KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia has banned the hit Jennifer Lopez film Hustlers, the authorities said last Friday, criticising the film about strippers as being packed with obscene content not suitable for cinemagoers in the conservative country.
The star-studded movie - billed as a female The Wolf Of Wall Street - is about how New York strippers turned the tables on wealthy businessmen during the financial crisis.
The real-life tale depicts how a group of women resorted to increasingly criminal tactics, such as spiking men's drinks before emptying their bank accounts, as the stock market crash hit strip club receipts.
Malaysia's Film Censorship Board banned the movie from cinemas, saying it would have to make so many cuts to racy scenes that there would be barely anything left to screen.
"This film contains too many scenes with too much... obscene content, and is not suitable for public screening," board chairman Mohamad Zamberi Abdul Aziz told Agence France-Presse.
"We can see women's breasts and men's private parts. There are also erotic dances which are too much, and scenes (with drugs)."
Square Box Pictures, the film's distributor in Malaysia, confirmed the ban in an Instagram post.
"We deeply apologise for the inconvenience caused to our beloved followers, fans of the movie, media and partners."
The film was reportedly due for release at cinemas last Thursday.
Other films that were banned from Malaysian cinemas include The Shawshank Redemption and children's movie Barney's Great Adventure. Earlier this year, censors cut gay sex scenes from Rocketman, the movie musical based on the life of British singer Elton John, sparking anger from critics.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/s...it-stripper-movie-hustlers-for-being-too-racy
