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.
No spoilers, but this definitely makes the film make\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/bsxw5019uj<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014@AngelicaOung<\/a><\/p>\n The film was\u00a0distributed in China by Hishow, a Chinese-based entertainment company that distributes, produces and finances films. According to\u00a0Deadline<\/a>, the film began screening on Sept. 12 in China, but\u00a0it was later pulled completely.<\/p>\n Global distributor Neon bought worldwide rights to the film\u00a0at Sundance<\/a>, distributed the movie in the U.S. and then sold the foreign rights to others, including Hishow.\u00a0<\/p>\n “NEON does not approve of Hishow’s unauthorized edit of the film and have demanded they cease distributing this altered version,” a spokesperson for the company told CBC News in an email.<\/p>\n CBC News reached out to Hishow as well as\u00a0Together’s director, Michael Shanks, for comment, but didn’t receive a response from either in time for publication.<\/p>\n Tight controls on film in China<\/p>\n Following the screenings in China, social media users\u00a0criticized the editing choice.<\/p>\n One user on RedNote, a Chinese social media app, said that the face swap was “absolutely inappropriate” and was\u00a0“defiling the original work,” because, in their view,\u00a0making the couple straight\u00a0watered down part of the story.<\/p>\n “If you know it won’t pass the censorship, then don’t import it,” wrote one user\u00a0in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chris Berry, a professor of film studies at King’s College London who studies Chinese cinema, says the fact that Hishow sought to change the depiction of a gay couple in the film isn’t a surprise, considering China tightly controls what citizens\u00a0are allowed to see on the big screen by pre-screening movies and dictating to film companies when and how they can be released to the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n “What is surprising is that they imported the film in the first place \u2026 and then that they did something so crude with it,” Berry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though there’s no exact list of what is and isn’t allowed in China, Berry says\u00a0films\u00a0might be banned or edits might be required\u00a0if they don’t comply with\u00a0Chinese values.<\/p>\n Depictions of sex or extreme violence are some of the things limited in Chinese films, but\u00a0usually, he says, these scenes are simply edited out of films rather than altered.<\/p>\n For example, when Bohemian Rhapsody, the 2018 biopic about Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury, came to China, whole minutes of the movie<\/a> were reportedly axed \u2014 including a scene where Mercury tells his girlfriend he’s not straight.<\/p>\n Moviegoers at the time said the missing scenes made the film incoherent, and many already knew about Mercury’s story and sexuality.\u00a0<\/p>\n Homosexuality isn’t illegal in China \u2014 it’s been decriminalized since 1997<\/a>, and some research<\/a> indicates that attitudes toward 2SLGBTQ+ people in China are becoming more positive.<\/p>\n But there have still been crackdowns on 2SLGBTQ+\u00a0groups in the country in recent years. ShanghaiPride has been suspended for years<\/a> in the country, while advocates have faced jail time and forced confessions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moral panic and debates over “sissy culture<\/a>” have erupted in China in recent years, with\u00a0some expressing\u00a0concern about men who don’t act masculine enough.\u00a0In 2021, the country\u00a0went so far as to\u00a0ban effeminate men from\u00a0TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Berry says the face swapping edit in Together\u00a0may have been crude, but\u00a0he says it served its purpose by conveying what is\u00a0and is not tolerated in China, regardless of what people there might think.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s a very clear message to people, like, ‘Well, you might disagree with this, but keep your mouth shut.’ “<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bohemian-rhapsody.jpg\")
Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury and Allen Leech as Paul Prenter in Bohemian Rhapsody. The 2018 biopic about the lead singer of Queen was distributed in China, though many complained when references to Mercury’s sexuality were edited out of the film in that country. (Fox)Crackdowns in China despite changing attitudes<\/p>\n