A map of the South China Sea has created controversy for the movie 'Barbie'.
American movie studio Warner Brothers has defended a map of the South China Sea in its 'Barbie' film that has led to a ban in Vietnam. The studio said the map used in the movie has no political significance. In a statement on Thursday, the studio said the map is "whimsical, child-like crayon drawing", according to an Al-Jazeera report. The controversy surfaced after Variety reported that the film contains a scene that depicts a map with the "nine dash line", a representation of China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Vietnam said that it violates its sovereignty.
"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," Warner Brother Studio said in the statement.
The film, directed by Greta Grewig, stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken. It is among the most eagerly anticipated films of 2023 and is set to release on July 21.
But Vietnam, however, announced that the movie will not be released owing to the map.
"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 Vietnam state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper citing the head Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh, who said that the decision was decided by Vietnam's National Film Evaluation Council.
This is not the first time the inclusion of the nine-dash line has stirred controversy in the movie field.
Last year, 'Uncharted', the action-and-adventure movie starring Tom Holland, was banned from theatres due to scenes featuring the nine-dash line.