Barbie: Women, Threats, and Paris Film Cancellations

A Noisy-le-Sec, In the Paris banlieue, the outdoor screening of the film Barbie scheduled for last August 8 was annullage after a group of young people threatened the municipal agents and those present. The mayor of the left Olivier Sarrabeyrouse explained that the decision was made to protect safety, denouncing an “extreme minority of criminals” moved by “fallacious topics, obscurantism and fundamentalism exploited for political purposes”. The event, part of the summer programming of the Municipality and chosen by the inhabitants of the Londeau district, should have been a moment of sociality and cohesion, reads Le Figaro.

According to the first citizen, Some present had accused the film of “harming the integrity of women” and of “highlighting stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual characters”rejecting the feminist themes. Threats – “We will prevent the projection and destroy the equipment” – made the situation “aggressive” and pushed to the cancellation of the evening. The story triggered political controversy: from the right, criticism for an alleged yield to the “Islamist fundamentalists”; While from the left, the deputy Aurélie Trouvé expressed support for the mayor. The Minister of Culture Rachida Data spoke of “serious violation” of artistic freedom and announced a complaint.

Also The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau sentenced the pressuresdeclaring that “in France there is the police of costumes and virtues” and calling “unacceptable” the transfer to community claims. Sarrabeyrouse confirmed that he had filed a complaint and reiterated that “at Noisy-le-sec there are no areas of non-cultural non-pit”. The Bobigny prosecutor has opened an investigation for threats, violence or intimidation acts.