Kendall’s Visual Literacy Blog

I recently wrote my final presentation on the censorship of the Disney film, Aladdin , but I wanted to explore the censorship of another Disney film, Beauty and the Beast . The entire film was banned in multiple countries including Russia, Kuwait, Malaysia, and even in the United States in Alabama. The reason for the film getting banned in these countires was because one of the side characters, Lefou, was seen dancing with a man for a few seconds at the end of the film. This blows my mind because it is not something that is sexualized in the slightest, and created so much controversy in some areas that it was banned completely. It is upsetting to see something like this happen as late as 2019. 

The Hunger Games trilogy was world renowned and came to a grand end with the fourth and final film "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2" in 2015. However, while America and many countries were enjoying the film's epic conclusion, those living in China and Thailand were not. The film was banned from being viewed by citizens in the two countries. It is interesting to me because censorship was so common many years ago, but it is not as common today. So to see a movie that I enjoyed so much being banned because it has themes of rebellion and a nation starting an uprising against their government is interesting. Although the characters are fictional and the setting and technology is futuristic and unrealistic, the idea the movie is portraying is real and is seen as a threat but some governments due to the influence it can have on viewers. People were inspired by the young rebel in the story, Katniss Everdeen, and acted out against their governments in similar ways the characte...