Ryan Gosling, left, and Margot Robbie arrive at a photograph name for “Barbie” on Sunday, June 25, 2023, on the 4 Seasons Lodge in Los Angeles. Jordan Strauss, Invision through Related Press
Within the “Barbie” world, info could also be inconsequential, however that isn’t the case in actual life. The upcoming movie has obtained criticism from U.S. lawmakers and international locations for together with a hand-drawn map of the world containing a disputed border line.
The map includes a dotted line, much like the “nine-dash line” that China used to attract a border within the South China Sea after World Conflict II.
In response to The Los Angeles Occasions, the Chinese language authorities claims all the things inside the U-shaped border is theirs due to “historic rights.” Different international locations within the area say in addition they have a declare over the realm.
Because of this, Vietnam banned the movie whereas the Philippines is considering the identical.
“We don't grant license for the American film ‘Barbie’ to launch in Vietnam as a result of it incorporates the offending picture of the nine-dash line,” stated Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Division of Cinema, a authorities physique accountable for licensing and censoring international movies, as reported by a state-run newspaper.
In response to the ban, some GOP lawmakers spoke out about curbing China’s affect on Hollywood.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas tweeted: “I suppose Barbie is made in China….”
I suppose Barbie is made in China…. https://t.co/CDB1IzZcvm
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 3, 2023
A spokesperson for Cruz instructed The Each day Mail that the senator “has been combating for years to stop American corporations, particularly Hollywood studios, from altering and censoring their content material to appease the Chinese language Communist Get together.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the choose committee on the Chinese language Communist Get together, additionally took a jab on the film’s option to showcase a dashed line.
“Whereas it could simply be a Barbie map in a Barbie world, the truth that a cartoonish map appears to exit of its technique to depict illegal territorial claims illustrates the strain that Hollywood is below to please CCP censors,” he stated.
In the meantime, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., stated on Twitter that Hollywood is “extra involved with promoting movies in Communist China.”
“The ‘Barbie’ film’s depiction of a map endorsing Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea is legally & morally unsuitable and have to be taken significantly.”
A spokesperson for Warner Bros. instructed Selection that the dashed line isn’t “meant to make any kind of assertion.”
“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” the spokesperson stated. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘actual world.’ It was not meant to make any kind of assertion.”
The map appeared within the film when Barbie, performed by Margot Robbie, faces an existential disaster — keep within the Barbie world or go to the actual world, as seen within the trailer. All of the continents on the map are wobbly drawn.
I spent a part of the morning reply guying coverage peoples questions on Vietnam banning the Barbie film with the 9 sprint line map with this picture of the map pic.twitter.com/oqJ91HJVUh
— Lmao gan ma (@rzhongnotes) July 3, 2023
This isn’t the primary time a movie has confronted censorship over the nine-dashed line. The 2022 movie “Uncharted,” starring Tom Holland, was additionally banned in Vietnam, and the Philippines adopted go well with.
Filipino Sen. Francis Tolentino instructed CNN Philippines that the Film and Tv Evaluate and Classification Board of the Philippines will ban “Barbie” if the “invalidated nine-dash line was certainly depicted within the film.”