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With positive review after positive review, it seems like the excitement for Wonder Woman increases each day…except for the people of Lebanon.
A boycott group, Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon, has campaigned against showing Wonder Woman in Lebanon because the actor who plays the title character (Gal Gadot) is Israeli and supports Israel’s military policies after being a soldier in the army herself, which is mandatory in her country. For those of you who don’t know, Israel and Lebanon are currently at war and have been on and off for years, while opposing each other for decades as Lebanon has a law boycotting Israeli products and banning Lebanese citizens from contacting Israelis. Because of these ties, many people in Lebanon don’t support a movie in which the leading lady is from Israel.
Even though a formal request hasn’t been received yet, Lebanon’s ministry is asking the country’s security agency to ban the film, which would require a recommendation from a six member ministry committee. Also, posters for Wonder Woman have been seen in Beirut, the largest city in Lebanon, and an advanced screening for the movie is still scheduled this Wednesday as well as it opening Thursday to most theaters. Because of this it is unlikely that the boycott will actually happen, but there are still a great many people in the country who probably won’t see the movie because of this.
Hopefully they will set their political opinions aside to appreciate the film for what it is without taking Gal Gadot’s heritage into consideration, especially since it is lined up to be a WONDERful movie with a tomatometer score of 97%.
Source: Associated Press, Rotten Tomatoes
By: Danielle Gonzalez
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