Barbie: Philippines declares no ban on Margot Robbie starrer; Here’s what happens to controversial map scene

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has reached its peak hype with fans awaiting the Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling starrer to hit the theaters next week. Though in South East Asia, fans held their breath as Vietnam banned the movie. Later, the Philippines found itself in a heated discussion over the future of the premiere of the much-anticipated film Barbie on the big screens.

Margot Robbie starrer Barbie gets green light from Philippines officials

Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the iconic characters Barbie and Ken, this eagerly awaited blockbuster will hit theaters nationwide in the Southeast Asian country on July 19. After an extensive week of evaluation and extensive public discussion, The Philippines has chosen not to impose a ban on the highly anticipated Barbie movie directed by Greta Gerwig.

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In a letter released to the public on 12th June, the country’s Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTPCB) stated that they had “exhausted all possible resources to arrive at this decision,” after consulting with foreign affairs officials and legal experts before coming to a decision. The censors decided that they had “no basis to ban the film” after a “meticulous” examination of the film.

The solution to the controversial ‘map scene’

In a separate letter addressed to a local Senator, the board conveyed that it has formally requested Warner Bros. to blur a specific portion of the controversial map scene that triggered the fiasco to ensure that no viewers will “misinterpret” it.

The Philippino officials from the censor board officials said in a statement that they believed the “cartoonish map” depicted in the film was not intended to represent the nine-dash line. They said, “Instead, the map portrayed the route of the make-believe journey of Barbie from Barbie Land to the ‘real world,’ as an integral part of the story.”

Additionally, the censor said dashed lines drawn in a “child-like manner” were present in multiple areas on the map, identifiable as Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia, though they pointed out that only eight dashes were present around the landmass titled Asia.

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What is the Barbie map controversy all about?

Barbie faced a ban in Vietnam and sparked outrage across Southeast Asia due to a sequence that some viewers alleged depicted a map featuring the controversial “nine-dash line.” This line, shaped like a U, symbolizes China’s disputed territorial claims that extend deeply into the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all assert that these claims violate their sovereignty.