Lebanon, Kuwait Poised to Ban ‘Barbie’ for Promoting Homosexuality
Lebanon, Kuwait Poised to Ban ‘Barbie’ for Promoting Homosexuality
Lebanon, once thought of as among the most liberal parts of the Middle East, is poised to ban global hit movie “Barbie.” More conservative Kuwait said Wednesday that it had gone ahead with a ban du…
Lebanon, once thought of as among the most liberal parts of the Middle East, is poised to ban global hit movie “Barbie.” More conservative Kuwait said Wednesday that it had gone ahead with a ban due to its promotion of homosexuality.
It's disgusting that homosexuality is seen as such an abhorrent thing in this day and age. Are all humans not capable of love? If the answer is a resounding yes, then why are we stopping consenting adults from expressing this? Because of some archaic scripture from thousands of years ago? Excuse my French here, Lebanon, but kindly get to fuck.
This is exactly why the separation of church and state is supposed to exist in democracies. The zealots will continue to take away your rights until morale improves.
So what? should you bring your "democracy" over there? It happens in Kuweit (8000km away) for a stupid american movie.
I am rather shocked by the amount of money this dump made, it gives quite an indication on the level of maturity of this f'd up society.
Yes I know, i'm uncool
As a gay man, these are my thoughts every single day. Do I not deserve love? Is some old book really more important than what's happening now? I just don't get it.
Even if it was the case, what's wrong about homosexuality? Who the fuck cares who fuck who? We have one life. Let people live like they fucking want. End of the story, end of the argument. If there's a god, let that god be the judge of it. The rest is none of your god damn business
These people are happy when they make other people miserable. That’s all it ever was.
This is actually a good argument for these cultists. Are you playing god now? Let him punish these evil people minding their own business
As a Muslim I can understand arguments stemming from liberalism, but this one makes no sense. Islam is pretty clear about what should be done with known homosexuals, and leaving them alone isn't it. Again, I can understand not agreeing with the principle from the start, but the "let God deal with it" is illogical.
Religion was, and still is, about power and control over others. Observant people in the past noticed that homosexuals didn't produce as many (if any) children compared to others. Less children means less bodies for your army. A smaller army means less power. Less power means less control. Therefore religions focused on power and control hate homosexuals.
It’s the new crusades- they can’t kill you, but they can make sure you can’t do anything they don’t like because of their religion, even if it kills you.
Maybe I'm desensitized, but I honestly don't remember any gay moments in this movie. There are obviously plenty of guys wearing really "flamboyant" outfits, but it was contrasted with their toxic masculinity (i.e. behavior mostly associated with the types of people who actually tend to be homophobic), which is what made it so goddamn funny.
And I also have no idea what they're talking about with promoting body transformation. Unless you know going in that the one actress is trans, you might not even guess she is. The main joke that even references genitalia is making fun of the fact that the Barbie and Ken dolls have nothing there...
And all this is beside the point anyway. Modern societies shouldn't be catering to the precious feefees of religious/conservative snowflakes. They can just choose not to see this movie instead of ruining it for everyone.
I think the argument is that allowing women agency and asking men to define themselves through something other than their relationship with women is gay. So basically, violating patriarchy is gay.
It’s a pretty stupid definition.
I also have no idea what they’re talking about with promoting body transformation
Well, there is the
spoiler
last line in the movie
They'd hate Pinocchio in that case
I saw it in the trailer too but just in case, upcoming spoiler: maybe the whole beaching each other off scene? I can't think of any others besides that, which if it is the one, then that's kind of funny in a ridiculous way.
Good point, but I feel like they could probably just translate that scene without having the innuendo (like the direct translation for "beach off" probably doesn't sound anything like the translation of "beat off", so it would become more of a whimsical non sequitur directly translated).
I think there's a fair amount in this movie that doesn't really translate well outside American/Western culture anyway. For me, that scene was funny because it's repeating a pun that points to the Ken characters' innocence when in the real world, they'd be mocked mercilessly by some people. And it forces the audience to think about their own reactions when insecure straight men sometimes follow sentences like that jokingly with, "no homo," to point out that, despite unintentionally saying something that sounded kind of gay, they are not in fact gay. At any rate, I don't see this scene as an endorsement of homosexuality, but rather a commentary on society's fixation on hypermasculine language.
I have seen the movie, and I am still wondering where it is supposed to promote homosexuality. Neither Barbie nor Ken give any such vibes. Only thing Ken seems to suffer is a permanent case of blue balls, even if he lacks the equipment...
You're assuming that they're honest about their reasons, which is not the case.
The main message of the film (besides being a 2h ad for Mattel) is gender equality and female empowerment.
This threatens these people more than homosexuality, but I imagine even for them saying "we don't want our women to even imagine a world where they're not subservient to men" would be a tough sell.
Far fewer people are willing to stand up to defend the LGBT community so they're a convenient scapegoat ('conservatives' will always find a group small enough to target in order to push their unpopular policies, it just works).
Todd bless
This is a very good point, thanks for bringing it up.
The beach you off joke between the Ken's could be construed as gay
That would need quite some construction.
Lmao, permanent case of blue ball is an accurate description I've never thought of
Religion is a cancer on this world.
The planet is on fucking fire and we are all heading towards the next planetary extinction event, but alah forgive we have a single homosexual reference in a fucking movie.
There isn’t even any explicit reference to homosexuality in the movie, anyway.
Lmao. Just goes to show that even the most "liberal" part of the Middle East is still a shithole country.
Lebanon is not liberal, their homosexuality law is still on the books and 80% of the country is opposed to normalizing homosexuality.
Whatever. I’m sure Mattel is crying on the 1billion dollars the movie made.
I don't think the news story is that Mattel is losing a little money from a small market. I think the news story is the oppression
Of course. People who want to see it will see it, even if it means piracy. And that’s why piracy is inherently good and it won’t damage the company much so it doesn’t really matter.
I'm confused. Who in Barbie is gay? Kens whole thing is he's utterly obsessed with her...
I’m guessing that it’s due to general flamboyance? Ken saying he’s going to “beach off” the other Ken and wearing pink may have triggered their 4th grade cooties sensor.
Yeah honestly as a gay woman myself I thought there wasn't enough LGBT representation. Apparently there are two barbies who kiss on a couch at one point but it was so quick I didn't see it, my friend had to tell me about it. There really wasn't a lot of any sort of sexuality in the movie. Which makes sense, they don't have genitalia.
Translation: Ken makes me feel funny "down there" and I don't like it.
Religion ruins everything.
abrahamic faiths fucking suck
I mean lebanon is slowly becoming more progressive if it wasn't for it's government that is corrupt as hell. Though many smart lebanese just leave for western nations because the standard of living is higher even if your broke.
Lebanon is a corrupt nation, $70 billion in funds robbed from citizens' accounts, just toady, U.S. Treasury sanctions imposed on the bank governor, Riad Corrupt Salameh, and a privileged corrupt class that appears more inclined to witness the nation's devastation than to accept responsibility. A significant portion of the population grapples with poverty, struggling to afford even basic sustenance, let alone the luxury of viewing films prohibited by a corrupt Lebanese government. Conversely, Kuwait possesses the world's most valuable currency and boasts a substantial sovereign wealth fund approaching the trillion-dollar mark. With unparalleled purchasing prowess, they could outmatch Warner Bros. effortlessly should they choose to do so.
I mean Florida probably isn't far behind....
"Following Sunday prayers, Sheikh Ron al Dee'santiz issued a fatwah against the Barbie Movie, decrying it as 'against the law of Abraham' and 'promoting deviant Western concepts around women, homosexuality and the place of Yahweh in our lives.'"
Florida, the middle east of the US (?)
A lot of country looks beautiful to visit, especially in middle-east, but governed by fascists or homophobes or whatever, it's sad :-(
Funny, I was just listening to the album this morning and was chuckling at the lyrics to one of the songs, which explicitly state no homo bro.
