4. The Simpsons Movie Myanmar
Everyone loves The Simpsons. Scratch that, everyones aware of The Simpsons. While the shows quality has dropped somewhat since its glory years, it remains an indelible part of the public consciousness all over the world. Im pretty sure that in most places if you show somebody a picture of Homer Simpson, they could identify him. So when the long-awaited Simpsons Movie came out in 2007, it was understandably a huge deal. A good film riding on the back of huge public goodwill, it eventually made over half a billion at worldwide at the box office. But there was one part of the world that wasnt getting in on the yellow-themed fun Myanmar. It was precisely because it was yellow-themed that the Burmese junta banned it for a while, red and yellow werent allowed in films and it just so happened that the Simpsons Movie, possibly the yellowest movie of all time, was released during that window. If that sounds bizarre, its because it is. Since the military took over the country in 1962 the once-flourishing Burmese film industry has been subjected to the same superstitious rules as the rest of the country, and the red-and yellow ruling was just the icing on the cake. Yet it must be noted that the absence of everybodys favourite yellow family is fairly minor in a country where bizarre rules pop up all the time. For example, millions of Burmese once lost all the savings when the junta declared that all currency now had to be divisible by nine. When compared against something like that, I think films sort of pale into insignificance. But still, its sad Myanmar didnt get to share in the joy of Spider-Pig.