Barbie movie banned from release in two countries
Barbie has been banned from release in Lebanon and Kuwait.
The big screen version of the iconic doll was released last month globally, and has been a huge success since both critically and commercially.
However, Lebanon's culture minister Mohammad Mortada has pushed to ban the movie in the country, as they have said it promotes "homosexuality and sexual transformation" and "contradicts values of faith and morality" by diminishing the importance of the family unit.
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The country's interior minister Bassam Mawlawi has therefore asked General Security's censorship committee, which oversees censorship decisions, to give its recommendation.
Kuwait has also moved to ban Barbie alongside new horror Talk to Me, arguing the movies go against "public ethics and social traditions".
Reacting to the Lebanon ban, the executive director at non-profit civic Samir Kassir Foundation, Ayman Mhanna, criticised the decision.
"This is part of a broader campaign that is bringing together Hezbollah, the Christian far right, and other top religious leaders in a focused campaign against LGBT people," he told Reuters.
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The news comes after it was confirmed last month that Barbie won't be released in Vietnam due to the use of a map that some have claimed includes the nine-dash line, which depicts territory that China claims ownership of.
In response, Warner Bros said that the map "was not intended to make any type of statement".
"The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing," a spokesperson told Variety at the time. "The doodles depict Barbie's make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the 'real world'."
While Barbie has made $1 billion, it has emerged that a sequel isn't as likely to happen as some would have hoped, with stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and director and co-writer Greta Gerwig having no deals in place for a second movie.
Addressing a sequel previously, Gerwig said: "At this moment, it's all I've got. I feel like that at the end of every movie, like I'll never have another idea and everything I’ve ever wanted to do, I did. I wouldn't want to squash anybody else's dream, but for me, at this moment, I'm at totally zero."
Barbie is in cinemas now.
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