With the release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie finally arriving at the end of this month, the whole world is gearing up for the thematic climax of “Barbie Summer” — the whole world except Vietnam, that is. That’s because the Southeast Asian nation has banned the release of the film, citing a bizarre, cartoonish world map as the reason.
Vietnamese officials are claiming that the film features a map which depicts the “nine-dash line,” a controversial set of lines that appear on maps to convey China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea. Vietnam also has claims over the region and has been disputing with China over the issue for decades, leading to a strong distaste of the “nine-dash line” in the minds of some Vietnamese.
“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,” said Vi Kien Thanh, the head of the Vietnam Cinema Department. The official decision to block the film’s release was made by the nation’s National Film Appraisal and Classification Board.
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In Barbie’s defense, her sense of geography isn’t, um, great. In a screen-grab of the map, countries are fragmented, giant floating blobs, and there are unrecognizable peninsulas, islands, and doodles galore. None of the blobs are exactly discernible as real-world nations, but two big blobs are labeled “Africa” and “Asia,” and right off the coast of the “Asia” blob is a dotted line, which may or may not be the “nine-dash line.” Even so, the line is actually eight dashes, not nine, and the map has such an over-the-top cartoonish affect that it’s hard to take seriously beyond being a prop in a movie.
On the other hand, the issue of the South China Sea is real, and quite contentious. So, why even include the world map at all? Why even bring up the possibility of controversy in a context where it’s not necessary? It feels irresponsible. It doesn’t even feel very “Barbie” of Barbie — as one Twitter user wrote: “Why would Barbie ever need to know what the South China Sea is?”
Either way, the lines appear on the map, and now Barbie Summer won’t reach the people of Vietnam because of it. Looks like Oppenheimer isn’t the only blockbuster geopolitical drama of the summer after all!
Barbie premieres in Los Angeles this upcoming Sunday (July 9th), and will hit theaters worldwide on July 21st. The accompanying soundtrack drops the same day, featuring Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, Karol G, and PinkPantheress. Revisit the most recent trailer here.
Barbie leading Oppenheimer in Asia-Pacific geopolitical controversy is wild https://t.co/4kvDwVqioR
— G. L. (@gldivittorio) July 3, 2023
