Movie sparks political row: Vietnam throws toys out of pram, bans Barbie film (video)

“I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world, life in plastic, it’s fantastic,” so the Aqua song goes, but not if you’re from Vietnam. It’s hard to imagine a movie about a popular children’s doll could cause an international political crisis but that is exactly what has happened with the latest Warner Bros’ movie Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

Vietnam has metaphorically thrown its toys out of the pram and banned the movie because of a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, marked by the contentious “nine-dash line.” This line is used by China to assert its claims over extensive portions of the sea, encroaching on areas that Vietnam considers part of its continental shelf.

According to Vi Kien Thanh, the head of Vietnam’s Department of Cinema, the government body responsible for licensing and censoring foreign films…

“We do not grant a licence for the American movie Barbie to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.”

Vietnam is among several countries that dispute China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, the Guardian reported. Beijing has been constructing military bases on artificial islands within the region for years, while also conducting frequent naval patrols to reinforce its territorial assertions. Despite an international tribunal ruling against China’s claims in 2016, Beijing has refused to acknowledge the judgment.

Warner Bros Barbie is not the first film to face a ban in Vietnam due to the inclusion of the controversial nine-dash line. In 2019, the DreamWorks animated film Abominable was also pulled from cinemas for the same reason. Additionally, the Department of Cinema has previously restricted the release of the Sony action movie Uncharted and the Australian spy drama Pine Gap in Vietnam.

China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all have competing claims over various parts of the South China Sea, leading to ongoing tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, “Come on Barbie, let’s go party, ooh woa, ooh woa.”

The film, centred around the iconic children’s doll, is set to be released in cinemas on July 21.