Bye bye 'Barbie': Vietnam bans new film over South China Sea map
By Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, contributing writer
“Barbie” film fans in Vietnam will have to dream of seeing the doll from their childhoods come to life on the silver screen after the government banned the live-action movie for showing a map of China's claims to territory in the disputed South China Sea.
The fantasy-comedy film, which stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, was originally slated for a July 21 release, but it was banned from release in the communist country after the Culture Ministry’s Department of Cinema found that it contained scenes featuring China’s so-called nine-dash line, state and local media reported.
The nine-dash line covers a 3 million square kilometer “U” shape in the South China Sea, which is rich in oil and natural gas reserves. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area, and have sparred with Beijing over the broad claims to the strategic waterway, which is also home to rich fishing grounds and key commercial shipping lanes.
Beijing’s expansive claims to the area were rejected by The Hague in 2016, after the Philippines filed a case, a ruling China continues to reject.
Several films and shows have been removed or not shown in Vietnam for showing maps with the arbitrary nine-dash line, including actor Tom Holland’s “Uncharted" last year, the animated DreamWorks/Pearl Studio film “Abominable” in 2019 and the removal of eight episodes of the Netflix series “Pine Gap.”
China claims to have historical ties to the broad swath of the South China Sea and has in recent years used popular media to legitimize its claims, according to researchers, introducing “subtle propaganda” via maps, globes, postcards, T-shirts and more to assert its claims.
Scholars have argued that the normalization of the nine-dash line through popular media like the “Barbie” film could help reinforce China’s legally dubious claims.
Similarly, last year's popular film “Top Gun: Maverick” made headlines after trailers showed the removal of Japanese and Taiwanese flags on actor Tom Cruise’s famed bomber jacket, which was also featured in the first film. After an outcry over the apparent attempt to win over China's censors and the withdrawal from production by a Chinese film distributor and production company, the film was released with both flags.
The fantasy-comedy film, which stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, was originally slated for a July 21 release, but it was banned from release in the communist country after the Culture Ministry’s Department of Cinema found that it contained scenes featuring China’s so-called nine-dash line, state and local media reported.
The nine-dash line covers a 3 million square kilometer “U” shape in the South China Sea, which is rich in oil and natural gas reserves. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area, and have sparred with Beijing over the broad claims to the strategic waterway, which is also home to rich fishing grounds and key commercial shipping lanes.
Beijing’s expansive claims to the area were rejected by The Hague in 2016, after the Philippines filed a case, a ruling China continues to reject.
Several films and shows have been removed or not shown in Vietnam for showing maps with the arbitrary nine-dash line, including actor Tom Holland’s “Uncharted" last year, the animated DreamWorks/Pearl Studio film “Abominable” in 2019 and the removal of eight episodes of the Netflix series “Pine Gap.”
China claims to have historical ties to the broad swath of the South China Sea and has in recent years used popular media to legitimize its claims, according to researchers, introducing “subtle propaganda” via maps, globes, postcards, T-shirts and more to assert its claims.
Scholars have argued that the normalization of the nine-dash line through popular media like the “Barbie” film could help reinforce China’s legally dubious claims.
Similarly, last year's popular film “Top Gun: Maverick” made headlines after trailers showed the removal of Japanese and Taiwanese flags on actor Tom Cruise’s famed bomber jacket, which was also featured in the first film. After an outcry over the apparent attempt to win over China's censors and the withdrawal from production by a Chinese film distributor and production company, the film was released with both flags.