{"id":166065,"date":"2025-09-24T12:29:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T12:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/166065\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T12:29:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T12:29:07","slug":"horror-film-digitally-altered-in-china-to-make-gay-couple-straight-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/166065\/","title":{"rendered":"Horror film digitally altered in China to make gay couple straight | China"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Australian horror film featuring a scene with a same-sex wedding was reportedly digitally altered for release in mainland China<\/a>, transforming the gay couple into a heterosexual one, provoking outrage from viewers who spotted the change.<\/p>\n

The critically acclaimed film Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie<\/a>, was released in selected cinemas in China on 12 September. It follows the journey of a young couple who move to the countryside and encounter mysterious and grotesque changes to their bodies.<\/p>\n

In one scene, which features a wedding between two men, one of the men\u2019s faces was altered to look like a woman\u2019s. Cinemagoers in China only noticed the change when side-by-side screenshots of the scene circulated on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI face-swapping is really unacceptable \u2013 it completely changes the original creative vision,\u201d wrote one social media user.<\/p>\n

ADAM AND STEVE TO ADAM AND EVE<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a use of AI I bet you never thought of! The horror film \u201cTogether\u201d featured a gay couple in a peripheral role (see below) that got magicked into a straight couple in the Chinese edition.<\/p>\n

No spoilers, but this definitely makes the film make\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/bsxw5019uj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Angelica \ud83c\udf10\u269b\ufe0f\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddfc\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@AngelicaOung) September 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Films have to be approved by China\u2019s censorship authorities to be released on the mainland. For imported films, this often leads to scenes featuring themes that the government deems sensitive or racy being cut. But the use of technology to alter scenes rather than just cut them is relatively new. Some viewers complained that it made the censorship harder to spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening outside the film is even more terrifying than what\u2019s shown in it,\u201d wrote one Weibo user.<\/p>\n

Homosexuality is decriminalised in China but it is still widely stigmatised, with nuclear, heterosexual relationships promoted as the ideal norm. The government\u2019s longstanding stance of \u201cneither supporting nor opposing\u201d homosexuality has given way in recent years<\/a> to a crackdown<\/a> on LGBTQ+ groups. It is very rare to see same-sex relationships in mainstream films or television shows. In 2021, China\u2019s television regulator banned<\/a> \u201csissy men\u201d from appearing on screen.<\/p>\n

But public opinion is increasingly supportive of LGBTQ identities. A survey published last year found that just over half of people agreed<\/a> that LGBTQ people should be accepted by Chinese society.<\/p>\n

Together\u2019s general release in China has not yet gone ahead because of the backlash to the change. Photograph: Neon<\/p>\n

One user on RedNote said that the use of AI to gender-swap gay characters was \u201chumiliating minority groups\u201d.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Take a front seat at the cinema with our weekly email filled with all the latest news and all the movie action that matters<\/p>\n

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n

Together was scheduled for general release in China on 19 September. But after the backlash, the film\u2019s Chinese distributor halted those plans without explanation.<\/p>\n

It is not the first time that western films have been altered for viewing in China. In 2018, Bohemian Rhapsody was released but with references to Freddie Mercury\u2019s sexuality removed<\/a>. In the American sitcom Friends, references to a lesbian character were cut in the episodes that were streamed on Chinese platforms.<\/p>\n

Together\u2019s director, Michael Shanks, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Additional research by Lillian Yang<\/p>\n