Theaters in Qatar have said they have no plans to screen a new blockbuster Hollywood film about the prophet Moses and Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses.
The movie, “Exodus: God and Kings,” which stars Christian Bale and Sir Ben Kingsley, has already been banned in Morocco, Egypt (where the movie is set) and the UAE.
This week, the UAE’s director of Media Content Tracking at the National Media Council said that the film contained “many mistakes not only about Islam but other religions too,” Gulf News reports.
For its part, Egypt took issue with how Jews were portrayed in the movie, among other things. Citing a statement from the Egyptian Culture Ministry, AP reports:
“Censors objected to the ‘intentional gross historical fallacies that offend Egypt and its pharaonic ancient history in yet another attempt to Judaize Egyptian civilization, which confirms the international Zionist fingerprints all over the film.’
The ministry said the movie inaccurately depicts ancient Egyptians as ‘savages’ who kill and hang Jews, arguing that hanging did not exist in ancient Egypt. It said the film also presents a ‘racist’ depiction of Jews as a people who mounted an armed rebellion. The ministry said religious scriptures present Jews as weak and oppressed.”
Speaking to Doha News, a representative of Qatar Cinema Co., which shows movies at Landmark Mall, Royal Plaza and “Al Mall” said the movie has also been banned here, but she was unsure why.
An employee of Novo Cinemas at the Pearl-Qatar also told Doha News that the theater would not be screening the film, but added that no reason has been provided so far for the ban.
The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Biblical movies are particularly sensitive here and in other conservative Muslim countries, due to the Islamic objection of portraying prophets onscreen.
What’s allowed?
Still, Qatar has had a mixed record in this regard.
In March, it decided not to screen Noah, saying the movie contradicts “the teachings of Islam,” according to Paramount Pictures.
That film told the story of the great flood from the Book of Genesis, in which Noah builds an ark to save his family and thousands of animals from the waters. Noah is revered as a prophet by Muslims, Christians and Jews.
However, Qatar did show “The Passion of the Christ” about Jesus in 2004.
And in 2012, many viewers in Qatar tuned into the MBC Group’s “Omar,” a controversial TV series starring the second caliph after the Prophet Muhammad.
Exodus reception
Since its release on Dec. 12, the nearly 2.5 hour-long Exodus has had a tepid reception in the box office, garnering a 39 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and 52 percent rating on Metacritic.
Reviewer Marc Mohan of the Portland Oregonian writes:
“As an action spectacular, Exodus is on par with (Ridley) Scott’s other forays into ancient times, ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ But as a believable human drama, much less a worthy exploration of Judaism’s origins, it falls flat.”
The movie has also faced criticism for casting white actors to play Egyptian characters.
Here’s the trailer for Exodus.
Did you want to see it? Thoughts?
Let the pooh fight begin …
Winie the Pooh?
It’s an ode to Judaism. I’m not watching this movie (and I’m not even Muslim).
You have something against jews? Pretty ignorant statement
Stop using your iPhone or the computer to post here. Without the Jew A. Einstein and his theories they wouldn’t even exist. But I guess you are hypocrite enough to ignore the facts.
Haha and how I laughed when Egypt banned it over historical inaccuracies….. It never happened, so that position is just absurd.
What next, Shrek being banned because it’s not based on facts. Don’t people in this region have more things to worry about than some film. Plenty of real life murder in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to please the righteous.
OMG… dont you have anything better to do with your life other than criticize, u dont come into someones house and dictate how the decor should be, learn some manners. if someone goes and spreads false rumors about u, am sure u wont be happy. so we defend when our religion is being taught or portrayed in a wrong way. but i guess u wont know anything about this hence u have no principals or values what so ever.
I am not criticising, just stating the facts. If that contradicts with your beliefs that is your problem not mine. Just because you will accept certain things without a shred of evidence doesn’t mean others with a more critical mind will sit quietly by just so you are not offended over your stories.
You have the right to be offended, you do not have the right to never be offended.
AHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!! That’s when I want to see it and I will. Nobody can tell me what to see and what not to see. As usual a lot of fuss for FEARS.
I am not Muslim, I am not Jewish but as usual I think censorship is stupid. Basically you let others thinking for you: brain is for free, does not cost, use it!
You don’t agree? Don’t see it.
You want to check that it is actually wrong? See it and then criticize it.
You just want to see it? Watch it
Very immature comment, stay classy…
I don’t see how his or her comment is immature, he wants to decide for himself which is the right of every human. Having a government, religious leader or other tell you what you can and can’t watch is very immature.
Based on what the comment is immature?
and what did I say that it is not classy? I think my comment was quite coherent…
Censorship is necessary. There are too many here who have no brain.
you made me smile, however even if I would tell you yes you’re right, still censorship is wrong.
This is like painting.
How can you say you don’t like a painter if you didn’t go to an exhibition? I can’t stand some kind of modern art and especially when back home one of my best friends who loves it invites me to go and visit artists that I am not convinced about; but she is. I do go. And then at the end of exhibition I kill the artists with my words. And then I know why I don’t like it.
I don’t see art in Damien Hirst when I see the Moises of Michelangelo in its perfection. Or as famous as Munch can be with The Scream I find it horrible, compaired to the poetry of The Kiss of Gustav Klimt.
Then I got to know Mondrian (by going to an exhibition) and I found it interesting, still not my favorite, but I have acknowledged a lot.
Censorship does not let your brain think and stand strong for your real ideas!!!
I agree, Censorship is stupid and people should dictate what or what not to watch.
I am the my best censor! Did you mean people “should not” dictate…?
I said people should dictate what they want to watch
collectively? It would turn into another kind of censorship…. back to the start
Oh my god. People as in you and me, Should dictate what WE ourselves want to watch -____-
naahh, I don’t like to dictate!
Live an let live
-_- It means choosing for yourself, Just like you said you are your best censor .. Nevermind.
ah ok sorry! Sometimes I get lost in translations, after all this webpage is quite a good potpourri of languages….
I’m surprised you can get away with a comment like this… Aren’t you an instructor at triolearn center… I hope not.. Cause it’ll be a shame to have folks like you and Max as actual educators
I am not affiliated with any educational institution, and I bet A_qtr isn’t your real name either.
Mine isn’t off course but there is a guy who had the same exact name as yours working in Doha … Coincidence .. Maybe
LoveItOrLeaveIt! how are you clueless?!! lol
we miss your nonsense in here lmao… welcome back
Disgusting old creep comes into our country calls our people brainless, Criticizes/mocks qatar in almost every article, You’re supposed to be an instructor? haha what a shame
Not only the people he trains are employees of diwan and other govt offices in Doha… I remember sending folks to his training center located in mir5ya
thank you. the first correct thing i read on this post so far,
“Censors objected to the ‘intentional gross historical fallacies that offend Egypt and its pharaonic ancient history in yet another attempt to Judaize
Egyptian civilization, which confirms the international Zionist fingerprints all over the film.’
Yeah those Islam loving pharoahs undermined by a Zionist plot….hang on wait a minute…..
I think you will have to “censor” your tongue or rather your hands… before someone else sensor you on the whole from here…. Qatar is not showing it because it doesn’t adhere to its ethics…. they didn’t put up a law saying “NO ONE SHALL WATCH THIS ” and blah…. they just did their part….. now you wanna watch means go watch somewhere you can…. and hey!!! grow up….
Don’t you oppress me!
Hanging doesn’t exist in modern day egypt? Weren’t the 529 sentenced to death by hanging last year?
Egypt for you
I have read an interesting article about this film. In fact, the film story is based on a weird and baseless interpretation of ancient Egypt invented by a British archeologist who lived in the late 19th and worked in Egypt. This archeologist was a big fan of the colonial idea that only white people from the northern hemisphere can build and make civilizations and that other people are inferior, especially Africans. He could not understand how ancient Egyptians were able to do something as magnificent as the pyramids, so he came up with the baseless unscientific idea that it was Jews who most probably did it. Needless to say, archeologists at the time did not take him seriously as there is ample proof that this scenario cannot be true. Yet today Ridley Scott, for some weird reason, is trying to resuscitate this story.
Though I don’t like censorship, it is understandable therefore that some Muslim countries want to ban it.
Why would Muslims want to ban it? There were no Muslims then so how can they be offended? Oh forgot makes the Jews look good. My bad.
“There were no Muslims then..” According to Muslims there were Muslims, people who worshiped one God like Abraham, for example. The only problem is that their God wasn’t Allah but Yahweh. But that is not important if you want to believe what you believe.
Whaaaat? Not even muslims say there were muslims then, Islam started in the 7th century.
So, according to you Ibrahim was a Jew? You’re funny.
Considering that Islam starts with Mohammed, NO he wasn’t. He’s a prophet and important in all 3 religions. The Christians and Jews called him Abraham.
All prophets are Muslims in the sense they all worshipped the same God and received revelations and commands from the same God. It is only one and unique deity for every prophet. We just call them Chritianity and Judaism to relate them to a particular prophet/people, but ultimately it is all Islam and it is stated so in the Quran.
I love the way all religions try to control history and appropriate it for themselves. Islam really is a homage to Judaism if you think about it
No they’re all Jews, no I mean Christians. Just because you consider them Muslims doesn’t make it so. Since there was no Islam in those days did they walk around saying “Good morning, I’m a Muslim”? What did you think the Quran will say? Oddly enough Moh. seems to be the odd man out in the equation.
desertCard, you are confused and I can understand that. First, Mohammed preached around 570 which would be the 6th century and not the 7th century. Secondly, being Muslim means being obedient to one God, so even Adam was a Muslim. And thirdly Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus are considered prophets in Islam, but actually they all were Jews by their religion. Now whatever the scholars will make of this it’s just a belief or a religion. And here you can see how religion twists the facts.
I’m not confused at all. I am well aware that those men are considered Muslim by Muslims. In their lifetimes they were not Muslims. To claim them after is another thing.
owned
No my master gave me my freedom a little over 2000 yrs ago.
o_o
Well that is a compelling reason. With all the money and power Israel is using to promote its hasbara, there is no reason why Muslims would help it achieve its goals. They actually should counter it by providing real facts about what Israel (and a large number of modern day Jews unfortunately) are.
And what a large number of Muslims are? ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Shabab, Taliban, PLO, Al Queda, ….
Why ban it? Muslims can decide NOT to watch it if they want. Nobody forces them to see it.
you said it yourself —Censorship is necessary. There are too many here who have no brain.
you wouldn’t want kim jong un nuking em cinemas don’t ya?
I can choose to watch it or not. I don’t need Papa Emir to tell me what to watch.
Did you seriously just call our emir ‘papa emir’? Do you have daddy issues you need to work on? Still need to rebel to the emir because you can’t watch your 3/10 movie?
This movie got a 39% review score and y’all here fighting about it lol
It’s not weather the film is good or not, but the right you have to watch it if you want. People listen to Justin Beiber and I think ip his music is awful but that is their choice.
Looks like we’ve got a one directioner.. You beiber hater
Grow up… don’t confine Bieber haters to being one directioners, which btw is also for pantywaists. xD
cmon we can all admit one direction are slightly better than bieber
Exactly. No one is interested in seeing crappy movies with bad reviews.
However…. banned/controversial movies do very well at the box office.
I hadn’t even heard of this movie until I saw the headlines that some countries are banning it, which made me curious and more likely to hunt for it online and watch it.
amen! I felt exactly the same
I watched that crappy Prophet Mohd movie, well some of it, because Muslims started screaming about it. It was a joke and bet 99% had not even seen it, just got angry because someone told them to.
But by God was it awful. In fact so bad it was funny
Yeah i remember me and my friend thought it’ll be this illegal movie thats good and stuff, turns out it was shet
Dear illiterate… no one told u to watch the movie about Prophet Mohammed. this movie was not made to entertain you. it was made to educate, if you do not appreciate it, kindly keep your mouth shut and show respect for other religions. thank you
Haha, you call me illiterate yet your reply is littered with spelling and grammatical errors……
Amy you miss the point, this was the movie that was made in American by an Egyptian American if I remember rightly that portrayed Mohd as a paedophile, murdering savage. It was the one many muslims around the world got upset about, took to the streets and starting screaming their heads off. If they had not made a fuss I would never have known about it and never watched it.
True :))
Will they show “The Interview” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788710/ … ? 😉
Have seen on YT, is not worth the effort and money to see it
😉 I know…
producer: hay what do you think moses looked like?
casting director: dude its ancient Egypt clearly he looked welsh duh
producer: perfect
on a serious note i dont get Egypt issues. in the quran and the bible Pharaohs are depicted as savage evil mofo’s who claimed godhood and oppressed the people of egypt. what i do get is how Muslims dont like depictions of prophets anyway including positive depictions
Next you’ll be telling me Jesus wasn’t white. Blasphemy!
Why do you get that?
As in I understand, depictions or icons being used is linked to arab pagan roots. So some muslims just disagree with it completely. not to mention there is the idea that prophets are so good no painting or actor etc can do them justice.
Personally I couldn’t care less
I was in Saudi and someone got pissed at my polo shirt and the depiction of an animal.
Well that I don’t get
I thought they were joking.
It’s amazing how stupid people can be. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. But who are you to tell others what to do? Are you all saints?
Ban physics! It tells you that God is not necessary. But then, also forget your iPhone. It won’t exist either.
Mohd cleaved the moon in two with his mutton dagger. Take that physics!
intolerance of other religious views ! there is no hope !
“The film story is based on a weird and baseless interpretation of ancient Egypt invented by a British archaeologist who lived in the late 19th and worked in Egypt. This archeologist was a big fan of the colonial idea that only white people from the northern hemisphere can build and make civilizations and that other people are inferior, especially Africans. He could not understand how ancient Egyptians were able to do something as magnificent as the pyramids, so he came up with the baseless unscientific idea that it was Jews who most probably did it. Needless to say, archeologists at the time did not take him seriously as there is ample proof that this scenario cannot be true. Yet today Ridley Scott, for some weird reason, is trying to resuscitate this story. “
There isn’t even a consensus if it was Ramses II or Ramses III who let the Israelis go. Whatever the pharaohs had being written down was only THEIR version of history. And history is always written by the winners. However, there may be an unwritten view of the losers, too. So, basically it’s all speculation.
‘ …the movie contradicts “the teachings of Islam,” according to Paramount Pictures.’ The way some companies don’t pay their employees also contradicts the teachings of Islam. Ban them! Show that you are not hypocrites. I’m afraid you are.
Torrents here i come 🙂 . Will surely post a review once i have seen it 😉
Most of the torrent sites are blocked here 🙂
https://kickass.so/
you’re welcome
Thanks 🙂
Thanks. I used this one twice recently and I must admit it was perfect (speed, clean files, etc)
http://extratorrent.cc/
🙂
Most of them. Not ALL 🙂 ;P
Going off Topic, but everyone seems to have a lot of angst and frustration. But let us all remember that if you keep carrying it in your back, you’ll be carrying it in 2015. And its not worth it…
Hahahahahaha..Important days don’t look like anything special when they start. Invariably, the sun rises and people wake up. Coffee is swilled and eggs are swallowed. Everybody goes about the business of acting like their lives matter and then, no matter how important the events of the day end up being, the sun invariably sets. Tomorrow is another day my friend.
I think he means stop being negative and try to be a positive person next year, Is that so bad?
No, not bad. but why wait till tomorrow to be a better person my friend? tomorrow is just another day.
It is, But at the same time its another day in a new year, It’s a head start to better yourself knowing you can start fresh, I mean sure if you want to be a hardcore realist, It’s nothing new, Just another day or you can look at it as an opportunity to make some new resolutions for yourself for this year.
I can imagine if there was a foreign movie that runs against some idealogies or beliefs of some countries. It will definetly not be shown in any of those countries. As a muslim and a citizen I ask for banning any sort of actions that offend our history, religion, or tradition.
Not because we like to interfere in your freedom of choices, but because we like to respect ourselves and the country we live in. If you really want to watch it, you can easily do it online and in home, but not in a public theather in a country that find it a contradiction to an important part of its identity. And Islam is not just a religion, it’s a part of our identity too.
“I ask for banning any sort of actions that offend our history, religion, or tradition.”
That’s going to be a very, very long list.
You are a very sad person if you can’t make decisions for yourself and you put the responsiblity on others.
I would suppose you would support a ban on the teaching of science in schools that contradicts your beliefs and evolution is definitely out.
I for one would rather seek the truth than be led to drink from the lake of stupidity
But if you never see it, how do you know it’s actually offensive? Do you just put total trust into the censors?
And if you were 100% sure something was offensive, then you wouldn’t see it, right? So then you wouldn’t be offended. What about others who aren’t offended, should they be prevented from seeing it?
ahahaha… I guess the censors are very happy to do the work they do!!!!
I’ve always wondered about that. Who are the censors in Qatar? Someone has to watch the full length versions to make sure everything is appropriately cut out (I mean, someone has to save the population from a cartoon owl and penguin kissing at the end of Penguins of Madagascar…. seriously!). I imagine a group of guys in small, smoky, dimly-lit theater saying, “Is Wolf of Wall Street really soft-core p.0.r.n.(sorry, but not sure if the real word would pass the Qatar Disqus censor!) like we’ve heard or not? I don’t know, but we better watch it as many times as we can to make sure! There are a lot of people to protect.” And then they all bust out in laughter. OK, maybe a bit dramatic, but my original question still stands…..
I went to see Into The Woods here, which Disney has cleaned up from the original stage production and made into a PG rated film (parents – DO NOT take your kids to see this musical).
Rather hilariously the censors have cut out not just pecks on the cheek between the human characters, but also when, in a moment of sadness, the baker kisses a cow on its cheek.
Yep, because it’s okay to depict the stepmother hacking off the heel and the toes of her two daughters to try and squeeze their bleeding feet into Cinderalla’s slipper… that fine… but a kiss between a man and a cow? Heaven forfend!!
Moses was a white man from Wales?!
Yep and Noah was a drunk from Glasgow
and the Pharoah’s a boxer from Australia
If you think that’s bad, did you know that Jesus rowed to France and had a baby with someone who went to live in UK.
Dan Brown wrote about it in his book so it must be true.
Don’t know how Jesus got back to Nazareth afterwards tho.
Maybe he should’ve stayed in France. Things might have worked out better for him.
What’s wrong in showing fiction movies in theatres?
is Eid al-Adha federal public holiday in the United States and UK? …Just curious.
It’s better than Christmas in Qatar or Saudi
Hey Mr. Peter, i will be glad if you answer my question. (Yes) or (No). just trying to relate this to this page subject of discussion and the NEW YEAR article on DohaNews.
lol…go ahead and relate
The answer is No :))
Of course i know the answer to my question. But will like Mr. Peter to answer the question so will ask him if that is the case in US and UK, why the complain about new year not pronounced public holiday and “Exodus: God and Kings not screen in Qatar?
Those are religious holidays. New years is not. Apples and oranges.
So where is the big surprise about “Exodus” not showing in Qatar? Everything else that is shown in cinemas here is censored anyway. The best bet is to buy and watch new films online, saving ourselves money and frustration while watching them as they were intended to be shown by their directors and producers.
its expected already.. still have an option to watch it online.. so i dont care… 😛
this is one of the problems of this religion…. they cant accept others do exist along with them.. they cant accept other belief exist along with theirs…if you yourslef knows the truth about your beliefs, this kind of stuff wont have any affect on you so why concern too much.. duh…
They should band the movie because they couldnt get an Egyptian to play and Egyptian character’s role. They chose a white dude to do it. What… There were not enough Egyptians out there to choose from? Dumb! I will pirate this movie… I will not pay for their stupidity… but I will watch it for free… LOL!
A movie where the casting director chose actors of ethnically inappropriate origins?
Did you ever see the movie Black Gold?
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Banning a film is not good thing no matter how much propaganda and
distortion it has, in Lebanon they run the film with a little warning
that says this film is fictional it has no historical value but it is a
special vision of its racist director.
It’s too obvious that these kind of movies are catering to an action addicted generation, meanwhile misinforming them of recorded history. I don’t know if banning this type of movie is the solution, rather educating the people and making sure they know the difference between the truth and falsehood.
It looks rather pathetic, but as always, a little controversy will make an otherwise flop produce funds…Good business attitude for DFI if they’re looking to stand out. I can come up with some scripts if needed.
I wonder if they would ban The Life of Brian?
Seriously, these films are just blockbusters, fiction with bells and whistles, not historical fact. May as well ban Oliver! the musical for its racist depiction of Jews, or Gone with the Wind for its portrayal of Black people as happy, ignorant slaves . Its just a story, who on earth believes a sick turned into a snake, or the Red sea parted? They are stories, meant to underline a point about the power of God. It is a tale about one tribe’s legends, showing how they found a path to God- doesn’t really matter which path, surely?