Barbie: Warner Bros. Reacts to Film Being Banned in Vietnam

It was revealed earlier this week that Barbie, the upcoming live-action movie starring Margot Robbie, would be banned from release in Vietnam, which was reportedly due to a scene in which a fictional map of the world used the “nine-dash line.” Warner Bros. is now weighing in on the matter, noting that there wasn’t any intentional political implication of the line, and that it is merely one of many symbols used on a map to convey Barbie’s journeys around the world on an exaggerated and geographically inaccurate map. Barbie is currently slated to hit theaters on July 21st.

“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros. Film Group revealed to Variety. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

Vietnam believes the map violates their sovereignty, as the nine-dash line is used by China to express their ownership over territories in the South China Sea. Upon closer inspection of the map, the line contains eight dashes and, while appearing close to Asia, doesn’t follow the real-world path of the nine-dash line.

As seen in the sequence, the map contains multiple geographic errors and exaggerations, as well as featuring drawings of boats and animals. 

Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, shared in a statement earlier this week, “We do not grant license for the American movie Barbie to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.”  

Barbie is far from the first American film to be banned from release in select international markets, though the reason for these bannings or censorships is often due to more specific political implications or sexual situations. Pixar’s Lightyear, for example, was banned in multiple countries for including a kiss by a same-sex couple.

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hits theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.   

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