Us Film Company condemns the edition of the horror film in China to make a gay couple directly

An American film company condemns an apparent modification of the body horror film Together It represented a gay couple in the original film as hetero.

Comparisons side by side of a scene in the American and Chinese versions of the film began to circulate on Chinese social media following projections of overviews earlier this month. The image shows a scene where a gay couple gets married. In the Chinese version, the face of one of the men is published to make it look like a woman.

The horror film of the body tells the story of Tim and Millie (played by the real couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie), a couple who moves in a small rural town, where a supernatural force tries to bring together their body and to merge them physically.

The film was distributed in China by Hishow, a Chinese entertainment company that distributes, produces and finances films. According to DeadlineThe film started to project on September 12 in China, but it was then completely drawn.

The global neon distributor has bought global rights in the film Sundancedistributed the film in the United States, then sold foreign rights to others, including Hishow.

“Neon does not approve of the film’s unauthorized modification of the film and asked them to stop distributing this modified version,” a company spokesman for CBC News told an email.

CBC News has contacted shohow as well as TogetherThe director, Michael Shanks, to comment, but did not receive any response from one or the other in time for publication.

Tightened checks on the film in China

After projections in China, social media users criticized the publishing choice.

A user on Rednote, a Chinese social media application, said that the face swap was “absolutely inappropriate” and “defined the original work” because, in their opinion, making the couple watering part of the story.

“If you know that it won’t pass censorship, then don’t import it,” wrote a user in an article on X.

Chris Berry, professor of cinematographic studies at the King’s College of London who studies Chinese cinema, says that the fact that Hishow sought to change the representation of a gay couple in the film is not a surprise, considering that China is closely controlling what citizens are authorized to see on the big screen in pre-screen of films and by dictating cinema societies when and how they can be published to the public.

“What is surprising is that they imported the film in the first place … and then that they did something so rude with that,” said Berry.

Although there is no exact list of what is and is not authorized in China, Berry says that the films could be prohibited or that modifications could be necessary if they do not comply with Chinese values.

Representations of sex or extreme violence are some of the limited things in Chinese films, but generally, he says, these scenes are simply edited from films rather than modified.

Warming in China despite the attitudes that change

For example, when Bohemian RhapsodyThe 2018 biopic on Queen’s main singer, Freddie Mercury, came to China, Whole minutes of the film would have been minced – including a scene where Mercury tells his girlfriend that he is not straight.

The moviegoers at the time said that the missing scenes made the film incoherent, and many already knew the history and sexuality of Mercury.

Homosexuality is not illegal in China – it has been decriminalized since 1997 and some research Indicates that attitudes towards people 2SLGBTQ + in China are becoming more positive.

But there have still been repression on the 2SLGBTQ + groups in the country in recent years. Shanghaipride was suspended for years in the country, while defenders have faces a prison sentence and forced confessions.

Moral panic and debates on “Sissy culture” have broken out in China in recent years, some expressing their concern about men who do not act male enough. In 2021, the country went to Prohibit effeminate television men.

Berry says that the face exchange changes Together Perhaps roughly, but he says that he served his goal by transmitting what is and is not tolerated in China, regardless of what people might think.

“It is a very clear message to people, like:” Well, you can disagree with this, but keep your mouth closed. “”