Barbie It may be the premiere of the year in the world, but for the moment it will not arrive in Russia. For a year and a half, Hollywood companies have left the Russian market, and the bulk of new films have officially disappeared from the country’s theaters. Some theaters have begun to show pirated versions without the permission of the copyright holders, taking advantage of the fact that films in Russian are being released in other countries such as Kazakhstan and Georgia. According to various media, in the case of Barbie even the pirated copies have come to a screeching halt, to the misfortune of many fans and the delight of some hard-liners of Putinism.
The deputy of the Duma state (lower house of Parliament) Vitaly Milonov has proclaimed the “toxicity” of Barbie. In his opinion, Russian culture is rich in characters worthy of further attention.
It’s been a long time since Barbie It is among the obsessions of Milonov, known for his ultra-conservative crusades. ruling party legislator United Russia, has earned a reputation as a moral hawk for his anti-gay rhetoric. His historical contribution to Russian legislation is the law that he prohibits in Russia the «propaganda gay», in practice vetoing any content about this group. During his time as a politician in St. Petersburg He was famous for organizing raids on nightclubs, although he always played it down: “I can’t close a single fag club.”
“Russia is a traditional country and it is a democratic right of society to choose its laws, and we chose a law that does not allow spreading propaganda about non-traditional family lifestyles,” Milonov explained in an interview with EL MUNDO in 2017. His was the idea of banning Beauty and the Beast because it has a gay character who violated their law against the propaganda of homosexuality. Ultimately, the children’s film received a 16+ rating.
Milonov – who sometimes wears a T-shirt reading “Orthodoxy or death!” – thinks that Barbie has little to do in Russia. “She’s a girl pin-up Quite a particular American, somewhat silly for the Russian tradition, not like the boys and girls who are considered good in our country”.