Barbie gets green light for Philippines release but with a special condition

One of the most highly anticipated movies of the year, Barbie, has been finally cleared for its release in the Philippines. However, this has been announced after a week of deliberation by local censor boards and government officials with the condition that the map of the South China Sea has to be blurred out in a particular scene.

As of now, the movie will be released on July 19, 2023, in the Philippines and on July 21, 2023, throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

Directed by the talented Greta Gerwig and featuring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in leading roles, this ensemble movie had a budget of $100 million. The official synopsis on the movie's website says:

"To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken."

Written by Gerwig herself and her partner, Noah Baumbach, the movie is produced by Heyday Films, LuckyChap Entertainment, NB/GG Pictures, and Mattel Films.

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Barbie is to release in the Philippines on July 19 with specific conditions

The Philippines Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTPCB) in the Philippines have allowed the release of Greta Gerwig's Barbie on July 19, 2023, as was scheduled earlier for South-East Asian countries.

However, the green light comes with a condition. The country has asked the US distribution company, Warner Bros. Pictures, to remove or blur the apparent U-shaped nine-dash line visible on a map in a scene of the movie.

The nine-dash line (sometimes referred to as the eleven-dash line by China) is a controversial topic as the Republic of China indicates its unauthorized maritime claims over the South China Sea.

The contesting countries include the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia. While the production has been banned in Vietnam owing to the same reason, the Philippines government had reviewed the film twice before arriving at the decision.

The scene with the controversial world map in Barbie (Image via Warner Bros. Pictures)

The scene from Barbie depicts a brightly colored 'cartoonish' map in the background. The censor board 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. Rest assured that the board has exhausted all possible resources in arriving at this decision as we have not hesitated in the past to sanction filmmakers/ producers/distributors for exhibiting the fictitious ’nine-dash line’ in their materials.”

However, the Philippine senator Francis Tolentino, who was offended by the film “violating Filipino fisherfolks’ rights”, received a letter from the Philippines censor board mentioning their request to Warner Bros. Pictures.

So far, it has been established that there are eight dashes on the map in the scene. Besides, the drawing appears to be done in a childlike manner without much intention behind it as disclosed by an unnamed Warner Bros. spokesperson to Variety. The letter from the censorship board, dated July 11, 2023, further stated:

"Moreover, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia are not visible on the map. This is in stark contrast to the maps found in the banned films Abominable (2019) and Uncharted (2022).”

The film has been granted a PG certificate in the Philippines which means that a child below the age of 13 should be accompanied by an adult.

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Head to the theatres on July 21, 2023, in the United States to watch the movie