“Today we see more people talking about mental health openly-in a way that is more akin to physical health,” says Champion. Such statistics demand attention and action, which is why experts say destigmatizing mental health and talking about it is so important. And it doesn’t look like they’re backing down. Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia’s general supervisor of cinema classification, told the Guardian that the cuts would amount to “barely 12 seconds” and include America referring to her “two moms,” but noted even that arguably-minute portion of the film would be “very tough to pass” according to the kingdom’s standards. Egypt and Kuwait have already prohibited the movie.
The Guardian reported that Saudi Arabia, which regards homosexuality as a capital offense, has asked Disney to cut “LGBTQ references” before screening. In addition to being able to punch holes through the multiverse (nifty power), America is openly gay in the comics and will be represented similarly in the film. Marvel’s follow-up to their 2016 hit starring Benedict Cumberbatch is set to introduce a new character named America Chavez, played by Xochitl Gomez. Strange might find himself in multiple universes, but probably not in Saudi Arabia.
