Chinese censorship has taken its toll on Friends, leaving some fans unhappy with the changes made to the sitcom. As reported by Reuters, various streaming services — including Tencent, Youku, and Bilibili — started streaming the first season of Friends on Friday. Viewers have noticed many moments from the American version of the how have been removed, prompting an outcry from fans.
Along with mistranslations, fans have specifically noticed that all references to the LGBTQ+ community have been removed. One example would be a moment where Ross (David Schwimmer) explains that his wife is gay, as this line has been removed completely. Another moment where Joey (Matt LeBlanc) suggests going to a “strip joint” has been mistranslated with the character now instead suggesting to “go out to play,” as seen on Tencent Video’s version of Friends. It’s certainly nothing new when it comes to Chinese censorship, but it’s nevertheless gotten some fans riled up.
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“I resolutely boycott the castrated version of Friends,” one fan is quoted as saying on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media service.
“If you can’t show the complete version under the current atmoshphere, then don’t import it,” another person said.
Reuters also reports that there seems to be additional measures taken to silence the fan outcry. Searches on Weibo on Sunday for the hashtag #Friendshasbeencensored, along with similar search queries, had come up with zero or very limited results. With this in mind, it doesn’t appear that Friends fans will get their way with having this new version of Friends getting its original jokes restored.
Friends originally aired for ten seasons between 1994 and 2004. The show followed six friends living in Manhattan, exploring their relationships with each other and others. It stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. A ratings juggernaut and awards darling, the show still stands tall as one of the most popular comedy shows of all time.
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Fight Club Getting Censored Similarly Angered Fans
20th Century Fox
Just recently, Tencent Video in China similarly made headlines for giving Fight Club a bizarre new ending. Rather than giving the action flick its American ending with Tyler Durden carrying out his plan to destroy several buildings, a title card was instead shown explaining that Tyler had been arrested. The idea was to make it appear as if the authorities had won, as Chinese censors typically don’t allow movies and TV shows to depict the police getting defeated in any way.
“Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding. After the trial, Tyler was sent to lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012,” the title card read.
Many fans had cried foul, and in this one rare case, there was a reversal on the censorship. Now, Fight Club is streaming with its original ending in China. This is the exception and not the rule, however, so Friends fans in China shouldn’t get too hopeful about getting the sitcom’s episodes restored.
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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been a writer and editor since 2014. He is a self-professed horror expert, pop culture enthusiast, and Bob Saget fanatic.
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