Warner Bros. Responds To 'Barbie' Movie Getting Banned in Vietnam Over Map Drawing

Warner Bros. is speaking out and defending their upcoming movie, Barbie, following it getting banned in Vietnam.

If you missed it, the country prohibited the release of the flick in the country over a disputed area of the ocean – with the “nine dash line,” which represents China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Vietnam says violates its sovereignty.

The studio is now responding to their decision.

Keep reading to find out more…

Speaking to Variety about the issue, Warner Bros. says that the map is not really meant to be taken that seriously.

“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” they said in response. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

The map comes up in the movie as Margot Robbie‘s title character prepares to go to the “Real World”, and is provided a map from Kate McKinnon‘s Weird Barbie.

The representation of the “nine dash line” is a series of dashes that are “journey lines” as Margot travels to LA.

Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Issa Rae and America Ferrera also star in the movie, out on July 21.