Chinese streaming services have been slammed for censoring old episodes of hit television show Friends because of LGBTQ storyline content.
Having faced ridicule for changing – and then changing back – the ending to Fight Club last week, a whole host of streaming services in the country are now facing pressure to return newly-streamed episodes of the sitcom to their original glory.
According to local reports, the censoring begins from the very first episode when dialogue featuring Ross discussing ex-wife Carol Willick, who left him for a woman, was changed from “women can have multiple orgasms” to say that “women have endless gossips”.
It was first broadcast uncensored by streaming services Sohu and iQiyi in 2012, but has now returned to many different services with the new script.
The services featuring the show are Bilibili, Tencent, Youku, Sohu and iQiyi.
It comes off the back of several changes to the Friends: Reunion episode late last year, which saw surprise guest appearance from Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and BTS all dropped from the Chinese version, while talk of LGBTQ topics were also edited out.
But Chinese viewers took to local social media network Weibo to vent their anger over the change.
One user wrote: “Not only does it ignore women’s sexual desire and enjoyment, but also reinforces the gender stereotype of women.”
And many users like a post calling it an “insult to our English language ability”.
Last month Chinese streaming giant Tencent censored the ending of 1999 classic Fight Club, cutting out action scenes and fighting and replacing them with a message on-screen explaining that the authorities won.
Now roughly 11 minutes of the original ending have been restored, although scenes involving nudity still remain cut.
The cult classic, directed by David Fincher and starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, ends with Norton's character killing his imaginary alter ego (played by Pitt) before a subversive plot sees buildings blown up in an attempt to reorder society.
In China's version, the message explained how that plot is foiled by police, with criminals arrested and Pitt's character ending up in a "lunatic asylum".
The message reads: "Through the clue provided by Tyler [Pitt's character], the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding."
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