Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Malaysia bars film for its ‘gay moment’
‘Beauty and the Beast’ opens to controversy
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia stood by its decision to bar Beauty and the Beast from cinemas without a “gay moment” being cut as the worldwide rollout of the movie began yesterday.
Starring Emma Watson as young Belle who falls in love with the Beast, the film features a gay character for the first time in Disney’s history.
It refused to make the cut and pulled the film from cinemas across the Muslim-majority country where homosexuality is discouraged by religious leaders.
“The film has not been and will not be cut for Malaysia,” Disney said in a statement.
Asked if Malaysia would change its mind on its demand for the cut, Censorship Board chairman Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid said: “Still the same decision.”
He said local distributors had asked for a review of the decision. The board is expected to meet on Tuesday.
The film opened in neighbouring Singapore yesterday with a “parental guidance” rating. The world rollout happens over the next few days.
Last year, Singapore organisers of the musical Les Miserables cut a scene in which two male actors kissed so the show could retain a “general” rating and reach a wider audience.
The communications office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore warned viewers about Beauty and the Beast content.
“With extensive media reports of the purported ‘gay moment’ in this movie, we believe parents must discern and reflect with their children on whether the lifestyle portrayed is consonant with the teaching of Christ,” it said.
In next- door Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, the movie opens today with a 13+ classification and no cuts.
Some Islamic groups in Indonesia have launched protests targeting Western entertainment in the past, leading to the cancellation, for instance, of a performance by pop star Lady Gaga in 2012.
The movie opens in China and India today. In India, it has been given a U/A rating which means unrestricted public showing but with guidance for children under 12.
The gay character in the live-action remake of the 1991 animated version has sparked calls among some ultra-conservative groups around the world for a boycott.
A US evangelist preacher said last week the film was trying to promote an lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender agenda to children.
Lyle Shelton, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, said he was concerned by reports of “sex- ualised content” in the movie but he wouldn’t start a public campaign against it. “There are a lot of battles. This is just one of many things in our culture which ignores the innocence of children.”
Malaysia blocked the release of movies deemed religiously insensitive, such as 1998’s The Prince of Egypt, which depicted the biblical story of Moses, and 1995’s Babe, which featured a pig. Muslims consider pigs unclean. – Reuters