Angelina Jolie is speaking out about the recent ban of her new Marvel film, "Eternals," in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, over a same-sex relationship and kiss.
"I’m sad for [those countries]. And I’m proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out," Jolie the Australian news site News.com.au in a roundtable interview.
The scene in question involves Phastos, who is played by Brian Tyree Henry, sharing a kiss with his husband Ben, played by Haaz Sleiman, who was born in Dubai. It is Marvel's first on-screen same-sex kiss.
The Hollywood Reporter was among to first to break the news that listings for the film had been removed from cinema sites in those territories after Marvel declined to edit out the scenes. Homosexuality is still officially illegal across the Gulf, and often films containing anything relating to the LGBTQ community are pulled. Commenting on this, Jolie said such a strong reaction is "ignorant."
"I still don’t understand how we live in a world today where there’s still people who would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love," she continued. "How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn’t approve or appreciate it, is ignorant."
In an October interview with Variety, Sleiman, who came out as gay in 2017, said Marvel's decision to showcase a same-sex couple was "beyond a dream come true — it’s life-saving."
"I wish I had that when I was a kid to see this," he said. "My god. I wish! Can you imagine how many lives this is going to be saving — kids, young queer folk, who are being bullied, committing suicide, and not seeing themselves being represented? And now they get to see this — it’s above and beyond."
"Eternals" will still be released in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt but the version screened in those territories will have all scenes of intimacy, both heterosexual and homosexual, removed, Deadline noted.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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