‘Barbie’ starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has become one of the most anticipated releases of 2023; However, the film fell victim to censorship just a few days after its release.
Vietnam has banned the film’s showing in all commercial cinemas because a scene has sparked controversy and, according to that country’s authorities, violates their sovereignty.
According to Variety, the scene in question shows a map with the “nine-point line,” a representation of China’s territorial claims to the South Seas that includes some parts of what Vietnam considers part of its mainland.
“Barbie” was supposed to hit the billboard on July 21, the day after its release in Mexico, but for these reasons the film department decided to revoke the license: “We do not grant a license for the release of “The American Film ‘Barbie’ is in Vietnam because it contains the offensive image of the Nine Stripe Line,” Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, citing Vi Kien Thanh, the agency’s head. So far, Warner Bros. has not ruled on the matter of censorship; However, this isn’t the first film to suffer from the Vietnamese ban for precisely this reason.
In 2019, the animated film Abominable was banned for showing the same map, and in 2022, Tom Holland’s Uncharted met the same fate. Additionally, in 2020, the series Put Your Head On My Shoulder and Madam Secretary received a warning to remove scenes featuring the controversial card, and in 2021 Netflix pulled the series Pine Gap for the same reasons.