Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness isn’t even out in cinemas yet but it’s already been embroiled in a very strange controversy.
It was reported this week that Saudi Arabia had asked Disney to cut an LGBTQ+ scene from the film, although their request was refused. The scene in question is “barely 12 seconds” long and shows the lesbian character, America Chavez, played by the actor Xochitl Gomez, referring to her “two moms”, shared Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia’s general supervisor of cinema classification.
“It’s just her talking about her moms because she has two moms,” Alsabhan said. “And being in the Middle East, it’s very tough to pass something like this. We sent it to the distributor, and the distributor sent it to Disney, and Disney has told us they are not willing.”
The film might not have been banned but Xochitl Gomez is suffering personally. As picked up on social media, the comments on one of her Instagram posts has been inundated with abusive messages: “We all hate you”; Ur the reason I can’t watch the movie on cinema”; “May God curse your religion, your mother is tired; “May God deprive you of happiness in your life and your personality.”
As noted by someone on Twitter, the actress deleted her TikToks. “I hope it wasn’t because of the hate. She’s literally a kid. Like she’s younger than some of us on this app and these people are hating on her. The hate she’s getting is way too much for her to handle as teenager,” they wrote.
Xochitl Gomez is just 15-years-old. For a teenager to be receiving this level of abuse is ridiculous, when starring in her first major film role should be a joyous thing.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to arrive in Australian cinemas on May 5th.
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https://twitter.com/godemperorboss/status/1518943042430029824?s=21
xochitl gomez literally deleted all her tiktoks. i hope it wasn’t because of the hate. she’s literally a kid. like she’s younger than some of us on this app and these people are hating on her. the hate she’s getting is way too much for her to handle as teenager.
— reya ᗢ (@ahsokasavengers) April 25, 2022
Xochitl gomez plays America Chavez in Doctor Strange. She is being targeted with harassment because of the film being banned in countries due to her character being Queer. You people are insufferable miserable bigots.
— Jason (U mad) (@EmperorTChalla) April 26, 2022
