Senators want ‘Barbie’ film banned over 9-dash-line scenes

MANILA, Philippines — Senators are calling for a ban on the upcoming film about the iconic Mattel doll “Barbie” over a scene reportedly showing China’s nine-dash-line claim over the South China Sea, which was invalidated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016.

The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, is set to hit Philippine cinemas on July 19. Vietnam has banned the film over the same scene.

A look at the 2:41-minute trailer – uploaded on the official Warner Bros. Pictures Youtube account – showed in the one-minute mark a scene of blonde Barbie and lead actor Margot Robbie talking to “Weird Barbie” played by Kate McKinnon about the real world outside Barbie Land, depicted in a child’s drawing of a world map.

The children’s illustration of the map showed the continent of Asia as one mass of land, with no reference to China or the Philippines.

There was no clear reference to China’s sweeping claims. Still, senators were in an uproar over the fantasy film’s depiction of the nine-dash line.

“If the invalidated 9-dash line was indeed depicted in the movie Barbie, then it is incumbent upon the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ban the same as it denigrates Philippine sovereignty,” said Sen. Francis Tolentino, vice chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee.

Vietnam, also with overlapping claims over the South China Sea, earlier banned the film over the nine-dash line depiction.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada agreed, saying that should the film be pulled out, it would not be the first time, citing the removal from Philippine cinemas of the Sony Pictures film “Uncharted” upon the request of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in April last year for also depicting the invalidated territorial claim.

Estrada cited another controversial film, the DreamWorks animated film “Abominable,” which though not pulled out roused boycott calls from then Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. in 2019 for also showing the illegal line. The film briefly showed a map with China’s nine-dash line next to the Philippines. The movie was coproduced by Chinese production company Pearl Studios.

Opposition senator Risa Hontiveros asked for calm, reminding her colleagues that the fantasy film is just that – a fantasy, like China’s sweeping historical claims.

“The movie is fiction, and so is the nine-dash line,” Hontiveros said. Instead of banning the film, Hontiveros said there should just be a disclaimer that a particular scene is fictional.

“At the minimum, our cinemas should include an explicit disclaimer that the nine-dash line is a figment of China’s imagination,” Hontiveros said.

Harassment

Senators also slammed Beijing yesterday over the latest incident of harassment involving its coast guard vessels that pursued smaller Filipino vessels on a resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships BRP Malabrigo and BRP Malapascua were escorting smaller boats to Ayungin Shoal to resupply the Philippine outpost on the grounded ship BRP Sierra Madre, when they were met by an “armada” of Chinese coast guard and militia vessels ready to “interdict” the mission, former US Air Force colonel Raymond Powell said on Twitter.

Two Chinese coast guard ships “pursued” the Philippine vessels after the resupply mission, he added.

“If the Chinese authoritarian regime truly wants to be the regional leader, she should act responsibly by de-escalating tensions in the region, instead of fanning the flames by engaging in these rash actions outside her territorial sea,” Hontiveros said.

Estrada, who chairs the Senate national defense and security committee, said that while authorities have yet to confirm the June 30 incident, he is “deeply concerned about the reported acts of aggression against the PCG vessels as this violates our sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as endangers the safety and security of our maritime forces.”

Hontiveros reiterated the need for the Senate to adopt her resolution to bring China before the UN General Assembly (UNGA) over its incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

In her resolution filed June 19, Hontiveros urged the Philippine government through the DFA “to sponsor a resolution before the UNGA calling on China to stop its harassment of Philippine vessels within the West Philippine Sea. — Michael Punongbayan