Warner Bros studio has finally addressed the ban on the upcoming ‘Barbie’ movie in Asian countries over a scene depicting South China Sea map.
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As earlier reported by local news agencies of the country, authorities in Vietnam banned the screening of the upcoming ‘Barbie’ movie earlier this week, over a scene featuring ‘nine dash line’ – a representation of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea – which violates the sovereignty of the Asian country.
Quoting the director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vi Kien Thanh, the state newspaper had reported, “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.”
Addressing the controversy now, a spokesperson for the studio said, “The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing. 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.”
It is pertinent to mention that the film authorities in the Philippines had also threatened to join Vietnam in banning the live-action adaptation depicting the politically sensitive map of Southeast Asia.
“If the invalidated nine-dash line was indeed depicted in the movie Barbie, then it is incumbent upon the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) of the Philippines to ban the same as it denigrates Philippine sovereignty,” said Senator Francis Tolentino of the country.
Tolentino had also stated that editing out the offensive sequences could be a ‘middle ground’ for the dispute around the movie’s release.
The Greta Gerwig live-action adaptation of the iconic Mattel doll, headlined by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is slated to open in theatres on July 21.
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