‘Fifty Shades Of Censored’ As Film Chopped By Zimbabwe Authorities


Authorities in Zimbabwe found the Fifty Shades of Grey film to be too erotic for locals to view. First they chopped the movie to ribbons, then it was withdrawn from the cinemas after losing too much of the storyline.

Fox News reports that when Fifty Shades of Grey premiered in theaters in the country, Zimbabweans were forced to watch a much tamer version than the original, which is based on the best selling erotic novel. According to censors in Zimbabwe, the erotic scenes were too indecent and had to be removed before it could be shown in the southern African country.

This was decided by Isaac Chiranganyika, secretary of the Zimbabwean Board of Censors, before the film premiered, as the board apparently did not like scenes of bondage and domination.

“There are scenes in the film that are just too indecent to be shown to the public.”

The movie theaters in Zimbabwe were allowed to show the censored version and most agreed to run it in that state during the Valentine’s Day premiere. However, apparently the film was then removed from many of the cinemas by movie distributors, as the edits had taken away too much of the story and it pretty much didn’t make sense.

Now representatives from Ster Kinekor, the local film distribution company, say that all movie theaters have removed the film.

According to the Star Tribune, a representative of the Sam Levy Village shopping center said on its Facebook page that they felt the heavy censorship would compromise the integrity of the film. They added that the cinema in the center refused to screen the chopped up version of Fifty Shades of Grey right from the start due to the overly heavy demands of the censorship board.

This is nothing new in Zimbabwe, where artists and filmmakers regularly criticize the heavy-handedness of the censorship board when it comes to anything erotic, political, or violent. However, apparently the chairman of the board, 95-year-old Heya Malaba, is uncompromising on the subject.

All is not lost, apparently, for those who want to watch the film in its erotic entirety, as apparently pirated copies will be out on the streets and available on city street corners shortly.

One Harare resident, Stam Zengeni, said he just has to wait a week or so and he will buy a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey for a mere $1, adding, “So no problem.”

On the subject of the movie, the Inquisitr reported there was some amusement in Denmark when a single man was caught on camera, obviously embarrassed at being seen at the premiere of Fifty Shades of Grey in Aalborg.

[Image: Screengrab from YouTube trailer]

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