Viewers in China get a censored version of the hit American comedy series friends to see. References to a romantic relationship between two women have been deleted.
The lesbian couple Carol and Susan appear in the series. Together with the main character Ross they raise a child. The Chinese censor has removed references to the romantic relationship between the two women. This has not gone unnoticed by Chinese viewers. They expressed their dissatisfaction en masse on social media platforms such as Weibo. The hashtag #FriendsCensored quickly became popular – until it too fell victim to censorship.
Last year, Chinese viewers already discovered that Lady Gaga, who has fallen into disgrace from the Chinese authorities for visiting the Dalai Lama, had been removed from the one-off friends-reunion special.
The American sitcom is loved in China. In 2012 friends uncensored in China. After that, the series disappeared from the screen for a number of years. Until a number of Chinese streaming platforms jointly bought the rights of the television series, so that the series can be seen again since last Friday.
Much has changed in the country in the intervening years. Since 2012, the Chinese government has tightened the censorship reins. In 2016, China banned all expressions of homosexuality — along with other forms of “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy” content — on television. In 2019 that led to a fuss about the film Bohemian Rhapsody about the life of Queen singer Freddy Mercury. All references to the singer’s homosexual orientation had been removed by the censor.
Fight Club
The censor also interferes without hesitation in other matters that China considers ‘immoral’. Last month, for example, it turned out that the cult classic Fight Club has had a completely different ending. In the original version, the film ends with a lot of violence. Bomb explosions committed by the main character fill the screen. Viewers in China, on the other hand, see how the attacks are prevented and the main character is arrested and sent to an institution.
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