As she’s wont to do, Barbie courts controversy in Southeast Asia over “nine-dash line”

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Barbie has been banned in Vietnam

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  July 5, 2023 | 10:14pm
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As she’s wont to do, Barbie courts controversy in Southeast Asia over “nine-dash line”
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Ryan Goslin and Margot Robbie Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Much like John Cena attempting to wade the geopolitical waters of selling F9: The Fast Saga to China and Taiwan, Barbie has found itself in a costly and unforced international error. This is per Deadline, which reports that not only was Barbie banned in Vietnam over a scene that features a map of the South China Sea that includes the controversial “nine-dash line,” it faces further banishment in the Philippines.

“We confirm that the Board has reviewed the film Barbie today, 04 July 2023,” wrote The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board of the Philippines. “At this time, the assigned Committee on First Review is deliberating on the request of Warner Brothers F.E. Inc. for a Permit to Exhibit.”

The “nine-dash line” represents the disputed territorial claims of the People’s Republic of China. Many countries in Southeast Asia challenge the validity of China’s dotted border, including Vietnam and Malaysia. The scene in question is shown in the Barbie trailer, as Vietnamese writer Nguyên Lê noted.

Local politicians have responded to the controversy by calling for bans on the film. “If the invalidated nine-dash line was indeed depicted in the movie Barbie, then it is incumbent upon the MTRCB to ban the same as it denigrates Philippine sovereignty,” Senator Francis Tolentino told CNN Philippines.

Philippines Senator Risa Hontiveros posted a video statement on YouTube. “The movie is fiction, and so is the nine-dash line,” she said. “At the minimum, our cinemas should include an explicit disclaimer that the nine-dash line is a figment of China’s imagination.”

Risa Hontiveros on China’s nine-dash line in ‘Barbie’ movie: ‘It’s fiction’

Barbie isn’t the first blockbuster based on a toy to face this kind of pressure. Vietnam and the Philippines also banned Uncharted in 2022 for featuring a map.

 
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