The Philippines' Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has allowed the screening of Warner Bros’ upcoming fantasy-comedy film “Barbie”.

After “two meticulous screenings”, the board found that no scene in the film showed China’s “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, according to the Philippine Star.

Reasons for continued screening

The map showed only eight dashes rather than nine, said the MTRCB in a letter to Senator of the Philippines Francis Tolentino.

“Please note that the dash lines attached to a landmass labeled 'Asia' is not U-shaped, and has eight dots/dashes instead of nine.”

It also observed that the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia were not seen on the scene’s map, “in stark contrast” to the cases of banned movies like “Abominable (2019)” and “Uncharted (2022)”.

“The MTRCB is firm, as per its mandate under Presidential Decree No. 1986, that when there is a clear portrayal in films/television of scenes injurious to the prestige of the Republic of the Philippines such as the ‘nine-dash line’, we will not hesitate to ban said materials.”

On the other hand, if film materials do not pose such a threat, the board will not impose a ban, according to the Philippine Star.

Request to blur dashes

The MTRCB also requested the movie’s distributor Warner Bros to “blur the controversial lines in order to avoid further misinterpretations”, CNN Philippines reported.

Tolentino complained about the decision as it coincided with the seventh anniversary of The Hague’s ruling which rejected China’s “nine-dash line” which occurred on Jul. 12, 2016.

Although he respected MTRCB’s decision, the map's presence was still viewed as “China's continued encroachment on Philippine waters”.

“[This] is a clear violation of the rights of our fishermen, even of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard.”

The senator added that the board should have removed the map’s scene from the film, according to CNN.

Controversy over scene

Earlier last week, Vietnam banned the movie’s screening due to the map containing “the offending image” of the "nine-dash line".

The country also investigated the concert organiser of K-pop girl group Blackpink, as the show’s website apparently depicted the controversial South China Sea map, Reuters reported.

China has disputes with the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Brunei in the resource-rich South China Sea. There are some overlapping claims in some cases.

It has laid claim to 90 per cent of the South China Sea via its "nine-dash line".

Though this has been rejected at a ruling at The Hague in 2016, China has opposed and refused to acknowledge it, according to The Guardian.

Defended map scene

In an interview with Variety shortly after the movie’s ban in Vietnam, a spokesperson from Warner Bros noted that the map was “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.”

"Barbie", starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and directed by Greta Gerwig, is the first live-action Barbie film in the franchise's history.

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Top images via Facebook/SM Cinema & Warner Bros Pictures