DOCTOR Strange may be more familiar battling sorcerers, demons from other dimensions and eldritch Gods, but his latest enemy is an Arab censor.
Saudi Arabia has asked Disney, who own Marvel Studios, to cut LGBTQ references from the new film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
What’s all the fuss about?
In the new film a lesbian character played by the actor Xochitl Gomez refers at one point to her “two moms”. The general supervisor of cinema classification in Saudi Arabia, Nawaf Alsabhan, has revealed that he asked Disney to cut the reference so the film could be shown in Saudi Arabia but Disney has refused.
Homosexuality remains a capital offence in Saudi Arabia.
What must they have made of Brokeback Mountain?
Ah, but Saudi Arabia only lifted a ban on cinemas in the kingdom as recently as 2017, one that had been in operation for decades.
But this must have happened before?
Yes, and on another Marvel movie. Last year the film The Eternals, which featured amongst its characters a gay couple, prompted a request from Saudi Arabia for cuts to be made. Disney refused and the film was not shown in the kingdom.
Is this only happening in Saudi Arabia?
No. There are reports that Kuwait and Qatar have banned the new Doctor Strange film and that the movie will not be screened in Egypt.
Other countries including Malaysia and China have also banned or censored Hollywood films that included LGBTQ content in the past.
One imagines American studios don’t want to lose the Chinese box office, though?
Indeed. It’s a billion-dollar market for Hollywood. Which may be why it sometimes trims its sails when it comes to Chinese concerns. In 2020 the free speech charity PEN America suggested American studios were self-censoring their films to placate Chinese sensibilities. Indeed, the first Doctor Strange film in 2016 was accused of “whitewashing” one of its main characters by casting Tilda Swinton in the role of the Ancient One, a character that was Tibetan in the original comic book story.
The author of the report, James Tager, said at the time: "Our biggest concern is that Hollywood is increasingly normalising pre-emptive self-censorship in anticipation of what the Beijing censor is looking for."
There is nothing new about censorship, is there?
Not at all. The story of cinema could be told through the story of cinema censors, with sex and violence being the usual reasons for censorship in the UK and the US. Films ranging from Phantom of the Opera in 1925 and Freaks in 1932 to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s notorious Salo all faced bans in the UK. Meanwhile, controversial movies as disparate as Monty Python’s Life of Brian and David Cronenberg’s Crash were barred from being shown in some cinemas on their release.
When does this Doctor Strange movie come out anyway?
It will be in UK cinemas from May 4.
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