Kuwait barred the hit film ‘Barbie’ from cinemas over concerns about “public ethics”, officials said, also confirming a ban on a horror movie featuring a transgender actor. ‘Barbie’ and ‘Talk to Me’ both “promulgate ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order”, Lafy Al-Subei’e, head of Kuwait’s cinema censorship committee, told the official KUNA news agency.
While deciding on any foreign movie, the committee usually orders “censoring of the scenes that run counter to public ethics. But (if) a film carries alien concepts, message or unacceptable behaviour, the committee decides to bar the stuff in question as a whole,” he said.
However, “Barbie”, which has taken more than $1 billion worldwide, is being shown in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
Gulf Arab states including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – all of which outlaw homosexuality – routinely censor films that contain LGBTQ references.