Barbie poster. (Courtesy of Barbie the Movie Facebook page)
MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) believes the alleged path drawn on a map featured in the upcoming movie “Barbie” is nothing more than fiction.
In a statement on Wednesday, the DFA confirmed that it provided an advice to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) amid the depiction of what seemed like China’s nine-dash line in the movie -- an inclusion that also prompted Vietnam, a claimant state in the South China Sea, to bar the film.
“Having carefully reviewed the film, the Department is not convinced that the lines shown depict anything more than a fictitious path, in an imaginary world map,” it said.
“To avoid any misinterpretation, the Department has provided advice to the MTRCB. The Department trusts that the MTRCB will do its utmost in the exercise of their mandate,” it added.
The DFA said the MTRCB held a joint screening of the movie "Barbie" where it helped ascertain if the depiction of the imaginary world map is inimical to the national interest in the context of adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled as illegal the so-called nine-dash line, which Beijing uses to illustrate its claims on at least 80 percent of the South China Sea.
The invisible demarcation likewise overlaps with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
This is not the first time a Hollywood film was embroiled in the South China Sea row.
Previously, the Philippine government formally banned the screening of “Uncharted” and “Abominable” over scenes depicting the nine-dash line. (PNA)
