Margot Robbie’s Barbie Movie Is Banned
One of this summer’s biggest movies is causing some controversy, and surprisingly, it’s not the Christopher Nolan film about the creation of the atomic bomb. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Margot Robbie’s Barbie has been banned in Vietnam, and the Philippines is threatening to do the same. The cause of the controversy is a map showcased in the film that looks like it depicts the “nine-dash line,” a politically sensitive concept in Southeast Asia.
Barbie is banned in Vietnam because of a scene depicting the nine-dash line in Southeast Asia.
Greta Gerwig’s new film features Margot Robbie as the iconic Barbie doll in a tale about how an existential crisis motivates Barbie to leave the doll world and embark on an epic adventure into the real world. In the doll world, everything looks like it comes straight out of a child’s imagination, including the map that Barbie uses to guide her to reality.
It’s an inaccurate and misshapen depiction of the countries around the globe and is dotted with children’s doodles, including a series of dashes along the coast of Asia.
Most likely, the dashes weren’t meant to indicate the nine-dash line as they look like the dashes you’d normally see in a cartoon or animated show that indicate where the characters traveled across the map. In fact, on Margot Robbie’s Barbie map, there are only eight dashes, not nine, like there would have been if the filmmakers were indeed trying to make a political statement.
What is the Nine-Dash Line?
The nine-dash line is a U-shaped line China has used to indicate claims over territory in the South China Sea, and it invalidates sovereignty in Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei. With this line, China has attempted to claim almost all of the South China Sea, despite not having the legal basis to do so.
Despite a ruling in 2016 by the international tribunal at The Hague that China didn’t own this section of the world, the Chinese military has continued to set up bases on previously uninhabited islands throughout this sector, and Vietnam and the Philipines believe that the dotted line on the map in Margot Robbie’s Barbie is supporting this move.
Margot Robbie’s Barbie isn’t the first Hollywood feature to unwittingly support the Chinese government and its attempt to take over Southeast China. Last year, Tom Holland’s Uncharted showcased a similar line on a map and was banned in Vietnam and the Philipines.
On Margot Robbie’s Barbie map, there are only eight dashes, not nine, like there would have been if the filmmakers were indeed trying to make a political statement.
While Vietnam has already made the decision not to show Margot Robbie’s Barbie in the theaters in their country, the Philippines is still on the fence. Film regulators are currently reviewing the movie and are in discussion with producers at Warner Bros. Pictures about removing the controversial line.
If the line is edited out, the Philipines may be willing to screen the film.
However, if Warner Bros. does end up removing the eight little dots on the Margot Robbie Barbie map, they could risk angering China and end up with China banning the film, which could be a problem for the studio as Barbie is expected to make much more at the China box office than at Southeast Asia theaters.
However, even though China is a larger market, Southeast Asia is still expected to bring in about $5 to $10 million in ticket sales.
Margot Robbie stars as the titular character in Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, and features Ryan Gosling as Barbie’s second half, Ken. The highly anticipated Mattel feature releases to theaters in the United States on July 19.
