A wave of criticism broke out this month after moviegoers in China noticed something was off about the body horror film “Together.”
Viewers who attended early screenings took to social media to report that a same sex wedding scene had been digitally changed, with one groom edited into a bride using artificial intelligence.
American distributor Neon said Wednesday that it did not authorize these changes, calling the edit by Chinese distributor Hishow unacceptable and demanding an immediate halt to screenings of the altered version.
Early feedback from the Chinese audience reflected both surprise and anger. On Xiaohongshu, a popular social media platform, one viewer wrote, “The version shown in mainland China didn’t delete this scene. Instead, it photoshopped a woman’s face over one of the men. It looked quite reasonable. Even the American conservatives would be impressed!”
“Together,” written by Australian director Michael Shanks, stars Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple seeking to solve their relationship struggles in the countryside while confronting an unknown supernatural force.
Hishow began showing prerelease screenings across 11 cities on September 12, with national release originally planned for September 19 before the rollout was postponed.
Technology and Censorship Collide in China’s Film Industry
China Film Group Corp., a state-owned giant, said last week that the release would not go ahead as scheduled due to unspecified changes in distribution plans. No new date has been offered.
Although imported films routinely face censorship in China, this case marks one of the first times artificial intelligence has been used to modify LGBTQ content instead of simply cutting it out.
Homosexuality, though decriminalized, has become a focus of renewed government crackdowns, even as public support for LGBTQ rights is reportedly rising. In recent years, Chinese authorities barred effeminate male styles from television and edited out LGBTQ storylines from international hits like “Friends” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Jason Coe, a University of Hong Kong scholar, said the digital alteration of “Together” signals Beijing’s firm resolve to set and enforce boundaries. “They will look to enforce it, and they will find innovative ways to enforce it,” Coe said.
Hong Kong Baptist University’s Zeng Hong noted that the use of this technology bodes poorly for LGBTQ visibility on Chinese screens.
A similar debate unfolded in India last month, when the acclaimed Bollywood film “Raanjhanaa” was rereleased with its tragic ending rewritten by AI without the director’s knowledge. That move stirred outrage in creative circles and prompted fresh questions about how artificial intelligence is shaping the stories audiences see.
