Poll Suggestion: Fight Club Endings: Alternate Chinese Version vs. Original Version

I think the term "censorship" is not being used correctly here.  Censorship wasn't avoided, it is what is happening in this case.

Plus, "the unedited version of the movie remains available on some other Chinese websites, and it’s unclear why the ending was altered in this case."

I have some suggestions for this poll suggestion, for your consideration. 

1) Change your introductory sentence.

"Perhaps to avoid censorship, the version of Fight Club (1999) available for streaming in China replaces the original ending by a text card."

If a film is edited or altered either internally or externally to get an outright release, widen its distribution, garner a certain rating or just appease some faction, it is censorship by definition.

Censorship goes far beyond outright bans and extends even to filmmakers self-censoring themselves. This happens when they change their own vision for a project by altering a film due to antipated push-back for a scene or message that would be deemed unacceptable by others.

2) Beef up your explanation of the situation to be more accurate, detailed and neutral (see below for an alternative).

Recently, Tencent Video made the iconic movie 'Fight Club' (1999) available for legal streaming in mainland China on its platform for the first time. In their version, the final minutes of the movie were cut entirely and replaced by a text card that described an entirely different outcome that meaningfully changed the tone and message of the movie.

While, altering movies for foriegn distribution is nothing new. This notable change to the ending has created a bit of stir. Among diehard movie fans, the change has been widely and loudly been denounced. On the other hand, the world is filled with diverse peoples that have different views, moral standards and cultural norms. So, altering a movie that it better fits the tastes of a particular country doesn't seem all that unreasonable.

Interesingtly, Chuck Palahniuk, who wrote the book on which the movie is based tweeted about the altered ending: "This is SUPER wonderful! Everyone gets a happy ending in China!” in support. He noted that film's producers altered the ending he wrote for the book and that the Tencent streaming cut is closer to his original ending than the one depicted in the movie's originally released cut.

3) Consider adding YouTube 'Fight Club' scene links of the original ending and the altered Tencent streaming ending for poll takers to view.

4) Re-phrase the question a bit.

While the debate over editing films to be suitable to foriegn markets vs. censorship is more complex than it seems.

In your personal opinion, which 'Fight Club' final scene makes for a better ending to the movie?