Carrey comedy 'offends' Malaysians

A Malaysian government minister has called for the US comedy Bruce Almighty to be banned, deeming it offensive to Muslims.

Abdul Hamid Zainal Abidin, the minister responsible for religious affairs, wants the Jim Carrey film to join the growing list of movies that have fallen foul of the country's censors.

In Bruce Almighty, Carrey is challenged by God to take over the running of the world to see if he can do a better job of it.

Mr Abidin told the Bernama news agency the theme of the film was "not appropriate".

"We cannot equate ourselves with God almighty even as a joke," he said.

The predominantly Muslim country has a track record for banning American films, or censoring scenes on moral or religious grounds.

Insensitive

The award-winning film The Hours saw several scenes cut that depicted kissing between two women to protect the "interests of the country and people from bad influences and negative elements shown in films".

And the big screen adaptation of the comic book hero Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck, was also outlawed because of "excessive violence".

The cartoon Prince of Egypt, an animated epic about the life of Moses, was deemed "insensitive for religious reasons", while Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me featured too much sexual innuendo for Malaysian censors.

The spy spoof Zoolander was also banned - for portraying a plot to assassinate a Malaysian prime minister

But the pirate DVD market in Malaysia means people can usually get their hands on copies of Hollywood movies, although the government has taken stringent steps to close down the illegal trade.