EW on YouTube
I guess now I can really cross Russia off my list of dream travel destinations. Oh, well…
As reported by The Moscow Times via The Advocate, Elton John biopic Rocketman‘s sex scenes, notably the ones featuring gay stuff, have been chopped in Russia.
LGBTQ “propaganda” is prohibited by Russian law. A film critic present for the premiere of Rocketman at last month’s Cannes Film Festival confirmed that scenes were missing from the cut that’s playing in Russia. Also removed are depictions of drug use. Look, drugs are bad, but taking them out of a movie about Elton John’s career is just plain rewriting history.
The real bummer here is that Russia has thoroughly gutted the film of anything gay, even kissing… and a photo of John with husband David Furnish that was displayed over the end credits.
Paramount Pictures should receive kudos for honoring John’s wishes that the film be rated R. The 13-time Grammy winner says other studios wanted to soften the sex and drug content (like the crappy-yet-inexplicably-Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody), but he wouldn’t budge, because he hasn’t led a PG-13 life.
Rocketman is the first picture released by a Hollywood studio to contain a gay sex scene. The movie has received critical acclaim, with an outstanding 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (that’s 29% higher than Bohemian Rhapsody). It’s projected to earn about $23 million at the domestic box office this weekend.
To read more on this, head over to The Advocate.
From Paramount, Rocketman— the full thing, with all the gay sex and drug use intact– is now playing nationwide.
This is the opinion of one contributing writer and not that of Instinct Magazine or other Contributing Writers.
