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Topics: Artificial intelligence, TV And Film, World News, Entertainment, Social Media, Twitter, Sex and Relationships
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Madison Burgess
Topics: Artificial intelligence, TV And Film, World News, Entertainment, Social Media, Twitter, Sex and Relationships
People have been shocked to find out that a gay couple in a popular horror film were digitally edited to appear heterosexual in one specific country.
The movie we're talking about is Together, a supernatural body horror that was released in the UK on August 15, and in the US a little earlier on July 30.
It stars real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, who play Tim and Millie, a couple who, years into their relationship, find themselves at a crossroads when they move to the countryside.
When they abandon all that is familiar in their lives except each other, they find themselves in the middle of a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force that threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and even their flesh and bodies.
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However, without giving any spoilers, there's also a newlywed couple in the film, played by Charlie Lees and MJ Dorning in the original movie.
But, according to Bloomberg, the version that was shown in China altered the couple so that one of the men in a same-sex relationship was replaced with a woman’s face, removing any trace of LGBTQ+ representation from the story.
According to the publication, viewers who got to see an early screening of the film in mainland China on 12 September didn't notice the altered scene until it was pointed out on social media.
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Meanwhile, a report in China Digital Times also claimed that some sex scenes were also removed from the final version in cinemas.
One Twitter user shared a side-by-side comparison of the AI-altered couple, sparking backlash from film fans when they found out what had happened.
Someone penned: "Adam and Steve to Adam and Eve.
"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."
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They added: "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?"
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While someone else wrote on the film-rating website Douban that the censorship was 'disrespectful to the original work and another challenge to the audience’s tolerance'.
The user continued: “They want our money but won’t show us the complete version. It’s also disrespectful to the LGBT community.”
As reported by Pink News, The People’s Republic of China introduced new censorship back in 2016, under the Gender Principles for the Production of TV Drama Content.
This bans 'all depictions of gay people on television' and also applies to films and other media.
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However, while it's not abnormal for LGBTQ+ relationships to be edited out completely in films and TV shows in China, it seems this could be the first time artificial intelligence has been used to obscure.
And it's important to note that it's unclear exactly who was responsible - distributors, regulators, or someone else, for the edit.
The publication added that the Chinese distributors have now paused plans for a full release of the film, as criticism for the decision continues.