The Australian film has changed in China to make gay gay couples

An Australian film that has been modified digitally to change a couple of the same sex into a heterosexual couple has attracted moviegoers reactions to China.

Together, a horror film featuring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, was shown in certain Chinese cinemas in advance on September 12. Cinemagoers later realized that certain scenes had been modified after screenshots showing that the original scenes became viral online.

The film was to be published publicly on September 19 – but Thursday has not yet been broadcast in the cinemas.

The global film distributor Neon later condemned the editing, saying that they had not “approved (this) unauthorized modification … and demanding that they have ceased the distribution”, according to reports.

The horror film on the supernatural body, written and directed by the Australian Michael Shanks, follows a couple who moves to the countryside and finds himself meeting a mysterious force which has an impact on their bodies, their life and their relationship.

The film, which was presented for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival in January and released in the United States and Australia in July, received largely positive criticisms of criticism, winning a 90% freshness score on the film Rotten Tomatoes revision site.

But as soon as the advanced projections started in China this month, viewers noticed that certain scenes of sex and nudity had been modified after screenshots showing scenes from the original version broadcast online.

In a scene that imagined the male head in the shower, they noticed that the Chinese version had added steam to obscure the bare body of lead.

Most of the complaints, however, concerned an image featuring a gay couple had been modified digitally, with the face of a man replaced by a woman. Several references to the same sex relationship in the film have also been deleted.

It is not uncommon for China – where homosexual marriage is not recognized and that LGBT subjects remain largely taboo – to censor LGBT content. But this time, the use of what seemed to be alterations generated by AI struck a nerve.

“It is no longer a question of cuts – it is a question of distortion and false declarations”, reads an article on the platform of Chinese film critic popular Douban, where the film has a note of 6.9 out of 10.

“Not only did they modify the intrigue, but they also lacked respect for the actor’s sexual orientation. It is disgusting,” reads another.

On Wednesday, the World Film distributor, Neon said against the modifications, criticizing the Chinese film distributor, Hishow, who has not yet commented on the issue.

“Neon does not approve of the unauthorized modification of the film’s Hishow and asked them to stop distributing this modified version,” the company said in a press release shared with the American press deadline and Thewrap.

The BBC contacted Neon.

This is not the first time that China has used AI to change sexual content. In the Oscarheimer’s Oscar -winning film, a naked scene featuring Florence Pugh was published with a black dress generated by AI for Chinese cinemas.

China also seemed more and more repressed on the same sex content. Since February, at least 30 writers of gay erotic fictions, almost all women in their twenties, have been arrested across the country.