Barbie has been one of the most discussed topics in the world of cinema at present. The movie had huge anticipation around it since the day it was announced. But recently, the Margot Robbie starrer was subjected to massive controversy after a map shown in the movie allegedly showed the Nine-dash line. As a result, the highly anticipated Greta Gerwig directorial got banned in Vietnam.
The Nine-dash line shows China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea. It is not the first time, a movie is going to be banned due to this reason. Abominable and Uncharted have been significant projects that received the same type of treatment as Barbie. But with Waner Bros’ statement on the issue, it is clear that they won’t leave the fight so soon.
What did Warner Bros. say on Barbie‘s Map controversy?
The trailer from the upcoming movie showed a scene where a picture of the map allegedly projected the highly controversial Nine-dash line. Very soon, it was noticed by the Vietnamese officials who banned the movie there.
Now according to an Exclusive report by Variety, the map is purely made out of fiction and is not intended to raise any geopolitical issue.
“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing. 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.”
The main controversy here is raised by the territorial claims by China on the South China Sea which aren’t similar to the claims of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. While Vietnam felt that its sovereignty has been violated by the movie, Phillippines is also reportedly eyeing to ban the movie.
Some sources also claim that the alleged Nine-dash line is nothing but imaginary journey lines shown in movies which shows Barbie’s journey from the Barbie world to the real world as stated by the synopsis of the movie. The cartoonish map also featured many other dotted journey lines and other childish doodles which might suggest that the sources might not be completely wrong.
A columnist from the Toronto Sun commented that he doubts the map shown in the upcoming movie be admissible in the International Court of Justice. He also added that it is cartoonishly unrealistic.
“I’m not sure this map, which you’d miss if you blinked at the one-minute mark in the third trailer, is admissible in the International Court of Justice. It’s cartoonishly unrealistic. Where is continental Europe? New Zealand? What do the sailboats represent? Is that a jester’s crown atop Iceland?”
There will also be a huge impact on Barbie’s ban in Vietnam and the probable ban in the Philippines. The loss of South-East Asia territory might result in a big difference with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
Is Warner Bros. afraid of the Oppenheimer challenge?
This Summer is filled with several big releases starring numerous big faces. After parting with Christopher Nolan over differences, Warner Bros. decided to release Barbie on the same day as Oppenheimer. This is bound to create an electrifying clash between the two big releases.
Looks like Warner Bros. is trying hard to tackle the geopolitical issue raised by the alleged lines on the map to prevent a major loss to Oppenheimer. While both movies are of different genres and focus on totally different things, this controversy might affect the overall collection of Barbie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the lead.
Oppenheimer focuses on the ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’ J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. It also stars some of the biggest stars of Hollywood like Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Emily Blunt.
Barbie and Oppenheimer, both are going to hit the theaters on July 21, 2023.
Source: Variety
