The iconic Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has taken the worlds of showbusiness and pop culture by storm, painting the world in candy pink.
Not only did the movie top $1 billion in global box office ticket sales, but it broke the record as the biggest movie directed by a sole female director.
While the fans of the vibrant, socially relevant, and bubbly movie make up a long list, there are some countries that weren’t very fond of it.
Here is a look at all the nations across the globe that decided to formally ban the movie.
The countries that have banned the Barbie movie
Vietnam
Before the movie was even released, Vietnam announced that it would be banning the film across the country due to a scene that includes the map of the world.
In this map, China’s contested territorial claims in the South China Sea are depicted. Reuters reported that this was perceived as “an offending image” because it included the “nine-dash line” that Chinese maps use to illustrate its claims over major parts of the South China Sea, which Vietnam disagrees with.
Kuwait
Kuwait revealed that it banned the movie as it concluded that it promoted “ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order”, according to the undersecretary of the Ministry for Press and Publication in Kuwait, Lafy Al-Subei’e.
Lebanon
On August 9, Lebanon’s culture minister Mohammad Mortada banned the Barbie movie.
He said that he made the decision because the film promoted “homosexuality and sexual transformation”, which Mortada said “contradicts values of faith and morality” by belittling the importance of the family unit.
Algeria
Similarly, Barbie opened in some Algerian cinemas in July, but the film’s distributors have since removed the Hollywood blockbuster from their screening schedules.
According to Reuters, Algeria concluded that the Barbie movie should be banned for promoting “homosexuality and other Western deviances” which do not comply with the country’s religious and cultural beliefs.
What has Warner Bros said about the bans?
Neither Warner Bros nor any of the executives of the Barbie movie have made any official statements about the bans across these countries.
However, when director Greta Gerwig was asked about the negative reactions the movie has received from right-wing individuals during an interview with the New York Times, she responded: “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.
“I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”
