‘Barbie’ Map Controversy: Warner Bros. Explains the ‘Doodle’ That Got the Film Banned in Vietnam (EXCLUSIVE)

Whoopi Goldberg is taking her love to the next level. The host of ABC's showed off her quirky footwear on Tuesday's broadcast, wearing white boots with a clear platform heel that was filled with decapitated Barbie doll heads.The style statement came as Goldberg, 67, was engaged in discussion about recent criticism of Greta Gerwig's blockbuster film, defending the movie against judgment from conservative columnist Ben Shapiro and Senator Ted Cruz.«It’s a movie!» she declared on the show. «It’s a movie about a doll!»She continued, «I thought y'all would be happy.

Whoopi Goldberg has hit back at criticism of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie from conservative commentators like Ted Cruz and Ben Shapiro.On Tuesday’s (July 25) episode of US chat show The View, a reel of various right-wing commentators criticising the film was shown. Among the clips was Texas senator Cruz, who described it as “Chinese communist propaganda” due to its depiction of a disputed region in the South China Sea (via Business Insider).Shapiro, meanwhile, branded it “one of the worst movies I have ever seen” and “angry, feminist claptrap that alienates men from women” in his YouTube review.In response to their comments, Goldberg said: “It’s a movie! It’s a movie about a doll!“I thought y’all would be happy. She has no genitalia, so there’s no sex involved.

After a blowout debut weekend, Barbenheimer showed strong continued momentum at the international box office on Monday. Warner Bros’ Barbie for its part had the best Monday ever for the studio overseas at $32M from 69 markets (it also scored the studio’s best Monday domestically). The running offshore total through yesterday is $226.3M, bringing the global Kenergy to $414.4M.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Much media attention has been paid to conservative figures such as Ben Shapiro and Ted Cruz being outraged over Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie. Even Elon Musk jointed the anti-“Barbie” brigade by mocking the film for taking aim at the patriarchy. “If you take a shot every time Barbie says the word ‘Patriarchy,’ you will pass out before the movie ends,” Musk posted.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Unless you’ve been trapped in a plastic toy box, there’s no escaping the Barbie-core movement that’s sweeping the globe — and potentially contributing a nationwide shortage of the color pink. The marketing department at Warner Bros. has been working in overdrive to entice the masses for Greta Gerwig’s cotton candy-colored fantasy “Barbie,” which has been all but inescapable this summer. A key factor has been a dizzying array of partnerships with products that range from a bright fuchsia Xbox (for STEM Barbie) to this $1,350 Balmain cropped hoodie (for Disposable Income Barbie). And that’s only scratching the surface of the brands that helped propel the movie to cultural touchstone status before arriving in theaters on July 21. In Malibu, there’s a real-life Barbie Dreamhouse that’s bookable through Airbnb. There’s also a themed boat cruise that’s setting sail in the Boston area.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter The battle of the bomb versus the bombshell has gone global. Over the weekend, Greta Gerwig’s very pink fantasy-comedy “Barbie” collected a stunning $182 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide total to $337 million. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s R-rated historical drama “Oppenheimer” held its own, igniting to $93.7 million from 78 markets for a huge global tally of $174 million. The two seemingly different blockbusters, which were jokingly pitted against each other, crushed already-stratospheric expectations thanks to the cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer.” Hundreds of thousands of moviegoers booked a double feature for the ages, attending same-day viewings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”

The highly anticipated "Barbie" movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is in theaters now, but there have been multiple controversies leading up to the film’s release. After years in development, with different writers and stars attached, including comedian Amy Schumer and Oscar-winner Diablo Cody, the film went into production with Robbie starring as the iconic doll. But as soon as the first full trailer for the movie arrived, controversies began to stir.

At a time when the industry is suffering through historic dual strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the motion picture industry is poised to see an enormous weekend at the box office with Warner Bros./Mattel’s long awaited toy feature adaptation Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s World War II era three-hour adult drama Oppenheimer reaping a combined $260M+ global start.

Barbie film to be shown in the country’s cinemas, but have asked Hollywood distributors to blur the lines on a child-like drawing of a world map, which allegedly shows China’s disputed maritime claims.The film about the Mattel doll – directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – is set to open in the south-east Asian nation on July 19.The censors began examining Barbie last week after Vietnam reportedly banned the film over scenes featuring a map showing the so-called nine-dash line, which China uses to justify its claim to the South China Sea.Beijing claims territorial ownership over almost the entire South China Sea, despite rival claims from other south-east Asian countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.However, after “meticulous” scrutiny of the film, Philippine censors were satisfied that the “cartoonish map” did not depict the nine-dash line.“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,” the censorship board said (via The Guardian).“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.”Despite being satisfied, the censors have still asked Hollywood studio Warner Bros. to “blur” the controversial lines on the map.

The 1996 film Fear was an uncomfortable but “formative” part of Reese Witherspoon’s acting career.

Barbie won’t be banned in the Philippines after all, following a week-long review by local censors and government officials, although a scene with a controversial map of the South China Sea might be blurred for release.

The upcoming “Barbie” movie has been approved a commercial release in the Philippines after the country conducted “two review sessions and consultations with relevant government agencies,” as per a statement from the country’s Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) via Variety. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has been allowed a commercial release in the Philippines, following a review by the country’s film censors. However, the scene that shows a controversial map may have to be blurred. The film was last week banned in Vietnam over its inclusion of a scene with a map alleged to show the ‘nine dash line’ by which China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea as its own territory. Vietnam says that China’s claims violate its sovereignty and that films and TV shows must not show the illegal map. On Monday, Vietnam banned Chinese series “Flight to You” for showing the map in multiple episodes.

Far-right conservative preacher Kent Christmas asked God to “loose a Holy judgment” on the upcoming Barbie movie because it is “full of transsexual and transgender and homosexuality.”Posted on June 25, a now-viral video shows the Tennessee-based Christmas saying, “I curse in the name of the Lord this new Barbie movie that has been released full of transsexual and transgender and homosexuality in the name of the Lord. May God loose a judge, may God loose a Holy judgment.

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

Vietnam’s decision to ban the movie has been making headlinesNow Warner Bros. is attempting to clarify its intention.The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, was set to hit theaters in the country on July 21, aligning with its big-screen release in most countries around the world.However, Vietnam announced the movie will not be released due to a scene that includes a map using the “nine-dash line” — a set of line segments that represents China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea — which Vietnam claims violates its sovereignty.But the studio rejects the need for controversy.“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Authorities in The Philippines are weighing a decision on whether to follow the lead taken by Vietnam and ban Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie. Vietnam on Monday announced that it will bar the film’s commercial release due to the movie’s depiction of a map that depicts the “nine dash line,” a disputed representation of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. The Philippines, like Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, have competing claims in the South China Sea and strongly refute China’s claim to nearly the entire maritime region. “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 Philippines Senator Francis Tolentino, vice chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, according to local media reports.

Barbie because the film includes the “nine dash line map” that depicts islands in the South China Sea as being controlled by Beijing.Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, announced that Barbie will not be allowed to commercially screen in the nation, as ruled by the National Film Evaluation Council.“We do not grant license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper stated, citing Thanh (via Variety).The move follows Vietnam banning previous films including Uncharted and Abominable over the same issue.In 2016 the UN ruled unanimously against the validity of the “nine dash line” map, however China responded by saying that it doesn’t recognise the UN’s decision.Meanwhile, in other recent Barbie news, Margot Robbie has revealed the one request she made to director Greta Gerwig before filming the new movie.Set for release on July 21, Gerwig’s film stars Robbie in the titular role, with Ryan Gosling as Ken.Speaking about the film in an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Robbie discussed how she fell in love with the character as a child when she was gifted a Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas.Such was the impact the gift had on her, that she revealed she asked Gerwig to allow her to live out the real-life fantasy of the Dreamhouse in the film.“I’ll follow your vision. Whatever you want this Barbie movie to be, let’s do that,” she remembers telling the director.

From one imaginary world to another, “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig is further building her movie-making resume.

"Barbie" fans in Vietnam may be out of luck, as the country has banned commercial screenings of the film. The Warner Bros. film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was set to be released there on July 21.