The latest release of the scenes from the highly anticipated movie leads to an outburst in Vietnam, thus effecting a ban on ‘Barbie’
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Key Highlights
- The movie ‘Barbie’ is banned in Vietnam
- This is due to a scene portraying the controversial South China Map
The Margot Robbie – Ryan Gosling starrer ‘Barbie’ had become an internet sensation recently for its stellar casting as well as for being the outcome of Greta Gerwig’s directorial efforts. But alas, Vietnam had different plans as they banned the looked-forward movie for its depiction of the controversial ‘nine-dash line’ of the South China Map.
The South China Map Controversy
The ban on the film is directly linked to a scene released recently that showcase a map that illustrates China’s arbitrarily claimed South China Sea region. The ‘nine-dash’ line is a series of lines on several maps that represent the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. This encompasses a significant portion of what Vietnam regards as its continental shelf, as well as places where oil concessions have been granted.
“We do not grant a license for the release of the American film Barbie in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line”
Vi Kien Thanh, Chairman of the Department of Cinema, a government organization in charge of licensing and regulating foreign films
For years, Beijing has been building military outposts on artificial islands in the area and conducting naval patrols to establish its territorial claims. In 2016, a global hearing in The Hague decided against these Chinese claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing did not recognize the verdict. In the South China Sea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all have competing territorial assertions.
Vietnam had given the same fate to several other movies like The Abominable in 2019 and banned Uncharted for the exact same cause. Netflix Vietnam also took out the Australian drama Pine Gap two years before.
Barbie
Barbie is set to be the movie of the year along with its competition Oppenheimer. It is set to be released on 21st July. The fans and the world have accepted the promotions of the movie wholeheartedly and it has become an excitement for all the netizens leading to immense popularity for the movie.
Barbie is a movie based on the doll produced by Mattel, the film follows a Barbie doll that is exiled from Barbieland for not being faultless enough, being too distinctive, and not fitting the typical mold. She leaves for a journey to find peace and knowledge and realizes beauty is inside rather than what meets the eye and that self-belief is the requirement for happiness.
The movie has an outstanding cast with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the leads. The movie is directed by Greta Gerwig, who gave us masterpieces like Little Women and Lady Bird. The world premiere is set for July 9th in Los Angeles and ‘Barbie’ is set to hit the screens on 21st July in the US. The movie is awaited by the young and old alike as it invokes nostalgia among all the people. The relatability is a factor that gave the movie a huge kickstart success. The movie also portrays a wide range of stars as Barbie and Ken which intrigues the audience immensely.
