Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Is Banned In Vietnam Over Child-Like Map Drawing

A spokesperson for the Warner Bros. Film Group has issued the following (yes this is actually real) statement to Variety regarding this “Barbie” controversy:

“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing. 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.”

While representatives for Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros. have yet to comment on how, precisely, this map figures into the film’s plot, Variety’s sources assure them that the filmmakers “are sensitive to the geopolitical issues raised by the map” and say the map is “simply the doll’s own road to enlightenment.” Adding to that, it seems part of the reason Gerwig and her “Barbie” co-writer Noah Baumbach were afforded so much creative freedom to make the film their own is that they steered clear of any dicey topics involving international politics. Instead, Gerwig’s film appears to focus its social commentary on the “Barbie” brand itself, making it an exercise in self-reflexive storytelling that brings to mind the oeuvre of “The LEGO Movie” and “Spider-Verse” duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Alas, audiences in Vietnam will merely have to wonder exactly what Gerwig and company have cooked up here until further notice. The rest of us can see for ourselves when “Barbie” reaches theaters on July 21, 2023.

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