Barbie Banned in Algeria for Promoting Homosexuality

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“Barbie” has been banned in Algeria in its third week of release in the country, according to Reuters.

In a statement to the news site, an unnamed official source said that the film “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances” and “does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs.”

The news was first reported by local site 24H Algerie on Monday, which wrote that the North African country’s Ministry of Culture and Arts had asked theaters showing the film to immediately remove it from their schedules. According to 24H Algerie, “Barbie” was banned for “damaging morals.”

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Lebanon and Kuwait also recently moved to ban the fantasy comedy, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Last week, Lebanon’s culture minister Mohammad Mortada said that the Warner Bros. film was found to “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation” and “contradicts values of faith and morality.”

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“The film goes against moral and religious values in Lebanon, as it encourages perversity and gender transformation while calling for the rejection of patriarchy and ridiculizing the role of mothers,” Mortada said. He then asked the country’s censorship committee to review the film and provide a recommendation. As of Aug. 9, Kuwait had already banned the film.

Meanwhile, though it had been previously reported that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were considering a “Barbie” ban, the film released in both countries on Thursday. The movie made $1.9 million in each country in its first weekend of release.

“Barbie” has crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide, making director Greta Gerwig the first solo female director to achieve the box office milestone. In its fourth weekend of release in many countries, “Barbie” has made a total of $660.6 million overseas to date.

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