'Power Rangers' Film That Features Queer Character Given Adult Rating in Russia

Power Rangers age restriction was changed from 16+ to 18+ by the Russian distributor of the film Friday, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

The distributor did not explicitly say why the company changed the rating, but the change came out after it was announced that one of the power rangers is queer. Russian politician Vitaly Milonov criticized the film and suggested it be banned in Russia.

"If fascist ideology is banned in our country, then [movies by] the likes of Dean Israelite should be banned first thing," said Milonov on a conservative television network. Milonov called Israelite, the film director, "a scumbag."

Milonov is behind Russia's "gay propaganda" law, which fines citizens who shares information regarding "non-traditional sexual relations" with minors that might cause a "distorted understanding" that gay and lesbian relationships are "socially equivalent" to heterosexual pairings, reported Russia's RIA Novosti.

In an interview with Variety, Dean Israelite, the director of the film, defended the queer storyline of the yellow power ranger, which is played by actress and singer, Becky G. "I think people don't want to divide audiences, honestly, when you're making a movie of this size, scale and with this price tag, but what was important to us is that we were truthful about representing teenagers and what they go through today, and giving voices to characters that are underrepresented in not just movies, but also superhero movies."