oppenheimer and barbie have been huge hits in north america and europe. in fact, one hollywood studio executive boasted — perhaps a little arrogantly — that with barbie, the film has been working well everywhere. well, not quite because in some parts of the world, both barbie and oppenheimer have met with quite a lot of resistance, as noah gittell has been finding out. barbie has garnered significant controversy in the middle east, where its feminist and lgbt themes have made it a target of government censors. the film has been pulled from cinemas in algeria and banned outright in kuwait after playing there for a month. in lebanon, the minister of culture recommended a ban of barbie, claiming it promotes homosexuality and sexual transformation — a reference to a barbie character in the film played by trans actor hari nef. at the end of the day, we're all barbie. some endorse the minister's recommendation. they feel that barbie could have a negative influence