Republicans Want to Cancel Barbie for Being Communist
By: Tori Otten (The New Republic)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The movie's producers are "endangering our national security," claimed one lawmaker.
She's a Barbie comrade, in a Communist Barbie world—or so say Republicans, who are doubling down on accusations that the upcoming Barbie movie is Chinese propaganda.
The film, which comes out July 21, stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, who leave Barbie Land to explore the real world. In one scene before they leave, a rough, hand-drawn map of the world can be seen in the background. The map includes the so-called nine-dash line, a much-disputed division of territory in the South China Sea.
Senator Ted Cruz was one of the first U.S. lawmakers to weigh in, sarcastically tweeting, "I guess Barbie is made in China.…" Fox News commentators speculated outright whether Barbie was Communist or not.
More Republicans have joined them. "While it may just be a Barbie map in a Barbie world, the fact that a cartoonish, crayon-scribbled map seems to go out of its way to depict [China's] unlawful territorial claims illustrates the pressure that Hollywood is under to please CCP censors," Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House select committee on China, told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Representative Jim Banks, who also serves on the select committee, accused the film's producers of "endangering our national security."
"We defeated the Soviet Union with Coke, Levi's and James Dean. We need soft power superiority just as much as we need military superiority to win the new Cold War with China, and that's impossible with Hollywood working alongside the Chinese Communist Party," he said.
Representative Mike Waltz accused Hollywood of "hypocrisy" and slammed Barbie as "yet another disgraceful example of Hollywood being in the pocket of communist China." Senator Marsha Blackburn accused the movie of "bending to Beijing."
Leftist Hollywood's new 'Barbie' movie shows a map that supports Communist China's territorial claims to the South China Sea.
Looks like 'Barbie' is bending to Beijing to make a quick buck.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 5, 2023
Representative Mark Green warned Hollywood that continuing to spread Chinese propaganda would cost the industry federal support. "In no world should American films be spreading CCP propaganda," he said. "I encourage all film studios to stand with integrity or lose support from federal entities like the DOD."
In March, Green reintroduced the SCREEN Act, which would bar the U.S. government from helping American studios produce films if the movie is co-produced by a Chinese company.
China has used the nine-dash line to mark its controversial territorial claims in the South China Sea. Over the years, Beijing has tried to claim sovereignty over 90 percent of the region. Even though The Hague ruled in 2016 that China has no legal basis for its claims, the country has pressed on, building military installations on otherwise uninhabited islands in the sea.
Hanoi has already banned the Barbie movie for its inclusion of the nine-dash line, which Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all say violates their sovereignty. The Philippines is also considering banning the film.
For the record, here is the shot in question of the nine-dash line:
I read that Vietnam banned the Barbie movie over it containing a map depicting the Nine Dash Line, which was odd enough on its own, but nothing could have prepared me for this being the offending shot https://t.co/P2WcDYWDRp
— Taras (@Stellaratum) July 3, 2023
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We're all communists now.
"In no world should American films be spreading CCP propaganda,"
Do you think the CCP should dictate the content of movies?
Of all the impressive skills Barbie has amassed in her 64 years as a working doll, who knew that cartography would be a focal point of her highly anticipated summer movie debut?
But here we are. Trailers for the upcoming “Barbie,” from director Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros. Pictures, have led to the dissemination of a controversial map used in the film – one depicted in a scene with stars Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon (known in the film as “Weird Barbie”) — and the studio is speaking up after days of international headlines.
“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros. Film Group told Variety . “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.”
The childlike map, with chalk-scribbled dolphins and even a hashtag bobbing around Earth’s vast bodies of water, drew the ire of cinema gatekeepers in Vietnam this week. The drawing depicts what has been called a representation of the “nine dash line,” which reinforces China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea (there are only eight lines in the “Barbie” map, and not in the shape dictated by actual global maps). Vietnam disputes those claims and believes it violates the country’s sovereignty. Officials subsequently pulled the release of “Barbie” in the territory.
But how does the map function in the movie itself? Keeping spoilers at a minimum, Robbie’s Barbie is facing an existential crisis inside the walls of her pink dream world. McKinnon’s Weird Barbie encourages her to go on a journey of self-discovery and provides her with a map to “the Real World,” one made with whimsy by a fellow doll. What some have taken to represent the “nine dash line” is what one source described as “journey lines,” the serial dashes often used in family animation and kid’s drawings to represent where a character has traveled to or from.
Representatives for Gerwig and Warner Bros. would not comment on plot points of the film. Depicted in high resolution above, the map features other so-called “journey lines” as well as arrows and boats. While filmmakers are sensitive to the geopolitical issues raised by the map (issues stoked by Senator Ted Cruz), said the sources, the drawing in “Barbie” is simply the doll’s own road to enlightenment. Momentous buzz and huge marketing spends around the film have seemed to escalate everything it touches, from debating the Ken doll’s age to creating a CGI-perfect foot arch .
“I’m not sure this map, which you’d miss if you blinked at the one-minute mark in the third trailer, is admissible in the International Court of Justice. It’s cartoonishly unrealistic,” wrote Toronto Sun columnist Vinay Menon on Wednesday. “Where is continental Europe? New Zealand? What do the sailboats represent? Is that a jester’s crown atop Iceland?”
99% of people , or more, would have no idea there was a controversy about this map until right wing morons started blasting it. Even after that, very few people know or care what the controversy is about. The political right is thoroughly unhinged.
This pace of growth is astonishing in light of the regulatory framework that governs all cinematic releases. Access to the Chinese consumer is defined by a single agreement between Hollywood and the Chinese Government limiting both the number of foreign films allowed into China (57 per year), and the profits allowed out. [7] In addition, the Government requires movies to be censored, posing problems for WB, as it is difficult to satisfy the tastes of the US consumer and Chinese Government all at once. To secure a valuable release slot Hollywood studios are beginning to portray China in a more positive light (a strategy which seems to be delivering results
Why do you support commie hegemony in that region?
Pardon me while I yawn.
By the way, are there any other American industries that don't hate China. I bet I could find some.
This 'controversy' is completely dumb, and would not exist if the political right was not obsessed with "Chinese communism".
No problem.
This 'controversy' is completely dumb, and would not exist if the political right was not obsessed with "Chinese communism".
Biden isn’t part of the political right but he has China as our biggest threat in his National Security Strategy.
99% of people, or more, don't think it's a controversy anyway.
China has a history now of claims on both territories and other Asian cultures as it seeks to reinstate The Middle Kingdom. China has also invested heavily in Hollywood giving the power over some content and censorship.
This is very concerning. Once a map shows up in a Barbie movie the precedent is anchored in perpetuity.
Apparently to Vietnam, of course there is some history between the two countries.
How Hollywood Sold Out to China
A culture of acquiescing to Beijing’s censors is now the norm, and there’s little sign of it changing.
Today, China’s box office doesn’t just represent opportunity for Hollywood; it can mean the difference between a studio’s success and failure. This has resulted in “anticipatory self-censorship” by the American film industry, says James Tager, the research director at PEN America, a nonprofit that promotes free expression, and the lead author of the organization’s exhaustive 2020 censorship report .
Has Wal-Mart sold out to China?
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There is virtually no one in the US who would have paid attention to that map until far right politicians brought it up. Good work boys.
Vietnam and the Philippines brought it up.
The journalist Erich Schwartzel’s new book “ Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy ” lays out, among other things, the history surrounding the disappearing badges. “This book is the story of what happened between the two ‘Top Guns,’ ” he writes in his introduction. For Schwartzel, a reporter who began his career covering the fracking boom for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , publishing a book on China’s creeping influence over Hollywood came as an unexpected development.
"No studio in Hollywood today would touch a movie that concerns a storyline involving the Uyghurs or Xinjiang or issues involving Taiwanese independence or demonstrations in Hong Kong ," Schwartzel says. "Because of the economic muzzle that China has on the studios today, those things are just complete non-starters."
Hollywood’s China reckoning has come. But unlike the NBA’s recent China debacle , this time it’s not the United States but China’s nearest neighbors who’ve had enough.
Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia have all expressed outrage at a map of China that flickers across the screen in a new film released in late September. The animated film, Abominable , is a joint production of DreamWorks and Pearl Studios, which is based in Shanghai. The map includes China’s infamous “nine-dash line”—the vague, ambiguously marked demarcation line for its territorial claim over most of the South China Sea.
Here’s a look at five major American corporations that have vowed to stand up for human rights around the world, but have turned a blind eye to the CCP’s genocide of the Uyghurs in order to justify sponsoring the Beijing Olympics.
Procter & Gamble
In a human rights policy statement issued in March 2021, Procter & Gamble claimed “respect for Human Rights” was “fundamental” to the way the company is managed. Procter & Gamble also wrote that it is “committed to doing the right thing by respecting human rights in every aspect” of their business operations, including as it relates to employees, consumers, the communities in which they do business and business partners.
The company wrote that it has earned a “reputation of trust and integrity” which sets it apart and that customers of the massive corporation “know that we do what we say, and say what we mean.”
In the CCP’s Olympic Village, just a half-day train ride from where party leaders are facilitating genocide, Procter & Gamble has opened a beauty salon.
As one of the most recognizable brands on the planet, Coca-Cola has been an outspoken proponent of human rights in the United States. In April 2021, the company’s chairman and CEO issued a statement condemning the State of Georgia’s voting legislation and called on those to “stand up for what is right” in protecting voting rights.
When it comes to China’s egregious human rights violations amounting to genocide, however, Coca-Cola is silent. Now Coca-Cola is helping the authoritarian CCP regime execute the Beijing Olympics as an official sponsor of the Games.
Airbnb
Like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, Airbnb testified in front of Congress’ Commission on China last year over its sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics.
During his testimony, David Holyoke, Head of Olympics and Paralympics Partnerships for Airbnb, said everyone who uses their service must agree to a “global standard” that requires all community members to agree “to treat everyone in the Airbnb community – regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, skin color, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age—with respect, and without judgment or bias.”
Holyoke added that the “commitment applies to everyone who uses Airbnb around the world.”
While Airbnb’s remarks in front of Congress suggest a dedication to human rights advocacy, the company’s actions speak louder than its words. In addition to sponsoring the Beijing Olympics, Axios reported in November that Airbnb allows rental listings in Xinjiang, the very region where the CCP is facilitating genocide and forced labor, as well as other human rights atrocities, against Muslim minorities.
“Our current presence in [China] reflects our purpose of enabling individual economic empowerment and bringing people together from communities and neighborhoods around the world to bridge cultures, including in China, which is home to roughly 20 percent of the world’s population,” Holyoke said.
Intel
The U.S. semiconductor chipmaker Intel claims human rights are “rooted” in the company’s values “wherever we do business.”
“At Intel, we are committed to maintaining and improving systems and processes to avoid complicity in human rights violations related to our own operations, our supply chain, and our products,” Intel’s website states .
Intel explicitly lists workforce diversity and nondiscrimination, harassment prohibition, prevention of human trafficking, forced labor and child labor, privacy and freedom of expression as core aspects of the company’s principles.
However, when it comes to the CCP’s human rights violations — including forced labor, surveillance and censorship — Intel has appeared to make an exception.
Adding to Intel’s apparent abandonment of its human rights principles when it comes to the CCP, earlier this month, the company removed all references to China’s Xinjiang region after drawing backlash from China for warning suppliers to avoid sourcing materials from the region.
Visa
For nearly 50 years, Visa says it has taken pride in “operating responsibly, ethically and transparently.” The company has even been formally recognized for valuing human rights – in 2019, Visa was named one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.
“At Visa, we recognize our responsibility to respect, advance and maintain global human rights standards across our company, operations and supply chain,” Visa’s Corporate Policy and Sustainability Report states .
In Beijing, China — nearly 6,000 miles from Visa’s headquarters in California — the company’s dedication to human rights disappears. Visa has chosen to sponsor the Beijing Olympics despite international outcry over the CCP’s egregious human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
As a sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, Visa is one of three payment choices in the Olympic Village, aside from cash and China’s digital currency, CNN reported .
US Olympic Committee
Like the major U.S. corporations sponsoring the Beijing Olympics, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOPC) has been soft on the CCP’s human rights violations in Xinjiang.
In December, committee chair Susanne Lyons responded to questions about human rights violations in China by pivoting to an apparent marketing pitch for future America-based Games.
“The best thing we can do is offer the world outstanding opportunities to have Games here in the U.S.,” USOPC chair Susanne Lyons said, according to ESPN. “In Los Angeles and, hopefully, in Salt Lake City.”
USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland even lobbied Congress last year in opposition to a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, asserting that it would not solve any human rights issues occurring in the host country, The Associated Press reported .
Drifting away from the topic of propaganda in Hollywood movies?
Why should Hollywood be singled out? There is financial renumeration for Hollywood in having their movies shown in China just like there is a financial incentive for corporations that do business in China turning a blind eye to Chinese human rights violations.
Do you actually think that Hollywood as a higher moral responsibility than Coca -Cola does?
Because that is the topic of your seed.
Movies can influence people more than a soft drink.
The idea that this Barbie map will influence anyone is ludicrous.
Apparently Vietnam and the Philippines differ.
The CCP wouldn’t insist on censorship rights if they didn’t think that movies are different than coke. Warner Bros wouldn’t have drawn it the way they did if they didn’t think that it would be viewed by the CCP favorably.
Red is a very appropriate font color when discussing Tiananmen Square. Very bold as well.
Anyone who thinks the drawing from the movie resembles a map produced by the Chinese government needs to have their eyes, and their head, examined.
In the case of the republican politicians who have been propagandizing about it, a comprehensive search for their brains came up empty.
Conspiracy theorists and their addled imaginations.
Barbie isn’t the first film to be blocked by other Asian countries contesting China’s claim of the sea, Abominable had an offending map (produced by animators China). Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia said no thanks. They also said no to Uncharted, a 2022 film starring because it depicted a plane flying over the nine-dash sea.
Are we sure about this? Anyone ask the producers of the movie? Not that it would be unusual for Hollywood to make changes for Chinese censors.
Still, looking at the map, it’s only an eight-dash line, not nine. And it’s not close to the right shape - but then neither is much of the rest of the map, so who knows?
But I think if you’re going to make a fuss about this, then it’s only fair that you complain about all the other times Hollywood has bent to Beijing’s will. Additionally, producers should be applauded when they refuse.
At the end of the day, though, movie-making is a business, and businesses pander to their audience to make money. If you can expand that audience by throwing something into the movie, you might do it. Does that shock anyone?
No, but nothing wrong with calling it out.
Then we should hear the complaints every time it happens. When Disney edits the Uighurs out of Mulan or changes “The Ancient One” from Dr. Strange from Tibetan to Celtic. on the other hand, they should get praise for refusing to cut a same-sex kissing scene from Lightyear. But somehow, I think Ted Cruz probably agreed with China on that one.
Perhaps, I’m not defending Repubs here, just not supporting the CCP or Hollywood.