Having recently joined the billion-dollar club, the Barbie movie has gained a lot of popularity and varying views from critics which have all contributed to its tremendous rise in the cinematic world though the same can’t be said for all the regions of the world.
Aside from the harsh critics and some viewers referring to the movie as total trash, it has now gained another hater on its list with Algeria coming in strong to completely ban the movie across all cinemas in the country just three weeks after its release.
According to Algeria, the movie contradicts and goes against the religious and cultural beliefs of the nation and promotes homosexuality. The culture ministry asked all cinemas within the country to withdraw the Hollywood blockbuster immediately.
Sources state that the main reason behind the ban is that the Barbie movie openly promoted homosexuality, which does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs, an official source told the Reuters news agency.
Cities across Algeria such as Algiers, Oran and Constantine have been facing high numbers of people coming to the cinemas to catch up on the latest but right now, they stand to lose out on some of the cash after an order came through from the cultural ministry asking them to ban the Barbie movie which displays “damaging morals”.
Aside from Algeria, Kuwait also banned the movie from its cinemas stating that it went against the social values of its country and did so to protect public ethics. The movie which stars Hollywood A-listers such as Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is a coming-of-age story based on the children’s toy, where Barbie journeys to the real world and explores her identity.
Director Greta Gerwig told the New York Times during the film’s release that she hoped the movie would be a “funny” experience for the audience and thought that society would “let go of the things that aren’t necessary serving us as either women or men”.
When it comes to reviews, the movie has had its fair share of critics coming to speak their minds. According to Empire, Barbie was “painfully funny”, while the Independent described it as “joyous from minute to minute”. The Daily Mail called it “uneven and disjointed”, while Time said it was “very pretty but not very deep”.
However, the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine wasn’t so pleased with the movie and gave her honest opinion about it in which she wrote: “It’s a deeply anti-man movie, an extension of all that TikTok feminism that paints any form of masculinity – other than the most anodyne – as toxic and predatory.
“Every male character is either an idiot, a bigot or a sad, rather pathetic loser. If the roles were reversed, and a male director made a film about how all women were hysterical, neurotic, gold-digging witches, it would be denounced – quite rightly – as deeply offensive and sexist.”
The movie has however received a warmer reception from other countries like UK and Spain, with leaders such as the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Spanish royal family heading to the cinema to catch the film. Since its release, Barbie has grossed more than $1bn worldwide.
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