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Barbie, the most anticipated movie of the year, was finally released in Lebanese cinemas on Thursday after ongoing postponement. Moviegoers of all ages have gathered to watch Barbie. Many of them, men, women and children, have chosen to wear pink, the iconic color of the famous doll.
The movie has sparked controversy in the country after the Caretaker Minister of Culture, Mohammad Mortada, demanded the General Security to ban its screening in Lebanon. According to him, the movie was “contradicting well-established moral and religious values in Lebanon through the promotion of homosexuality and sex change.”
The General Security had since approved of the screening, as they found no evidence to justify the ban.
Despite their approval, Barbie was still postponed three times from its original box office release on July 21st.
However, amid the controversy, numerous people have still gathered to watch Barbie in cinemas.
In Cinemacity, Jamie, a six-year-old girl, is seen playing with her Barbie dolls as she waits in anticipation to watch her favorite character. This is Beirut talked to each of her parents.
Jamie’s dad thinks it’s pointless to prevent his daughter from watching the iconic doll. “I heard about the controversy, and I consider it wrong for my daughter not to watch this movie. In the end, it’s just about a doll,” he said.
“My daughter has a collection of Barbies and she has always idolized her. Barbie is a good influence on my daughter. I want her to grow up to be a strong woman like her,” he added.
Jamie’s mom believes that featuring the LGBTQI+ community in movies will make her daughter more inclusive and accepting of them in the future.
“My daughter has to be conscious of the gay community since she will have to coexist with them in her everyday life,” she noted.
In addition, she also considers Barbie to be a positive influence on her daughter. “Barbie influenced me as a child and continues to influence the new generation, including my daughter. Promoting feminism through Barbie makes her an even better influence,” she emphasized.
The only movies she believes would negatively influence her daughter are those that feature violence. “Children are very much influenced by violent movies. They should focus on violent movies, not on dolls,” she affirmed, indirectly deconstructing Mortada’s arguments to ban Barbie.
Furthermore, the movie, deemed by Mortada as “anti-patriarchal” and “dismissing the father’s guardianship over his household” has attracted several male viewers.
A 35-year-old woman commented that her husband was interested in watching Barbie with her. “My husband was the one who suggested watching the movie and bought the tickets himself. We like to keep an open mind and not care too much about the repressive comments of politicians.”
Antoun, a 25-year-old, wants to watch Barbie because it was “critically acclaimed worldwide.” He also believes that banning a movie makes people want to watch it even more. “I was even more intrigued to watch Barbie after the minister of culture demanded to ban it,” he said.
In addition, Antoun doesn’t quite favor the concept of movie banning. “I believe that no movie should be banned because people have the right to be exposed to whatever they want. If they don’t like the content of the movie, they simply shouldn’t watch it.”
For her part, Regina, 27, believes that banning Barbie is harming Lebanon on a global scale. She thinks that “it’s good to keep up with trends and not be isolated from the world because of politicians who want to force this opinion on us.”
In addition, she thinks that banning movies featuring transsexuals sets dangerous precedents. “We live in a time when almost every movie features transsexuals. The Barbie movie does not promote transsexual values, it only contains a transsexual actor playing a Barbie,” noted the young lady.
This year, two movies have been banned in Lebanon for featuring members or references to the LGBTQI+ community. In a time when this community is being more included in the media and entertainment, detaching them from the public eye has been increasingly difficult, and even pointless.
