31-05-2017 | 06:43

Wonder Woman starring an Israeli actress faces local censorship

Wonder Woman starring an Israeli actress faces local censorship

BEIRUT: Lebanon's Ministry of Economy requested Monday a ban on a highly anticipated action movie starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who had served her mandatory two-year military service in the Jewish state before starting her acting career.

Joseph Chacra & Sons, the Lebanese company distributing the movie, said Wonder Woman has already passed all forms of complex processes and regulations regarding its distribution and screening rights. The avant-première took place in VOX cinemas and the première of the movie was still scheduled for June 1.

The Ministry of Economy, however, said it has recently noticed that the movie featured an actress known as “the beauty queen of Israel”, an expression coined by a representative of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Movement, a campaign which aims to increase economic and political pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian territories. Explaining the timing of the ban request, the ministry's general manager Alia Abbas, told Annahar Tuesday: “We noticed her Israeli ties just yesterday.”

“The ministry’s censorship request awaits the General Security’s approval as a first step,” Abbas continued; When and if the General Security approves the censorship request, a six-member committee from the Interior Ministry needs to issue recommendations for the banning process to follow.

One of the owners of Joseph Chacra & Sons, Tony Chacra says that up until now, he has not received any official censorship obligation. However, Chacra says he is expecting a call from the government soon.

"This is ridiculous and disgusting,” he said. “Banning its screening in Lebanon would hurt the country in itself: the economy, our company, and its employees," Chacra added. "We have already spent around $70,000 in advertising. And if the censorship is confirmed we are losing about half a million dollars.”

The movie has been announced three years ago, in 2014. After the first release of the promotional poster, the actress Gal Gadot, amidst the Gaza-Hamas summer conflict, shared a picture on her official Facebook post where she expressed support to the Israeli army against the “terror” of Hamas.

She captioned the photograph, which showed her praying with her daughter: "I am sending my love and prayers to my fellow Israeli citizens. Especially to all the boys and girls who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas, who are hiding like cowards behind women and children...”

The actress added hashtags emphasizing her support to the Israeli army without showing any empathy to the Palestinians over the fighting in Gaza: “#weareright #freegazafromhamas #stopterror#coexistance #loveidf”

In March 2016, the Ministry of Economy requested a ban on the screening of Batman Vs Superman- another movie where Gadot also plays Wonder Woman. The request was not approved but a month later, the Arab League issued a decision banning any movie featuring Gal Gadot, adding her name to the blacklist of entertainers that are Israeli and/or have a Zionist stance, according to Abbas.

The blogger behind A Separate State of Mind, a Lebanese website providing social commentary, criticized the controversy behind the ministry’s request to ban Wonder Woman and not the Fast & Furious 5 and 6 movies (another Gadot appearance). He points out that the Fast & Furious movies has an all-male cast and government officials were eager “to see Vin Diesel make those cars roar."

The blogger’s statement suggested a possible sexist mentality behind the censorship request: Gal Gadot has the leading role of an empowered female superhero.

Chacra pointed out that aside from her Israeli-tied background, her gender must have been another factor advocating the decision, “Unfortunately, women- even in empowering roles- are still viewed inferior to men, in Lebanon.”

The distribution company owner highlighted that the potential ban significantly hurts Lebanon’s reputation; it is the only Arab country who is considering banning the screening.

The Wonder Woman controversy stirred a social media outburst, Lebanese movie blogger Anis Tabet praised the movie and wrote “I have no words”, regarding the banning intentions. One commentator wrote: “Did they do the same with Natalie Portman movies?"

Whereas, another one wrote: “Well she supports Israel and she will support them financially with the money that's paid to see the movie. We live in Palestine and we see how guns are used and trust me they're not to protect people.”