luthor. According to industry data-tracking platform Sacnilk, the film has so far earned Rs 25.50 crore nett in India since its release.
