5. Any Paul Newman Film Lebanon
In the Middle East, the Lebanon is one of the more liberal countries of the region. Yet theres one place the Lebanese most certainly arent so easy-going their cinemas. Anything which Lebanons Sûreté General (a mixture of the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security) deems inappropriate is black-balled from Lebanese theatres and this doesnt just include films with questionable subject matter every country bans films on those grounds but actors too. And if those actors just so happen to be pro-Zionist, you can bet your bottom dollar their film wont be in Beirut any time soon. The fact is that much like most countries in the region, Lebanon
really doesnt like Israel. The two countries are neighbours, have declared war before and have been in conflict pretty much since Israel was created. So anything the Sûreté General believes is pro-Israel, even tangentially, will go down like a lead balloon. Enter Paul Newman. One the USAs most successful actors, Newman starred in such classics as Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, East of Eden, The Color of Money and Cool Hand Luke before his death in 2008. Guess which of those films the Lebanese authorities allowed? If you said none, then well done, you passed a really depressing test! The only Newman film ever broadcast in Lebanon was 2002s Road to Perdition, an awesome film among his best work. Yet the rest of Newmans back catalogue remains unviewed, entirely because of his outspoken support for Israel, and more controversially, pro-Zionism. Yet he probably wore this censorship as a badge of honour after all, Newman said his crowning achievement was making it to nineteenth on Richard Nixons enemies list. And this was a man who won an
Oscar, for gods sake.