Minister of Culture Pushes To Ban Barbie In Lebanon

According to reports, caretaker Minister of Culture Mohamad Mortada is pushing to ban the release of Barbie in Lebanon. Mortada is going to send requests to the Ministry of Interior, General Security, and Lebanon’s public prosecutor to ban the movie after he received reports that it “promotes ways of life that are in violation of religion and morals.”

وزير الثقافة سيطلب منع عرض فيلم "باربي" في لبنان (الجمهورية) https://t.co/k6UZokIxWa via @LbciLebanon

— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) August 9, 2023

The movie, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has grossed over $1 billion worldwide, with international audiences clamouring to watch Greta Garwig’s pink sensation. The release date in the Middle East had been initially pushed back to August 31, but is now set to come out in countries such as the United Arab Emirates on August 10th.

The move to ban Barbie come amidst an anti-LGBTQ and anti-feminist push in Lebanon, with a moral panic arising against a wide variety of films, stores, and personalities in the country. The funny thing is, Barbie did not seem to have pushed the enevelope very hard on any of the “moral violations” Mortada cites.

If it was to be banned, Barbie would join a list of 7 movies banned in Lebanon in the last 2 years, the latest being Spiderman: Across The Spider-Verse (2023). First, they robbed of us Barbenheimer, then they delayed Barbie till after all the hype and fun died down, and now they wanna ban it? This has to stop.

Unfortunately, we have been anticipating Barbie‘s potential ban. So if you want to have a DIY Barbie experience, we have some suggestions.

4 Lebanese Alternatives To The Barbie Movie

6 Pink Places In Lebanon To Live Out Your Barbie Fantasy