Warner Bros. Responds To Controversy Over Map Of Asia Used In Barbie Movie

Warner Bros., the film studio behind Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie movie, has weighed in after the film was banned in Vietnam over a scene featuring a map of the South China Sea.

In one sequence from the much-anticipated film, leading star Margot Robbie appears in front of a hand-drawn map, while apparently planning her character’s journey from plastic fantastic “Barbieland” to the “real world”.

The map has caused controversy in Vietnam, as the country’s officials believe that it features a nine-dash line, which is often used to indicate China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The South China Sea has been at the heart of a territorial dispute for decades, with multiple countries contesting China’s ownership claims over the waters. 

Back in 2016, a tribunal in The Hague’s international arbitration court ruled that China did not have a claim to the territory, however the country’s military forces still have a presence in the area.

The Barbie map was labelled as an “offensive image” by Vietnamese officials, prompting the film to be banned from the country’s cinemas.

In a statement to Variety, a Warner Bros. spokesperson described the map in question as “a child-like crayon drawing” and said it was not intended to make any kind of political statement.

“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” the spokesperson said.

“The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

Barbie, which also stars Ryan Gosling as Ken alongside the likes of Emma Mackey, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Simu Liu and America Ferrera, is not the first film to incur the displeasure of the Vietnamese authorities.

Back in 2019, the animated children’s movie Abominable – a joint production between DreamWorks and Chinese company Pearl Studio – was also pulled from Vietnamese cinemas over a map featuring the nine dash line.

Meanwhile, The Guardian has reported that some senators in the Philippines are also calling for Barbie to be banned over the inclusion of the map, or for a disclaimer to be added to the movie. 

“The movie Barbie is fiction, and so is the nine-dash line,” senator Risa Hontiveros said.

“At the minimum, our cinemas should include an explicit disclaimer that the nine-dash line is a figment of China’s imagination.”