As Lafy al Subeie, deputy secretary of Kuwait’s Ministry of Press and Publications, told the media, “Barbie” It won’t be in theaters of the small country on the Gulf.
The decision was made by Film Censorship Board, under the Ministry of Culture. According to the statement released by official agency KUNAA, the rationale would be that Barbie “proclaims ideas and beliefs, which it is.” foreign to Kuwaiti society and public order” so that it is necessary “to protect public ethics and societal traditions”. At no point was it made clear which scenes in the film or which values would conflict.
Kuwaiti laws often use opaque language to punish consensual relationships between homosexual people, when only then are they punishable under the penal code Men over 21 years old, with a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison. A major breakthrough for the country’s transgender movement came last year when Kuwait’s Constitutional Court failed to implement an article in the Penal Code criminalizing “imitation of the opposite sex”.
It’s not the only recent case. The censorship committee also banned the film’s premiere late last month Horror Movie “Talk to Me”which has also reached other countries in the Middle East (and will do so tomorrow on Spanish screens).
Yesterday Kuwait was in the lead Lebanonthe country also “Barbie” censored with arguments like“Promotes homosexuality” and promotes “the ugly idea of denying custody of the father and belittling and ridiculing the role of the mother.” family in question.”
The film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Goslin, had no trouble getting releases in other conservative countries in the region, e.g Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. In Egypt, on the other hand, the premiere was postponed to the end of August.
With or without a premiere in these countries, “Barbie” is already one of them biggest blockbuster of 2023 worldwide, with a collection volume of over a trillion dollars.