« BARBIE » A PROHIBITED MOVIE IN ALGERIA

Several days after Lebanon banned the movie « Barbie » in its cinemas and the country as a whole, Algeria later on followed and banned the movie after it was projected in some cinemas in the country for several weeks.

This movie was banned after the Culture Ministry instructed that cinemas should withdraw the movie as soon as possible. The reason for this was due to the fact that, the movie encouraged « Homosexuality » which did not adhere to Algeria’s Cultural and Religious beliefs.

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling who are renown in Hollywood, starred in the movie and had  iconic roles of Barbie and Ken, « Barbie » narrates the wild adventure of the nominal character in the realm of reality. The movie is a coming-of-age story based on « Barbie » a very popular children’s toy.Since its premiere on July 21, the movie has achieved remarkable success, accumulating  over $1 billion in global box-office earnings.

A private source stated that the  movie was officially prohibited for « damaging morals » especially for the fact that, after the movie was released, viewings were sold out everyday.

After the movie was released, Greta Gerwig, Director of the said movie, informed the New York Times that the movie was supposed to be ‘funny’ and that her hope for the movie, was for society to « Let go of the things that are not necessarily serving us as either women or men ».

The Ministry of Culture and Arts in the North African nation has directed theaters displaying the film to immediately extract  it from their schedules. In a statement last week, Lebanon’s Minister of Culture, Mohammad Mortada, expressed concerns that the Warner Bros. Production « promotes homosexuality and sexual transformation, » thereby conflicting with values of faith and morality.

The banning of this movie « Barbie » has occured in several countries mostly in North Africa(Algeria), Islamic countries (Lebanon), and other countries have deliberately denied releasing the movie like UAE as they said it « violates Islamic rules ».

Delia Nyadi