Controversy Surrounding “Barbie” Film’s Depiction of South China Sea Dispute

The upcoming blockbuster “Barbie” will probably be one of the big talking points of the cinema summer.

But the film by no means excites everyone and receives criticism even before it has had its first official screening.

In the Philippines, a senator believes that several of the scenes “violate the rights of Filipino fishermen”. In Vietnam, the government bans the country’s cinemas from showing the film.

The backdrop: a dotted map line and a historic power struggle for resources in the South China Sea.

Prohibits cinema screenings

In one of the film’s trailers, a drawn map line is shown. Vietnamese and Philippine authorities believe it shows a controversial map line, drawn by China in 1947.

The map is known as the nine-dotted line.

In the map from Barbie, Asia is shown with a dotted line of eight points.

Photo: Warner Bros / Screenshot

China claims it has a historic claim to everything within this line – about 90 percent of the South China Sea. However, the claim was rejected by the UN Court in The Hague in 2016.

– The Norwegian Film Authority saw the film and decided to ban cinema screenings in Vietnam due to violations regarding “the nine-dotted line”, say the Vietnamese authorities.

Within the line lie the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands. In the surrounding waters, there are believed to be large deposits of minerals, oil and gas.

China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims in the South China Sea.

Vietnamese cheer as they display posters as the United Nations International Court of Arbitration announced it rejected the nine-dash line, July 12, 2016.

Photo: Bullit Marquez / App

Violates the rights of fishermen

Philippine senator Francis Tolentino has criticized the film for “violating the rights of Filipino fishermen”. He too points to the nine dotted line as the cause.

Nevertheless, Philippine authorities will allow the country’s cinemas to show the film.

On May 17, 1997, the Philippine Navy planted the country’s flag on a reef in the Panatag Archipelago in the South China Sea. The Court of Arbitration in The Hague has recently determined that China has no historical claim to the islands in the South China Sea.

Photo: JESS YUSON / AFP

The Philippine Censor Board has given the thumbs up to show the film in the country’s cinemas. But that only happened after they watched the film twice and consulted with the country’s foreign ministry.

Must blur maps

They assure the senator that they had asked the Hollywood studio Warner Bros to “blur” the lines on the map.

The censorship board believes that the fictional map only shows the action in the film, when Barbie travels from “Barbie Land” to the “real world”.

The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. China calls the islands Nansha, Vietnam Truong Sa and the Philippines Kalayaan. Illustration photo.

Foto: HANDOUT / REUTERS

– Rest assured that the board has used all possible resources to reach this decision.

The board points out that they have previously sanctioned filmmakers, producers and distributors for showing a fictitious “nine dotted line”.

Last year, Vietnam and the Philippines banned the film “Uncharted”, starring Tom Holland, for the same reason.

“Barbie” is produced by Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie. The film has its Norwegian premiere on 21 July.

2023-07-13 10:43:45
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