Television viewers in Iran were spared a view of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s nipple when he appeared in a hospital scene in the science fiction monster action film Rampage.
Iran state television broadcaster TV5 aired the film on March 19, the first day of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. When a bare chested Johnson appeared in a hospital bad, with his broken arm resting on a pillow, the censors apparently used editing software to ensure his right nipple was not aired for the delectation and mortification of the viewing public.
A tattoo on the left side of his chest was also similarly blurred.
In a country where bootleg copies of Hollywood movies are openly exchanged before any airing on local television, the censor’s work did not go unnoticed. Fans took to social media to voice their opinions, AFP’s Observers reports.
One Twitter user posted a sarcastic message, writing, “Another historic moment in state media. The people who work in the censorship section of state TV have a strange idea of sexuality if the sight of a male nipple turns them on.”
حرکتی تاریخی دیگر از صدا و سیما !
قطعا کسایی که توی بخش سانسور صدا وسیما کار میکنن بیمار روانی جنسی هستند که خودشون با نوک ممه‌ی بابا و مردها تحریک میشن…#صدا_و_سیما_میلی pic.twitter.com/WvLMkN1NjQ
— ♡دیباشا♡ (@shahba27) March 18, 2019
Another user wrote: “Another achievement by state TV: censoring Dwayne Johnson’s nipples. If they’re afraid wolf teats are erotic, they must think this guy is Kim Kardashian. God, why did we have to be born in Iran?”
ورقی دیگر از صدا و سيما میلی، سانسور نوک سینه دواین جانسون ( راک ) !!!!
دیگه وقتی ممه گرگ تحریک کنه این پهلوون که پیشش کیم کارداشیانه :)))
خدایا چرا مارو تو ایران آفریدی ؟ pic.twitter.com/re9PUEub9u
— Elsolito (@elsolito619) March 19, 2019
Censorship in the strict Islamic republic has long been a vexatious issues for movie lovers and state television producers alike.
The country frowns on any open displays of affection, let alone sex, being broadcast to the general populace and even men and women holding hands on Iran TV is viewed as forbidden. The internet is heavily regulated for the same “crime,” as Breitbart News has reported.
Last December the simple act of screening a few fleeting seconds of a sex scene from a Jackie Chan movie cost a regional TV producer his job.
Iran’s Kish Island viewers were mortified when their local TV station showed the martial arts star having sex with a prostitute in one of his films, the semi-official ISNA news agency reports. The country’s strict religious authorities agreed and the programmer responsible was fired soon after.
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