The ban on the Disney live-action film, Beauty and The Beast has been lifted in Malaysia. The movie has also been approved without any cuts. According to a report in The Star, the movie has been cleared with a PG13 rating and is expected to release on 30 March.
An anonymous Government official attributed the sudden reversal in the Board’s policy to a revision committee that found the gay scene ‘inoffensive’.
The controversy over the film began when the director of the Emma Watson-Dan Stevens starrer said that the character Lefou in the movie would have a “nice exclusively gay moment” in the film.
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The chairman of the Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF), Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid said that the gay moment featured actor Josh Gad’s character “lifting his shirt and showing a love bite in his stomach.” The board voted to cut the scene due to Malaysian laws condemning homosexuality.
Disney responded by stating that “the film has not been and will not be cut for Malaysia.” Following this, the film was indefinitely postponed.
Malaysia is not the only country where Beauty And The Beast is facing resistance. The film was pulled from theaters in Kuwait on Monday by censors concerned over some of the film’s content.
Picture Courtesy: Pop Sugar