Outrage as gay couple in hit film Together are digitally altered to be straight for Chinese audiences

Moviegoers have been left outraged after a popular horror film was edited using AI to alter a same-sex wedding.

Together, starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, follows a couple who start physically melding together after moving to the countryside to work on their relationship.

After amassing critical acclaim in the US, the hit horror movie received a limited release in China on September 12.

However, some Chinese moviegoers noticed that one scene featuring a same-sex wedding appeared to have been altered using AI to make the gay couple into a man and a woman.

Sharing a screenshot of the edited scene to social media, Taiwanese commentator Angelica Oung wrote, ‘Here’s a use of AI I bet you never thought of! The horror film “Together” featured a gay couple in a peripheral role (see below) that got magicked into a straight couple in the Chinese edition.’

She continued, ‘No spoilers, but this definitely makes the film make less sense.

‘One nuance is Chinese movies are not rated for age. Maybe if it were, the same-sex pairing would have survived. But in any case, why not just ban the movie rather than showing it in a compromised state?’

The alteration has sparked a firestorm, with the film’s global distributor Neon blasting Chinese distributor Hishow over the edit.

‘NEON does not approve of Hishow’s unauthorized edit of the film and have demanded they cease distributing this altered version,’ they said in a statement (per Deadline).

Homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997, but despite growing support for LGBTQ rights, homosexuality is still largely stigmatized in Chinese society.

Together was set for a wider Chinese release, but it was pulled following backlash from pro-gay groups in the area, according to The Guardian.

China has a long history of censoring or outright banning Hollywood films.  

Popular Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was only allowed to come out in China after it eliminated any suggestion or scene that depicted Freddie Mercury as gay.

Men in Black 3 had to alter a scene that showed aliens who had disguised themselves as Chinese workers getting beat up, while Mission Impossible III cut out a part that Chinese officials felt made their people seem ‘insensitive.’ 

The third movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, At World’s End, underwent a series of edits before it was released in China in 2007.

Many scenes that featured the character Captain Sao Feng, played by Chinese actor Chow Yun-fat, had to be taken out because it was said that he ‘vilified and defaced’ the nation, Screen Rant reported.

He went from having 20 minutes of screen time in the Johnny Depp-lead Disney film to around 10 minutes. 

Sony Pictures reportedly rejected the Chinese government’s demand to remove scenes featuring the Statue of Liberty from Spider Man: No Way Home.

The dispute occurred in late 2021, when Sony executives were working desperately to secure a Chinese release date for the Tom Holland blockbuster, according to a report from Puck.

Although the Statue of Liberty plays a major role in the movie’s climactic scene, Chinese censors insisted that it be digitally removed, multiple sources told the outlet. 

When Sony rejected the request, the Chinese government then asked if the icon of American freedom could be ‘minimized’ by cutting key shots and darkening the lighting to obscure the statue, which the studio also declined to do.  

In 2016, China issued an eight-page set of guidelines for television shows, discouraging gay story lines and topics that ‘exaggerate the dark sides of society.’

The document also referenced to ‘vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content’ with homosexuality, underage love, extramarital affairs, and one-night stands as being off-limits.