Foreign Expert: 'Barbie' Movie Appeases Chinese Censors

A world map shown in the upcoming Warner Bros. movie "Barbie" was drawn to appeal to "Chinese censors," Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer said Thursday.

"Barbie" is scheduled to be released July 21.

A crude map shown in the background during one scene shows a line comprised of eight dashes jutting out of Asia and into sea.

Critics say the line is an attempt to honor China's nine-dash South China Sea line, which depicts Chinese Communist Party territorial claims on islands and waters that are disputed by much of Southeast Asia, including Taiwan and Vietnam.

Bremmer was asked about the map during an appearance on "Fox and Friends."

"It's done in crayon, it's a couple of dots, it's eight dots, not nine, and it's coming off of Asia, and of course Warner Brothers is saying 'Oh no, no, c'mon, this is just like kids, we weren't doing anything,' " Bremmer said.

"What Warner Bros. is doing, what Barbie was doing, maybe it was really Ken, was saying 'We have a hard time getting through the censors. Maybe if we put this eight dash line in the Chinese censors will say it's fine and they'll promote us while no one in Southeast Asia, the Vietnamese, the rest, they'll recognize that this isn't really a thing. We can make everyone happy.' Didn't work."

So far, Vietnam has banned "Barbie," and the Philippines has demanded that the map be blurred.

Bremmer mentioned that Pixar's 2019 film "Abominable" was banned in several countries for its own depiction of the nine-dash line.

"They're [Warner Bros.] trying to have it both ways! How many people want to have it both ways? The NBA wants to have it both ways, Elon wants to have it both ways, Hollywood wants it both ways," Bremmer said.

"The fact is, biggest box office in the world is China. But if you don't play by the censor rules, you aren't going in. And what are we gonna do? We're gonna beat on them back in the United States."

The Pentagon recently announced it will refuse to work with movie producers that adhere to any censorship demands by the Chinese government.

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