Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is soaring at the box-office worldwide, but this week has found itself facing bans in some parts of the Middle East over its content.
The film has reportedly been banned by Kuwait in an effort to protect “public ethics and social traditions” according to news agency KUNA (via BBC News) quoting a spokesperson for the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information.
The spokesperson says the film “promulgates ideas and beliefs that are alien to Kuwaiti society and public order”. The ministry also banned the recent Australian supernatural horror film “Talk to Me” on similar grounds.
Meanwhile Reuters reports Lebanon’s culture minister Mohammad Mortada has reportedly moved to “take all necessary measures to ban showing” the film in the country.
The minister reportedly has multiple issues with the film, including how it “questions the necessity of marriage and having a family” along with some stronger language about gender and sexuality. MPs in Bahrain have also reportedly called for a ban on the film.
Movies are routinely cut in the Middle East to comply with strict censorship rules and are banned from cinemas if a studio is unwilling to make adjustments. Even so, the film is being shown in several conservative countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia.
The news comes as Bill Maher made headlines earlier this week for his review of the film on Twitter, dubbing it a ‘zombie lie’ with many of his issues swirling around the film’s satirical inclusion of an all-male Mattel board.
