Cairo's version of the MPAA: Bruce Almighty, Matrix Banned

[DemoCoder]

CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian authorities have banned the Jim Carrey (news) film "Bruce Almighty," saying the comedy infringes on God's sacredness.

Madkour Thabit, who heads the state-run censorship body responsible for audio and visual productions, criticized the movie Friday for featuring "actors playing the role of God."

"The name of the movie — 'Bruce Almighty' — indicates that there is someone who can do anything and everything," Thabit said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press. "Such traits belong only to God."

Evidently, God's omnipotence doesn't extend to being able to take a vacation and grant his powers to someone else. He can do anything and everything,.... except that. Oh, and he can't make Jennifer Aniston's breasts bigger.

In the film, Carrey plays a TV reporter who gets a shot at being God for a week.

In June, Egyptian censors banned "The Matrix Reloaded" on religious grounds, saying it challenged the topics of existence and creation

I have a sneaking suspicious that when they ban these films in Cairo, they just make Egyptian teenagers want to get their hands on bootleg copies even more. Banning a film is often free publicility and a "positive review" for young people. Anything that older establishment people don't like has got to be cool.

 

[Willmeister]

They should just tell their people the truth. Bruce Allmighty sucked and Matrix 2 got really, really close to sucking too.

 

[V3]

Banning a film is often free publicility and a "positive review" for young people. Anything that older establishment people don't like has got to be cool.

I think it depends if they're a sort of rebel or not. Some of the older people will see banning a film is a "positive review", if they're a sort of rebel at heart.