the movie premiere Barbie is one of the most anticipated of the season and many already have the date of July 21 marked on the agenda to enjoy the latest work by the renowned film director Greta Gerwig. The movie starring Hollywood stars margot robbiewho plays the role of the main character, and Ryan Gosling as Ken has generated a lot of conversation and excitement with each trailer released, with the confirmation of the cast or even with simple leaked photos of the shoot, but now the news has broken that a country does not you will be able to enjoy it for its censorship.

The country responsible for this censorship is Vietnam and has decided ban the next release of Barbi’s moviee for a detail that, at first glance, may seem insignificant to many. The problem that the new film poses to this country is a map used in some of the production scenes. The controversial map shows the nine-point line or the U-shaped line used by the People’s Republic of China to claim that area of ​​the South China Sea as its own.

The film, inspired by the plastic doll, was supposed to start screening in Vietnamese theaters on July 21, the same day it was released in Spain, but now Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Vietnam Film Department, has confirmed the ban. to the state newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) while referring to the appearance of the map in certain scenes.

what about the map

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea with the Nine Stripes Line, a U-shaped line spanning virtually all of the resource-rich waters and that an international court declared in 2016 that it lacks legal basis. For its part, Vietnam also claims part of the sea along with other coastal states, including the Philippines, which filed the lawsuit, and Malaysia.

Other censorships in Vietnam

It’s not the first time Hanoi has cracked down on films over China’s sweeping claims. Last year, he banned the movie fromTom HollandUncharted and in 2019, the animated film Abominable was pulled from screens after the discovery of scenes showing the map.