Barbie Movie Officially Banned From Showing In Vietnam

JAKARTA - Vietnam has banned the screening of the Barbie film directed by Greta Gerwig. Scheduled to air this month, the local government considers several parts of the film to display a map of the area claimed by China in the South China Sea.

This ban was announced by Vi Kien Thanh as Head of the Sinema Film Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

"We do not give the right to air for the American film 'Barbie' to release in Vietnam because it contains an offensive image of nine broken lines," said the Tuoi Tre newspaper, citing Thanh quoting Variety today, Tuesday, July 4.

It is no secret that Vietnam and China are experiencing conflicts over territorial claims in the South China Sea region.

This is not the first time a film has been banned from showing in Vietnam. Previously, Uncharted and Abominable films also received similar treatment for the same reason.

Apart from films, there are several series affected by these reasons, namely Madam Secretary, Pine Gap, and Put Your Head On My Shoulder.

Barbie is Greta Gerwig's latest film produced by Warner Bros. This film tells of Barbie's adventures in finding the truth outside of life that she has lived in all this time.

Apart from Margot Robbie as the main character, this film also features a number of top stars such as Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Sharon Rooney, Dua Lipa, Nicola Coughlan, Ana Cruz Kayne, Ritu Arya, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, and others.

It doesn't stop there, this film will be filled with songs produced by Mark Ronson. Dua Lipa released Dance the Night as the first soundtrack and then continued with Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice as well as Aqua, Charli XCX, Karol G, Tame Impala, Ryan Gosling, Dominic Fike, HAIM, Kid Laroi.

Singers Pinkpantheress and Ava Max and Gayle are also confirmed to fill the song in this film. K-pop group FIFTY will duet with Kali for a song in this film.

The Barbie film will be released on July 19 at Indonesian cinemas.