This is the hit of the summer in French cinemas: Barbie. The film grossed over $1 billion worldwide, a first for a film directed by a woman. But the whole world does not agree that the feature film is perfect. Thus, more and more countries prohibit the dissemination of Barbie, such as Kuwait, for example, for harming morality, Lebanon or Vietnam. In turn, Algeria has just banned Barbiethree weeks after its theatrical release.
“It was beautiful, it was pink”
On leaving the Cosmos cinema in Algiers, Nadia and her 13-year-old daughter have just attended the screening of an American blockbuster. When the film last aired Barbie, they were there too, between mother and daughter. Opinions are mixed on the withdrawal of the feature film.
“In fact, I don’t care because the film has already passed. I saw the film with my daughter, I saw that there were scenes that I didn’t like. These scenes weren’t compatible with the age of my daughter”, estimates Nadia at the microphone of Europe 1. On the side of her daughter, it is another opinion which emerges: “I liked it, it was beautiful, it was pink , it was good. The atmosphere of the film was really good”.
An almost usual censorship
Aymen, in his forties, says he does not see the point of a controversy over a children’s film, but says he respects the decision of the public authorities. “Personally, I have boys who don’t really play with dolls and suddenly, I didn’t have to go see this film intended after all for children. I don’t understand the point of such a controversy, but I can conceive that it may shock some people.
Regularly, foreign films are banned from screening because of non-compliance with the values of Algerian society, but rarely after their broadcast.