China cut Michael Fassbender’s gay kiss in Alien: Covenant
Chinese censors have cut six minutes of footage from Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, which includes a gay kiss involving Michael Fassbender.
The scene sees androids Walter and David (both played by Fassbender) share a close-mouthed kiss, but China has deemed it too offensive. And it’s not surprising after Chinese censors recently cut 14 minutes off Logan and eight minutes from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter for graphic violence.
Locals who saw Covenant in Shanghai commented on the missing scene:
“For the other missing parts you don’t notice or know when it happens, but you can really feel something is missing where the gay kiss is supposed to be” Yu told THR.
Reading that David and Walter kiss in Alien Covenant? Just saw it in Beijing & saw no such peck. Among the alleged 6 minutes cut for China? pic.twitter.com/ojmTBa7W6N
— Jamie Fullerton (@jamiefullerton1) June 17, 2017
China has always had a strong stance on gay content, most memorably denying Brokeback Mountain a release in 2005, despite the director Ang Lee being Chinese. However, the “gay moment” in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast was shown.