Thread by @ammaranwar1996

Because of a 12-second piece of dialogue from a lesbian character about having two moms, Doctor Strange 2 premiere throughout Pakistan has been held up by the national censor board. Here is why this is a bad precedent. /1

All cinemas started pre-bookings for the movie a month in advance. No news about a possible ban was relayed to moviegoers and cinemas relentlessly advertised DS2 on their websites right until the premiere date. /2

Cinemas in the twin cities scrubbed their websites clean of any mentions of DS2 once they sold out all shows for the first weekend of the film. Cinemas in Lahore dropped the bomb on the morning of the premiere. No cinema is picking up calls. No refund strategy in place. /3

Never in my adult life have I seen this happen to any franchise release in Pakistan, let alone a massively popular one like the MCU. Movies are usually censored well before the premiere date, the decision isn't dragged out till the actual date of the premiere. /4

Coincidentally, 5 Pakistani films are being released on Eid at the same time as a cinema-packing film is being taken off schedule. Call me a conspiracy theorist but this is very suspicious timing. No one stands to gain from this other than Paki film producers. /5

If DS2 does not release today, this will be the end of MCU releases in Pakistan as I see it. Thor: Love and Thunder will get the same treatment because of Valkyrie.

Also, cinemas can say goodbye to prebookings. People won't trust cinemas with advance tickets ever again. /6

This just goes to show being hyper-religious in everything can be a bad thing. How blindly following in the footsteps of our political allies is utterly stupid. The outrage is happening because of the film getting a blanket ban in Saudia and China. /7

Surprisingly, I have not seen any public outrage over this. Despite thousands of people having bought tickets, selling out the first three to four days entirely, no one has raised concern over this. Cinemas will get off scot free with minimal/zero refunds. /8

The anti-LGBT rhetoric coming from Pakistanis is rich, more so because this nation keeps trending soft core erotica on Netflix (365 days/SexLife, etc). Almost every Punjabi film ever has a vulgar dance that is deemed culturally and religiously appropriate for cinemas. /9

So these dances are perfectly fine, but a FICTIONAL movie character deviating from societal norms is where we draw the line? Pakistani censor board sleeps peacefully when Punjabi vulgarity is shown openly, but DS2 is banned for a passing mention of having two moms. /10

For reference these are the Pakistani films being released that comply 100 percent with Islam and the censor board of Pakistan. /11

If you think this rant is irrational, you should know that Main Punjab Nahin Jaoongi, a 2017 film, kept screening regularly at least till 2020, even headlining Jazz's Drive-In cinema during peak COVID, when no new films were released. Let that sink in. /12

Eternals (2021) has Phastos, an openly gay character with a husband and a kid. The movie ran fine for months because there was no moral outrage sparked by political allies. But since Saudia, China banned DS2, it was imperative to stand with them. /13

As someone who has been waiting for #MultiverseofMadness since its announcement, I am sorely disappointed. I, for one, will not trust Pakistani cinemas with prebookings ever again. This is coming from someone who tries his best to watch all MCU films day one. /14

I'll end this thread with a hope that the slate of Pakistani films being released in place of DS2 fail at cinema so the producers and decision-makers know how not to screw with the films that pack their cinemas and make them money. Pakistani hypocrisy zindabad. /15

Update:

Getting confirmations from friends who've seen the movie in Lahore (after the ban lifted last evening) that it still played uncensored.

Also got one confirmation for my suspicion as to why it happened.