An Australian horror film featuring a scene with a same-sex wedding was reportedly digitally altered for release in mainland China, transforming the gay couple into a heterosexual one, provoking outrage from viewers who spotted the change.
The critically acclaimed film Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, 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.
In one scene, which features a wedding between two men, one of the men’s faces was altered to look like a woman’s. Cinemagoers in China only noticed the change when side-by-side screenshots of the scene circulated on social media.
“AI face-swapping is really unacceptable – it completely changes the original creative vision,” wrote one social media user.
Films have to be approved by China’s 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.
“What’s happening outside the film is even more terrifying than what’s shown in it,” wrote one Weibo user.
Homosexuality is decriminalised in China but it is still widely stigmatised, with nuclear, heterosexual relationships promoted as the ideal norm. The government’s longstanding stance of “neither supporting nor opposing” homosexuality has given way in recent years to a crackdown on LGBTQ+ groups. It is very rare to see same-sex relationships in mainstream films or television shows. In 2021, China’s television regulator banned “sissy men” from appearing on screen.
But public opinion is increasingly supportive of LGBTQ identities. A survey published last year found that just over half of people agreed that LGBTQ people should be accepted by Chinese society.
One user on RedNote said that the use of AI to gender-swap gay characters was “humiliating minority groups”.
Together was scheduled for general release in China on 19 September. But after the backlash, the film’s Chinese distributor halted those plans without explanation.
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’s sexuality removed. In the American sitcom Friends, references to a lesbian character were cut in the episodes that were streamed on Chinese platforms.
Together’s director, Michael Shanks, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Additional research by Lillian Yang
