Algeria bans ‘Barbie’, says film promotes LGBTQ+ themes

Los Angeles: Greta Gerwig’s mammoth hit ‘Barbie’ which is currently grossing over $1.18 billion globally has been banned in several countries with the latest name being Algeria, due to the country believing that the movie promotes homosexuality while being divided on the movie’s LGBTQ+ themes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Algeria is only the latest name to join the list, as several countries in the Gulf and Middle East, with the exception of Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have completely banned it, such as Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Lebanon.

Algerian Censors have stated that they believe ‘Barbie’ attempts to subtly impose Western values while attacking the country’s values, cultural ethos and institutions, as well as overly promote homosexuality and create an LGBTQ tide in the country.

The Lebanon ban came as a surprise to many because the country is generally believed to be quite liberal when it comes to movies, though Lebanon too had argued that the movie was trying to impose Western values on to the country, and many other ‘Western depravities’, particularly in regards to LGBTQ which the country is not very fond of.

The country’s minister of culture, Mohammad Mortada said that ‘Barbie’ “promotes homosexuality” and “contradicts values of faith and morality” by diminishing the importance of the family unit.

Qatar had called ‘Barbie’ a ‘depraved movie’ while Kuwait showed no appreciation for it. The UAE and Saudi Arabia faced a long debate before finally allowing the film to release with a few edits, as they were overall satisfied with the film, in a surprising turn.

Other countries that have banned the film include Russia which believes the film overly promotes wasteful consumerist attitude, Vietnam and Philippines due to the ‘Nine Dash Line’ map which they think strengthens China’s claims over the South China Sea.

The movie tanked in other big Hollywood markets such as China and South Korea while not doing very well in other big international markets such as India, Mexico and Australia.

Nonetheless, the movie has earned a massive $1.18 billion due to extreme popularity in the West and has become Greta Gerwig’s highest grossing movie to date, making her the biggest grossing female director.