Angelina Jolie Slams 'Ignorant' Middle Eastern Countries For Banning 'Eternals' Movie Over Portrayal Of Gay Characters
Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie is not holding back, especially regarding human rights issues that she believes in. Her recent movie with Marvel, Eternals, had been barred from several countries in the Middle East over scenes that featured gay characters.
The middle east is notoriously known for its stance against the LGBT community. In some of their countries, homosexuality is even punishable by death.
The 46-year-old Maleficent star responded to the ban, saying she couldn't comprehend how people could be "angry" and "threatened" by "the beauty of that relationship" before labeling their actions as "ignorant."
"I'm sad for [those audiences]," Angelina said during a press conference. "And I'm proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out. 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 then added, "How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn't approve or appreciate it is ignorant."
The movie features Marvel's first on-screen gay couple superhero, Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry, who lives in a home with his husband character Ben, played by Haaz Sleiman. In one of the scenes from the film, Briana and Haaz share a passionate kiss, which also marks Marvel's first same-sex kiss ever displayed in cinemas.
After learning about the characters, several countries in the Middle East had demanded the scenes be censored.
However, Disney, who owns Marvel studio, denied their request. One cinema franchise in the Gulf country later confirmed they had banned the movie without explanation.
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Although Eternals isn't the first movie to have experienced such discrimination, the Pixar film, Onward was also barred last year from cinemas in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia over a line that mentioned a lesbian relationship.
Eternals is a film based on a fictional race of humanoid aliens who are immortal and just came out of hiding for the first time in thousands of years to protect the earth from their enemy, the Deviants.
The movie premiered in Los Angeles earlier this month and was directed and co-written by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao who won Best Director and Best picture for Nomadland in 2020.
Jolie with her children at Eternals premiere