Barbie film banned in Vietnam after 'offending image' causes outrage

03 July 2023 , 13:07

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Barbie film banned in Vietnam after 'offending image' causes outrage

While the rest of the world gears up for "Barbie" on 21 July, Vietnam will not be living in a Barbie World.

On Monday, Vi Kien Thanh, the director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, announced the ban on Greta Gerwig's newest film. The ban was decided by Vietnam's National Film Evaluation Council.

A scene in the film includes a map with the nine-dash line, a geographical line showing China's claim over most of the South China Sea, which is highly disputed among countries in the region. This pre-World War Two line has Vietnam saying the PG-13 movie violates its sovereignty.

A United Nations tribunal decided in 2016 that the nine-dash line was invalid, but China does not recognise the decision and there is nothing set in place to enforce the tribunal's ruling.

Barbie movie banned in Vietnam over geographical dispute (FILM STILL / HANDOUT)

Vi Kien Thanh's statement read: "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."

Margot Robbie insisted on being totally nude in film for authentic scenes

This isn't the first time the nine-dash line has caused trouble for Hollywood. In 2019, "Abominable," a DreamWorks animated movie, was banned for the same reason. "Madam Secretary" was able to stay on Netflix in the country after it removed the scene showing a map.

Barbie stars Margot Robbie as the bubbly and fun Barbie and Ryan Gosling as "just Ken," according to the movie posters and marketing.

Barbie movie banned in Vietnam over geographical dispute (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Barbie is set to premiere on July 21, the same day as Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, causing fans to plan for a double feature and compare the marketing of both films.

Nolan's film has little to no marketing being done while Barbie has a press tour and a Barbie Dreamhouse available to the public on AirBnB. Celebrity couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend recently spent the night there with their kids. The Dreamhouse was previously available in 2019 but has been revamped this year for the movie release.

Barbie also stars Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Simu Lui, and more.

The Barbie movie soundtrack has its full release the same day as the film, but a few songs are already available. Dua Lipa, who also makes an appearance in the film, sings the lead single "Dance the Night." Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, and Aqua sing "Barbie World" which features a sample from the 1997 Aqua hit, "Barbie Girl." Other musicians on the soundtrack include Charli XCX, Karol G, Lizzo, and The Kid Laroi.

It's unknown if Barbie will remove the map scene to allow the film to be shown in the country.

Tatiana Krisztina