Philippines Allows Barbie Film but Wants Controversial Map Blurred 

Australian actress Margot Robbie meets fans during a pink carpet event to promote her new film "Barbie" in Seoul on July 2, 2023. (AFP)
Australian actress Margot Robbie meets fans during a pink carpet event to promote her new film "Barbie" in Seoul on July 2, 2023. (AFP)
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Philippines Allows Barbie Film but Wants Controversial Map Blurred 

Australian actress Margot Robbie meets fans during a pink carpet event to promote her new film "Barbie" in Seoul on July 2, 2023. (AFP)
Australian actress Margot Robbie meets fans during a pink carpet event to promote her new film "Barbie" in Seoul on July 2, 2023. (AFP)

Philippine censors said Wednesday they have allowed the upcoming Barbie film to be shown in cinemas, after asking its Hollywood distributor to blur a map allegedly showing China's claims to the disputed South China Sea.

The fantasy comedy film about the famous doll, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is set to open in the Southeast Asian nation on July 19.

After reviewing the film twice and consulting foreign affairs officials and legal experts, the government's Movie and Television Review and Classification Board said it would allow it to be screened.

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 maritime claims.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite rival claims from other Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.

But after "meticulous" scrutiny of the film, Philippine censors were convinced 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 in a statement.

"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."

In a separate letter to Philippine Senator Francis Tolentino, who had criticized the film for "violating Filipino fisherfolks' rights", the censors said they had asked Hollywood studio Warner Bros to "blur" the controversial lines on the map.

Dashed lines drawn in a "child-like manner" appeared in several locations on the map around land masses identified as Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia, the censors said.

But it found only eight dashes around the landmass labelled "Asia".

"Moreover, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia are not visible on the map," the board said in the letter dated July 11 and shared with reporters.

"This is in stark contrast to the maps found in the banned films 'Abominable (2019)' and 'Uncharted (2022)'," it said.

Warner Bros did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

But a Warner Bros spokesperson was quoted by Variety as saying the map was a "child-like crayon drawing" and "not intended to make any type of statement".

The Philippines' approval of "Barbie" coincided with the seventh anniversary of an international ruling that China's historical claims to the South China Sea have no legal basis.



Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

 This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
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Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

 This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)

Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle “Heads of State,” but it’s surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO.

The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected US President Will Derringer, a former action star.

“Heads of State,” directed by Ilya Naishuller (“Nobody”), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that “Heads of State,” which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: “If NATO falls, there’s no backstop against despots and dictators.”

It’s a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that “Heads of State” is too timely, don’t. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much “Heads of State” — like most of Hollywood’s output — is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality.

You could argue that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of “Heads of State” is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie’s mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences.

The best thing going for “Heads of State” is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The “Suicide Squad” co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters’ divergent histories — Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician — in debates like which one of them is “gym strong” as opposed to “strong strong.”

That’s one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in “Heads of State” goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies — “Midnight Run,” “48 Hrs.,” “The Nice Guys” — are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena’s Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they’re both beefy dudes in suits.

As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we’re left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions.