Disney Removes Same-Sex Kiss from ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ in Singapore

Star Wars Rise of Skywalker is now showing in theaters all over the globe. The movie has managed to earn millions both in the US markets and in international markets. However, if you watch while the movie in Singapore, some parts of it are unfortunately going to be censored.

Without spoiling anything about the plot or characters let us just say that that there is a scene in Star Wars Rise of Skywalker where two female characters share a brief kiss on screen. The scene itself does not contain anything explicit beyond kissing, but, according to Comic Book Resources, Disney decided to remove that scene from theaters in Singapore. Apparently including the kiss would cause the movie to receive a higher audience rating than its current PG-13 rating in America.

This is not the first, and sadly it probably won’t be the last, American-made film where depictions of LGBTQ relationships are removed in foreign countries. Earlier this year, scenes from Rocketman were censored in Russia and the movie was outright banned in Samoa. Furthermore, airline company Delta Airlines became the center of controversy this fall when it was discovered that the company was showing censored versions of movies like Rocketman and Booksmart as part of their in-flight entertainment.

While America finally legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, it’s still illegal in Singapore.  In addition, sexual relations between two consenting adult men is against the law and can be punished with prison time. It is sad that this is still an issue.

Arden Terry: Arden Terry is a recent graduate from Loyola Marymount's Liberal Arts College. She majored in English and minored in Screenwriting. She also has a deep connection with the theater world. Though she is young has been able to experience many different forms of creative writing. She has a lot of experience when it comes to writing and researching pop culture journalism.
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