About a month ago, it was revealed that Fox was going to allow the Chinese government to censor “Bohemian Rhapsody” to ensure the film would earn a major release in the country. After the film proved to be a juggernaut throughout the rest of the world, the studio felt it could really earn some serious money in China, which has proven to be an absolute box office powerhouse. However, with that release, Fox allowed China to cut some pivotal moments from the film, which we now know include every mention or allusion to Freddie Mercury’s sexual identity.
ABC Australia released a report detailing which scenes were cut from the Chinese release of “Bohemian Rhapsody” that recently debuted. Speaking with folks that have seen both versions, it appears that China removed at least 4 minutes from the run-time and took out every mention of Mercury’s sexual orientation, leading to a version of the film with some serious plot holes. (It must be noted that Fox was probably well aware this was going to be the case, as China has laws against showing homosexuality in media.)
One of the most egregious omissions is when Mercury speaks with his partner Mary and says he’s bisexual. In the Chinese cut, that’s completely gone and instead, Mercury and his then-girlfriend are shown to have broken up with zero explanation. The new version of the film also removed any and all references to Mercury being queer, going so far as to remove a moment when the frontman, played by Rami Malek, holds a mic stand near his groin. Almost every interaction between Mercury and his long-term partner Jim was cut from the final fim, including the photo at the end, showing the pair together.
With those omissions in mind, it’s obvious that China then cut the entire scene where the members of Queen were shooting the music video for “I Want to Break Free,” which featured the band dressed in women’s clothing.
When we found out that Fox was going to allow this version of the film to be released, it shocked many fans, especially considering how most of the non-musical moments of the film revolved around Mercury’s personal life. But when you actually find out what moments were cut, it seems that even a film with as many issues as “Bohemian Rhapsody” has can actually be made much, much worse.
