Following the blocking of the release of Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder” and Pixar’s “Lightyear” from Malaysian cinemas due to their LGBT elements, a minister for the country’s government indicates more of the same kind of film censorship is coming.
According to Variety, the country’s Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin says the Malaysian government and its religious department are committed to curtailing the spread of LGBT culture in the country. He said:
“Recently there was a film that did not pass censorship, that is the new ‘Thor’ film. [The movie] touched on LGBT, but we see right now there are many films with LGBT elements that slip past the censorship.”
Both the aforementioned films were submitted by Disney for classification and censorship by the country’s Film Censorship Board (LPF) which asked for cuts that the studio chose not to make.
However, the minister revealed that his powers are limited to cinema and broadcast TV, which means they cannot control overseas platforms and streaming services such as TikTok or Netflix. Indeed, the Malay version of Disney+ Hotstar already has “Lightyear” on the platform (albeit with an 18+ recommendation).
