Why Barbie Just Got Banned In Vietnam

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has been setting itself up to be a massive summer offering as of late, between the Barbie trailer looking hilarious and tons of celebs making Barbiecore go viral. However, the movie won’t make a splash everywhere now that it has been banned from screening in Vietnam. The reason regarding why previously had other movies like Dreamworks’ Abominable and the Tom Holland-led Uncharted earning the same fate in years past.

There is a controversial distinction on maps called the “nine-dash line,” a representation of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea that reportedly is included somewhere in the 2023 new movie release. Since Vietnam contests that the nine-dash line violates its sovereignty, commercial screenings of Barbie have officially been banned in the country.

Barbie

Release Date: July 21, 2023
Directed By: Greta Gerwig
Written By: Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, Hari Nef, Emma Mackey, and more.
Rating: PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language
Runtime: 114 minutes

Vi Kien Thanh, who is director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department, shared on Monday that the country does not grant license for Barbie to release in Vietnam because it “contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.” The ban was voted on by the National Film Evaluation Council, and per Variety, Warner Bros. did not respond to requests from the outlet to comment on the piece of news about the major release.

The nine-dash line is located in the South China Sea, where it’s long been speculated whether the line symbolizes Chinese territorial claim. In 2016, a United Nations Law of the Sea Convention Tribunal ruled unanimously that China’s claim with the nine-dash line had no basis in international law. Even so, apparently China continues to use the distinction on maps and reportedly asserts itself in the region.

Vietnam’s response to Barbie is really less about not wanting to celebrate the Margot Robbie film and more about resisting China’s nine-dash line claims. The subject of Barbie being banned seems to be shown briefly in the Barbie trailer too, when Margot Robbie’s Barbie meets Kate McKinnon’s Barbie and she inspires her to leave Barbie Land and explore the real world. Check out the screenshot:

As referenced earlier, Barbie isn’t the first movie to be banned for this reason. 2019’s Abominable, which followed a Chinese girl who meets a Yeti on a roof and travels with him through the Himalaya mountains, was also banned for depicting the nine-dash line in a map in the movie. And in 2022, Sony’s Uncharted dealt with the same backlash for having a map depicting the nine-dash line as well.

Elsewhere in the world, Barbie has a raunchy French poster with a double meaning, whilst the Barbie cast has gone all over the world promoting the film, including Australia and Seoul recently. While Vietnam won’t get to check out the movie in theaters, Barbie comes out in the U.S. on July 21.