“Barbie” just got kicked out of Algeria.
The billion-dollar Greta Gerwig film has been pulled from Algerian cinemas after the government’s culture ministry requested all screenings cease due to the film’s alleged promotion of gay themes.
An official source told Reuters that the film “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances” and “does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs.”
Private news site 24H Algérie first reported the ban, citing that the Algerian government told local distributor MD Ciné and cinema chains that “Barbie” was being removed for “damaging morals.”
Warner Bros. declined to comment.
The film has also been banned in Kuwait due to how it “promulgate[s] ideas and beliefs that are alien to Kuwaiti society and public order” per the BBC (via Reuters). To note, Kuwait recently barred A24 horror film “Talk to Me” from release due to non-binary star Zoe Terakes.
“Barbie” additionally has been targeted by the Lebanese Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada who asked the interior ministry to “take all necessary measures to ban” it as the film “promotes homosexuality and transsexuality [and] supports rejecting a father’s guardianship, undermines and ridicules the role of the mother, and questions the necessity of marriage and having a family.” Censors are currently reviewing “Barbie” in Lebanon and the film is not currently programmed in theaters.
Furthermore, “Barbie” did not open in Vietnam over the Barbie Land map controversy after the film’s trailer showed what was perceived to be the “nine-dash line” indicating China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea. Vietnam denies Chinese sovereignty over the disputed region.
A spokesperson for Warner Bros. said at the time that the “map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing” and is “not intended to make any type of statement” with political repercussions.
“Barbie” actress Alexandra Shipp previously told Interview magazine that she was bracing for the backlash to the film over queer themes.
“There’s the quintessential traditional Barbie and Ken hetero dynamic, but underneath that are so many bubbling, queer double entendres,” Shipp said. “It’s most certainly for everyone because there’s no scene, in my opinion, that would be inappropriate for a child to see.”
She added, “If you can’t say gay, stay the fuck out of the theater. I don’t want you coming to my movie. I can’t speak for anyone else, but as a queer woman who has queer people in her life that she loves — if I’ve had to watch a Prince Charming wake up Sleeping Beauty without consent my entire life, then I’m sure you can stand to go see a Barbie movie.”
