In Lebanon, One Priest Decides What Movies You Can Watch
It seems like the never-ending, ever-escalating humiliation of Lebanese people is only becoming more absurd and stupid.
On August 7th, “Annabelle: Creation” was screened for the General Security’s Censorship Bureau. The horror movie which talks about a haunted doll, Annabelle, appeared to be too much for the military men, who felt the need to forward it to Lebanon’s equivalent of a propaganda organization: the censorship committee.
The censorship committee is a weird body, more suited for the regimes of Gaddafi, Mubarak, Sisi and Assad. On it sits representatives of several ministries, representatives of religious institutions and alleged “experts”.
When the GS censors aren’t sure what to do, they send the movie to that committee. Since August 7th, this committee hasn’t convened to watch the movie. They finally did yesterday, the night it was supposed to premiere in typical cowardly censorship fashion: waiting till the last minute, cause they’re ashamed of banning stuff.
Sources close to the matter have confirmed that the one hold out on the committee is a Lebanese Christian priest. He probably didn’t like the stuff about evil spirits and the fact nuns of an orphanage are the victims in the movie’s plot.
The final decision now rests in the hands of the Minister of Interior, Nuhad Mashnouq. Unfortunately, given how busy he is, he will probably sign off on the will of that priest, with the rest of the committee going along with this stupid and absurd ban, you know, for the whole “national unity” crap, as if a horror flic would threaten the sectarian balance in Lebanon…
This is absolutely unacceptable. Why does some priest, in an unelected position, that reeks of corruption and ineptitude, decide what you and I can watch in movie theaters? Fans of archaic censorship made a fuss about Wonderwoman and Gal Gadot. What’s their excuse now? There’s no Israelis involved in this movie. It’s just a lone priest, whose brain couldn’t process a simple movie, and decided to ban it.
Enough with this insult to our intelligence. We are adults, we pay taxes, and in a country where ministers and presidents throw you in a jail cell for a tweet or Facebook status, the very least they can do is just fuck off movies and keep themselves busy with evading taxes and wasting taxpayer money.
The pace at which we are becoming Egypt’s-Sisi-like is horrifying, and freedom and choice is under attack on every front and level. From archaic laws that OK rape if the victim is between 15 and 18, to arbitrary, illegal detention for expressing one’s opinion, and now this, banning a horror movie without any political, LGBT-related or Israel-involved message (which is the usual excuses they justify this oppression with). Inno, what the fuck is next? We crown the priests and sheikhs as god-emperors, and ask them permission to go out?
Shame on you. Let’s hope the Minister of Interior rectifies this, and makes sure this doesn’t happen again. And if you like censorship, go move to a country like Saudi or Iran, and leave us alone.
