While its release in Saudi Arabia should take place, “Barbie” by Greta Gerwig will not pass through theaters in Lebanon and Kuwait.
This Barbie is… banned. The film directed by Greta Gerwig, which has collected more than a billion dollars worldwide, will indeed not be released in Lebanon and Kuwait. As very often in this case, the reason for this censorship is related to LGBTQIA+ issues.
For Mohammad Mortada, Minister of Culture in Lebanon, the feature film directed by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling “promotes homosexuality” And “goes against the values of faith and morality” by reducing the importance of the family unit.
Same story in Kuwait, where the chairman of the local censorship committee accuses him of “convey ideas that encourage unacceptable behavior and distort the values of society”.
While its release in Saudi Arabia should finally take place this Thursday, August 10, these choices of Lebanon and Kuwait may surprise, insofar as the question of homosexuality is never clearly mentioned, and that everyone is free to see the relationship between Ken as he wants.
Barbie thus joins The Hand, banned because of the presence of a transgender actor in the casting, in the list of films recently censored in Kuwait.