Vietnam Has Banned the 'Barbie' Movie–Who's Next?
Who said details in a movie are not important?
The Barbie film has been banned in Vietnam, and now the Philippines is considering banning the movie as well. and it has nothing to do with the story or the characters.
So why are they banning the movie? Well, it has to do with a map that is seen on screen for only a moment.
The map has a “nine-dash line,” which depicts China as owning around 90 percent of the South China Sea. According to an international tribunal at The Hague, China actually had no legal basis for claiming that sea. Instead of taking this and backing off, China brought its military into that region and occupied some islands there.
So, in layman's terms, these countries are upset over an American movie showing the preferred map of China.
There is no word on if anyone involved with the movie knew which map they were using and why, but the ramifications are complicated. Vietnam and the Philippines represent smaller markets. So there's not much risk of losing a ton of money there. But China represents a much larger financial interest, so you wouldn't want to edit the movie just to please two smaller countries.
It's a real conundrum, but it shows how delicate it can be to release a movie worldwide. The real fight is in the details.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
