Chinese censors all but ban time travel on TV

Considering all the damage you can do to the space-time continuum with nothing more than a Delorean and a nutty professor, it seems sensible to restrict time travel.

However, instead of focusing on the prospect of real time tourism, China is cracking down on fictional time machines with an eye toward maintaining social stability in the here and now.

According to the New York Times, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television has declared that programs featuring time travel "lack positive thoughts and meaning" (full statement in Chinese).

The regulations, which do not ban time travel altogether, are apparently aimed at a slew of popular series, which feature characters journeying to ancient China. Female heroes often fall in love with a series of dreamy princes and warriors ("Myth" and "Palace" being the two most notable).

According to The Guardian, Li Jingsheng of the aforementioned Administration said, "Many stories are totally made up and are made to strain for an effect of novelty. The producers and writers are treating serious history in a frivolous way, which should by no means be encouraged any longer."

The state administrator noted the promotion of counter-revolutionary principles such as "feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation" as being of particular concern. Considering the Chinese Communist Party's own manipulation of history during the Cultural Revolution, it's not surprising that they're sensitive about changes to the past, real or fictionalized.

Of course, the Chinese didn't seem to have any problem manipulating the timeline when it came to trying to pass off footage from 1986's "Top Gun" as video of a modern fighter jet. I guess Tom Cruise doesn't count as "serious history."

(Photo credit: L. Cohen/WireImage/Getty)