As the Nine-dash line in South China Sea is obstructing Barbie’s entry into Vietnam, it brings into focus how geopolitics is the new reason forbanning films

Mona

The clamour for movies being banned in India is nothing new — hurting religious sentiments, distorting history, family taking offence to biopics, the list of reasons is rather long. Add another reason to it—geopolitics. Though this time it’s a Hollywood flick being banned in Vietnam.

As Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy Barbie hits international screens today, people in Vietnam would miss their chance to see Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The point of contention is the Nine-dash line making a blink and miss appearance in the trailer. The Nine-dash line is controversial due to border disputes between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines in South China Sea.

Initially, there was clamour in Philippines for banning the film as well, but the country’s Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) cleared the film with PG rating, requesting Warner Bros. to ‘blur the controversial lines in order to avoid further misinterpretations’. Warner Bros jumped in to control the damage , issuing a statement that the child-like crayon drawing depicting Barbie’s journey from Barbieland to the real world and was ‘not intended to make any type of statement’.

Not the only one

Barbie is not the first film to land in Nine-dash line controversy. Before this, Abominable (2019) and Uncharted (2022) met a similar fate. Jill Culton’s computer-animated adventure film Abominable also had a map with the Nine-dash line, which led to the film being banned in Vietnam 10 days after its release. Authorities in Philippines and Malaysia wanted the scene cut from the film that Universal didn’t agree to, which led to the film being banned in both these countries. Tom Holland-starrer Uncharted also had the same controversial map with Nine-dash line for a treasure hunt map. While Vietnam banned it over ‘illegal images’, Philippines followed suit citing the scenes with the map as ‘contrary to national interest’.

It’s not just territorial disputes that have led to different nations banning films, mythology and ethnicity have also stirred the hornet’s nest. Adipurush had its share of lows, and while there were calls to ban the film in India, which did not happen, Nepal banned it for some time. The point of contention was a dialogue that claimed Sita as ‘India’s daughter!” While some believe Sita was born in Mithila, Bihar, in India, others claim she was born in Mithila, Nepal. The Prabhas-starrer was banned in Kathmandu, but a Nepal court later lifted the ban.

Docu-drama Queen Cleopatra on Netflix led to a furore in Egypt over casting of mixed race British actress Adele James, leading to accusations of ‘blackwashing’ and ‘appropriating’ Egyptian culture. The call for diversity has led to issues within America. The Little Mermaid with black Ariel didn’t go down well as social media was inundated with #notmyariel over casting of Halle Bailey in titular role. Not only the US, the film faced a similar outcry in China and South Korea.

Novelist and screenwriter Sumrit Shahi agrees that the world is getting more divisive, “With the rise of nationalism, interpretation of globe is getting narrower.” While writing, he likes to take a calculated risk. “To save myself from such issues, it is best to fictionalise the place. When writing, if it looks like something can lead to a huge controversy, completely avoid it. But sometimes it’s okay to take a calculated risk.”

Nine–dash line becoming the point of contention thrice lately, he points out, “For Hollywood, probably Vietnam or Philippines don’t make that big a market as say India or China, so many a times its a call on how something affects your business.”

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