After almost an entire month in theatres, the government of Algeria has decided that it will no longer show Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film. The decision was made after the country’s Ministry of Culture and the Arts instructed cinemas in the cities of Algiers, Constantine and Oran to “immediately” remove the film from their listings.

The news will come as quite a blow to the Algerian public, with the news website 24H ​​Algérie reporting that “since its release in Algeria on July 19, 2023, Barbie has sold out every day”. Despite this, MD Ciné, Barbie’s distributor in Algeria, has also received the request for the film’s removal.

The privately owned 24H ​​Algérie, who initially reported the story, went on to say that the official reason for banning the film was because it was “damaging morals” in the country. However, an ‘official source’ also told Reuters that the film “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances” and “does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs”.

Before its release, there was a lot of speculation about the film’s queer-coded leanings. Many thought a lesbian Barbie might become canon, while Ken’s much-discussed fruitiness was also up for debate. But in the end, aside from a few gay glances and a busted Birkenstock, the film that materialised did not depict any overt homosexual relationships, which is what makes the Algerian government’s decision feel even more confusing.

The Muslim-majority country is following in the footsteps of other nations in the region, as criticism of the film’s social values spread through the Arab world. Last week, Kuwait’s government banned the film as a matter of “public ethics”, with a spokesman from the Ministry of Information saying that the film promotes “ideas and beliefs that are alien to Kuwaiti society and public order”.

Pressure to ban Barbie has also mounted from within the Lebanese government too, with their culture minister Mohammad Mortada requesting the interior ministry “take all necessary measures” to stop the film being shown. Mortada went on to say that the film “promotes homosexuality and transsexuality… supports rejecting a father’s guardianship, undermines and ridicules the role of the mother, and questions the necessity of marriage and having a family”. Sounds great tbh!

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