Kuwait, Lebanon move to ban ‘Barbie’ over film’s message of LGBTQ inclusion, gender equality
Officials in Lebanon and Kuwait have moved to ban the film “Barbie” saying its message of gender equality and LGBTQ inclusion go against the two nation’s conservative values.
The Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster, which has made over $1 billion worldwide, was banned in Kuwait for promoting “ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order,” according to a statement shared late on Wednesday by the state-run KUNA news agency.
Earlier on Wednesday, Lebanon’s Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada also moved to keep the Mattel-based fantasy flick out of theaters.
Mortada issued a request to the country’s General Security agency, which handles decisions regarding censorship, asking officials to ban “Barbie,” saying the Margot Robbie-led film — which also features Hari Nef, who’s trans, and Kate McKinnon, who’s openly gay — was found to “contradict values of faith and morality” and to “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation.”
Early last month, Vietnam authorities banned the distribution of the film because it featured a map with a “nine-dash line” showing China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
In the U.S., the colorful comedy was slammed by some conservative figures as a “man-hating, woke propaganda fest” and “a flaming garbage heap of a film.”
Films featuring LGBTQ representation are often targeted by religious conservatives, who see same-sex relations as morally wrong.
Last year, over a dozen countries across the Middle East and Asia banned the Disney-Pixar computer-animated adventure “Lightyear” over a brief same-sex kiss.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero flick “Eternals” was pulled from distribution in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait in November 2021, after the studio reportedly refused to remove a scene in which a character named Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) shares a kiss with his on-screen husband Ben (Haaz Sleima).
Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which premiered in May 2022 and featured a lesbian couple, was banned in much of the Arab world — but not in Lebanon.
“Barbie” is set to open in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Thursday.
With News Wire Services
