A Saudi official told AFP on Monday that the Saudi authorities had asked Disney to remove a “gay reference” from the latest Marvel movie to allow it to be shown in cinemas in the kingdom.
The movie, which the Kingdom requires to delete this reference, is “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, and it is expected to start showing in theaters in early May.
The general supervisor of the Film Classification Department at the General Authority for Audio-Visual Media in Saudi Arabia, Nawaf Al-Sabhan, told AFP that the scene to be removed was “barely 12 seconds long”.
He explained that in this scene, “America Chavez”, the gay superhero, talks regarding her “mothers.”
He added, “It’s a reference to the gay community. She talks regarding her mothers because she has two mothers, and in the Middle East it is very difficult to let such a thing pass.”
Al-Sabhan pointed out that Disney, the giant American company in the field of entertainment, has so far responded to the Saudi request by saying that it “does not want” to delete the aforementioned scene.
The Saudi official asserted, “There is no reason to ban the film. It is just a modification… So far they have refused, but we have not closed the door. We will continue to try.”
Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Saudi law.
Although the ultra-conservative kingdom has launched extensive social reforms in recent years, it still applies Islamic law.
Prompted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Gulf kingdom has opened up to the world of entertainment and hosted major global events, but the political and social restrictions in it are still very strong.
In 2017, the Saudi authorities lifted the decades-old ban on cinemas.
This is not the first Marvel movie from which the censorship authorities in the Kingdom have requested the removal of scenes.
According to the specialized American newspaper, “The Hollywood Reporter,” the movie “Eternals”, which tells the story of a gay couple, was in turn the focus of amendment requests submitted to Disney by several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.
But Disney refused these requests and the film was not eventually shown in the kingdom.
