Lebanese authorities are moving to ban the Barbie film in cinemas saying that the movie is advocating homosexuality.
Lebanon’s culture minister Mohammad Mortada said that the film goes against the “moral and religious values as well as the principles of Lebanon.” The minister also said that the movie promotes sexual deviance and Trans sexuality. In the Middle East sexual deviant is a common term to denote homosexuals.
Lebanon’s Shiite Islamist Hezbollah movement leader, Hassan Nasrallah launched a tirade against homosexuals in July during the Ashura religious event. He referred to homosexuality as a sexual perversion. He also threatened the LGBTQ community in a video message saying they should be punished.
Kuwait is also trying to ban the Barbie move saying that its ideas encourage unacceptable behavior.
The KUNA news agency reported that the film distorts the prevailing values of society.
In Iraq the anti-LGBTQ movement is also gaining momentum and they use media bans on the words homosexuality and gender. The censorship is in effect for all media outlets, phone and internet companies.
The Middle East countries are not the only ones moving to ban the film. Barbie was also banned in Vietnam. It’s head of the ministry’s department of cinema, Vi Kien Thanh said, “We do not grant a license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to be released in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.
The film features a map showing the South China Sea – a strategically important body of water that’s hotly contested by China and a number of its neighbours.
Warner Bros however defended its portrayal of the nine dash line saying that it was nothing more than a “child-like crayons drawing” and certainly not any kind of political statement.
The nine broad-brush dashes represent a maritime claim that has so far been rejected by international law. The South China Sea also has abundant reserves of oil and gas causing a contentious dispute among nations.
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