Hey MDLers,
Now that more and more k-dramas are being streamed on Netflix, I wanted to crowd-source examples of where Netflix has altered the video or audio from the original, or otherwise censored something. This might help us all to understand under what circumstances Netflix might censor a show and hopefully we can bear these in mind as viewers when watching.
1) Censorship of copyrighted audio
This is the most obvious one, seen in the Reply series etc where songs were edited out, presumably because Netflix couldn't be bothered to acquire international rights to the audio or didn't want to pay to use it.
2) Censorship of toilet humour
I noticed this in Save Me S01E01 when one of Sanghwan's gang mentioned that his father was taking a dump. This line was not translated from Korean into English (at the very least). I don't know if this was true for other languages.
3) Censorship of homosexuality references
Again in Save Me S01E01, an interaction between two characters which began with the line "Do you like men?" was translated in the English subs to omit reference to homosexuality and alter the meaning of the lines/actions.
4) Continued censorship of blades
Blurring out of blades from Korean broadcast was not reversed when series was streamed on Netflix. The Guest is one of many examples.
On the other hand, some Netflix originals have seemed to include more explicit content than those originally aired on Korean channels. Squid Game was more violent, My Name more sexual than you normally see.
So all in all it's a mixed bag which doesn't really give a clear picture of Netflix's censorship and content policy. What do you guys think? Where have you noticed an alteration from the aired version, or censorship in the translation/subtitles?
The song part is annoying ngl.
But having a different word or expression for something in English compared to the original korean one shouldn't be surprising. Nor do I think this is done in regards to censor something.
Before the streaming platforms existed there were already changes when you watched a movie in one language and then in the other. And you can broaden this towards books too. Each book is written a little different when translated into other languages. Netflix is probably not really different there. Much more interesting would be why one show is picked up by Netflix and another is not. Or why specific dramas are viewable in one country but not in another. There you can argue that censorship could play a role. But even there I think the majority has to do with how much a drama costs vs. how much income it generates/ might generate.
The explicit sex scene in squid game was very jarring to see. Not something I expect to see in korean content. Digging a little deeper made me realize that being entirely produced in house by Netflix probably means they don't have to deal with the same restraints the korean companies do.
Was that scene cut entirely in Korea? Was the show even aired on traditional TV outside netflix?
What about my name, what do you mean it's more sexual than you normally see? Same thing? It's an interesting comparison as it was made by a korean production company.
