Wonder Woman is one of the biggest films of the summer so far, but that doesn't mean that the movie is without controversy. A movie theater in the middle east has gone so far as to apologize for even screening it. The fact that Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot is Israeli has led some countries to ban the film entirely, however, one theater in Jordan did go ahead and show the movie, but now they've issued an apology for doing so.
According to The Times of Israel, Jordan had been considering banning Wonder Woman, a move that has already been taken in Lebanon and Tunisia. However, the nation's Communications Commission ended up not doing so, due to lack of precedent. This meant that theaters in the country were allowed to show the film, though clearly this theater's decision to do so was met with significant criticism. All future screenings at the theater have been canceled.
Gal Gadot's Israeli heritage has been a major issue for the film throughout the middle east. The politics of the region have always been difficult and now the movie has become a symbol of those problems.
Of course, the bans don't appear to be having a significant impact on the film as a whole. Wonder Woman is still the eighth highest grossing of the year globally. One item that is interesting is that, while most movies these days at the top of the box office charts often do two-thirds or more of the total business overseas, Wonder Woman is a much more even split, having done just short of half of its total business in North America. Due to the overall business the film has done, it seems clear this isn't because of some nations protesting the movie. There are still a handful of countries where Wonder Woman has yet to open, in addition, the film has simply done a lot more business domestically. While Wonder Woman is the eighth highest grossing film in the world, it's in the number three spot here.
As much as we may like to separate politics and art it unfortunately rarely works out for the art. People who don't support a particular group of people decide to not support a movie simply because of who it stars. The film itself has nothing to with those issues, but it's seen as tacit support simply for showing her film.
In the end, it's their loss as Wonder Woman is being hailed as a great film from all the places that have had a chance to see it. In the age of the internet, we're also guessing that there are some people in the nations where Wonder Woman is banned that will find a way to see it anyway if they really want to. We have to assume that at least a few people showed up to the screening in Jordan. If literally nobody wanted to see it, the screening likely wouldn't have been an issue.
