One has to laugh at the mishaps that can occur when marketing Western entertainment to other cultures. The most recent mixup occurred in China, where the film 'Thor: The Dark World' has just opened. Here's the original poster for it.
Unfortunately, there seems to be something called 'erotic fan fiction' in existence. According to Yahoo! News:
A hilarious mix-up at a Shanghai, China cinema has resulted in a fan-made image being used as the official poster for “Thor: The Dark World.” The digitally altered image ... Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in an uncharacteristically tender embrace -- it's likely the work of erotic fan fiction enthusiasts. Why the theatre opted to use the fan-made poster and not the official Chinese “Thor: The Dark World” poster is unknown.
. . .
Erotic fan fiction is a little-discussed element of fandom, but one that has had a surprising impact on the literary world and in Hollywood.
. . .
Thor and Loki are far from the only unlikely gay coupling to come out of the fan community. One of the most famous fan-fiction tropes is called Kirk/Spock, an entire fan-made subgenre which depicts Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock of “Star Trek” fame as being in a serious romantic/sexual relationship. If you can think of two or more fictional characters, there’s a good chance that there’s a small but dedicated online community devoted entirely to writing about and/or illustrating a relationship between them.
There's more at the link. Here's the 'gay' Thor poster.
Umm . . . yes, I'd say that poster certainly . . . er . . . redefines the relationship between them!
Peter
