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'Barbie' hits nerve in conservative Gulf
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Australian actress Margot Robbie meets fans during a pink carpet event to promote her new film “Barbie“ in Seoul on July 2, 2023.
(AFP/Jung Yeon-je)
After being banned in some Arab countries, the film Barbie is dividing audiences in the conservative Gulf.
In the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- which did not allow women driving or cinemas until 2018 -- fans have queued up in pink versions of the abaya, the traditional all-covering robe, to see the hit movie.
But not everyone is comfortable with the celebration of female emancipation in a region where attitudes towards women's empowerment are only slowly changing.
A doctored photo showing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed in pink robes was widely shared on social media, and a popular Bahraini preacher railed against what he regards as the film's progressive agenda.
Bahrain is one of the Gulf monarchies to show Barbie, which is banned in Kuwait and has not been released in Qatar or Oman. In the wider Middle East, it is also barred in Algeria and Lebanon.
"We never imagined that such a movie would be shown in Gulf countries," Wadima Al-Amiri, an 18-year-old Emirati, told AFP at a packed Dubai cinema offering pink popcorn to movie-goers dressed in matching colours.
Feminist film-maker Greta Gerwig's tongue-in-cheek movie contains no explicit LGBTQ references but it subtly nods at topics of diversity and inclusion, and features a trans actor.
