"What's happening outside the film is even more terrifying than what's shown in it," a social media user in China remarked after it emerged that a same-sex wedding in the body horror movie Together was digitally altered with AI to present a straight couple. After early screenings, moviegoers in China said that one of the two men in a marriage sequence appeared to have been transformed into a woman, an edit likely made by local film distributor Hishow.
Social media users in China complained after side-by-side screenshots revealed the change, the Guardian reports. "AI face-swapping is really unacceptable—it completely changes the original creative vision," one commenter wrote. Neon, the film's global distributor, condemned the change as "unauthorized" and called for an end to screenings of the altered version, per NBC News. The Australian film, which stars Alison Brie and Dave Franco, was scheduled for nationwide release in China but has since been postponed. The state-managed China Film Group Corporation cited "a change in the film's distribution plan," offering no further explanation.
This is believed to be one of the first cases of technology being used to comply with Chinese censorship, which often targets depictions of LGBTQ relationships. While homosexuality has been decriminalized in China, portrayals of same-sex couples have faced tightened restrictions, including a ban on "effeminate" characters and the removal of LGBTQ content from popular international shows and movies. In 2018, all references to Freddie Mercury's sexuality were cut from the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic. The alteration of Together "signifies that the government has a clear stance, and they have a red line," Jason Coe of the University of Hong Kong tells NBC. "They will look to enforce it, and they will find innovative ways to enforce it."
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