Philippines to permit ‘Barbie’ film regardless of Chinese language map controversy

The Philippines’ Film and Tv Assessment and Classification Board (MTRCB) says it can permit the brand new “Barbie” film to be launched in theaters within the nation, after reviewing a controversial scene that incorporates a map that critics say depicts China’s claimed territory within the South China Sea.

The MTRCB stated it performed two opinions of a scene from the Margot Robbie-starring flick, through which a cartoon map labeled elements of the ocean that Vietnam claims as its personal as Chinese language territory. China makes use of a U-shaped line, known as a nine-dash, to mark its claims over huge areas of the South China Sea.

Final week, Vietnam banned “Barbie” — which was poised to debut in theaters on July 21 — from home distribution consequently. The MTRCB had stated earlier this month that it was contemplating the identical transfer as Vietnam.

However in a Wednesday statement, the MTRCB stated, “Contemplating the context by which the cartoonish map of the character ‘Bizarre Barbie’ was portrayed within the movie, the Assessment Committee is satisfied that the contentious scene doesn’t depict the ‘nine-dash line.’”

“As an alternative, the map portrayed the route of the make-believe journey of Barbie from Barbie Land to the ‘actual world,’ as an integral a part of the story,” the assertion stated. However, the MTRCB warned, “Relaxation assured that the Board has exhausted all attainable assets in arriving at this determination as we’ve got not hesitated previously to sanction filmmakers/producers/distributors for exhibiting the fictional ‘nine-dash line’ of their supplies.”

In a press release to Selection final week, Warner Bros. Movie Group dismissed the map as a “child-like crayon drawing” that seems “in Barbie Land,” saying it “was not supposed to make any sort of assertion.”