The world was living the Barbie fever up until now as the Vietnamese government came forward and banned the domestic distribution of the WB film. The ban was conducted because of a scene that featured a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the region of the South China Sea.
Vietnam is one country that doesn’t accept China’s Claim of the whole region of the South China Sea. There is a U-shape nine-dashed line that represents China’s claim over the territory but many neighbouring countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan are competing over the mentioned area.
A state-run newspaper Tuii Tre quotes Vi Kirn Thang as he says, “We do not grant license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.” Thang is the head of the department of Cinema that keeps tabs on foreign films.
This is not the first time that the government banned a film for this reason. In 2019, the government also banned DreamWork’s animated project ‘Abominable’ and Sony’s action film ‘Uncharted’. Even an Aussie spy drama ‘Pine Gap’ faced the same fate in 2021.
Barbie will be released in the theaters worldwide on the 21st of July.
