Who thought that geography would be the focus of Barbie‘s eagerly awaited summer movie premiere, among all the outstanding abilities she has gathered in her 64 years as an exceptionally talented and professional doll?
But here we are. Trailers for the upcoming “Barbie,” from director Greta Gerwig have led to the dissemination of a controversial map used in the film, the one depicted in a scene with stars Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon. The studio tried to do some damage control by speaking out about the speculations after days of international headlines.
After Vietnam outlawed Greta Gerwig’s humorous fantasy film on the famed doll just last week, Warner Bros.‘ “Barbie” is unsurprisingly turning out to be one of the most divisive films to be released this summer. After calls for the banning of the screenings of the film were made in response to a contentious map of China’s “nine-dash line,” the Philippines, interestingly enough, approved the release of the “Barbie” movie.
The childish map, which had dolphins scrawled in chalk and even a hashtag floating around the planet’s enormous bodies of water, incited the wrath of many Vietnamese movie gatekeepers this week. The picture shows what has been referred to as a representation of the “nine-dash line,” which supports China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. There are only eight lines on the “Barbie” map, and they are not in the shape required by true global maps. Vietnam contests those assertions and considers them to be an infringement on its sovereignty. The following withdrawal of “Barbie” from the territory by officials.
The conclusion was reached after the film review board decided that the map was too “cartoonish” and that the film did not include any representation of a contested map that China uses to support its claims to significant areas of the greatly troubled South China Sea region.
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What significance does the map have in the film?
Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, is having an existential crisis within the confines of her pink fantasy world. McKinnon’s character of the Weird Barbie, a companion doll’s, and her whimsical map to “the Real World” are what urge her to embark on a quest of self-discovery. Some have interpreted the “nine-dash line” to be what one source referred to as “journey lines,” which are the serial dashes frequently used in animation and children’s paintings to indicate a character’s route to or from a location.
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Warner Bros. and Gerwig representatives have declined to give any comments on specific movie plot details. The map featured in the film also includes arrows, boats, and other alleged “journey lines.” According to the sources, the drawing in “Barbie” is merely the doll’s own journey to enlightenment, despite the fact that filmmakers are attentive to the geopolitical difficulties posed by the map and issues ignited by Senator Ted Cruz.
The movie has generated a lot of attention, and fans seem to be noticing every detail of the film in great detail, whether it is the age of the Ken doll or the creation of the absolutely perfect and iconic CGI foot arch.
Warner Bros.’ response to the controversy
According to a Warner Bros. Film Group spokesperson who talked to Variety in depth, the map in Barbie Land is drawn with crayons in a quite childlike manner. The drawings show Barbie making a pretend trip from Barbie Land to the “real world.” It wasn’t meant to be a political statement of any kind.
According to Vinay Menon, a columnist for the Toronto Sun, he said that he was not sure if the International Court of Justice would accept this map because it is absurdly cartoonish and unrealistic, which you might even miss if you blink somewhere around the one-minute mark in the third trailer.
He went on to point out that there was no Europe or New Zealand on the map and the meaning of the sailboats was also not very clear, not to mention the clown’s cap like structure perched atop Iceland.
Fans are more excited than ever for the film’s premiere as a result of all these little issues here and there. The movie Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, will be released in theatres on the 21st of July. The star-studded cast also includes Dua Lipa, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae and Simu Liu to name a few.
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