During a recent interview, Senator Ted Cruz from Texas used the Barbie movie’s alleged “controversy” as a platform to criticize Hollywood for purportedly endorsing “communist propaganda.” The issue revolves around a map in the film depicting Barbie’s journey from her world to the real world. Though the map’s appearance resembles a child’s drawing, it includes a few dashes next to Asia, which some claim bears a resemblance to China’s nine-dash line used in the South China Sea dispute.
Via Raw Story:
“I mean, it’s really a very simple cartoon. And so they have this blockish thing that is called ‘Asia,’ and then they’ve drawn what are called the nine-dashes.
This is Chinese communist propaganda in which the Chinese are asserting sovereignty over the entirety of the South China Sea, and they don’t have any right to it under international law, but they are trying to take it away from their neighbors there.”
Despite the fact that the Barbie map only has eight dashes and lacks geographical accuracy, conservatives like Cruz have heavily criticized Hollywood over what they view as an earnest misunderstanding. Cruz was among the first to weigh in on the matter, with his spokesperson issuing a statement to USA Today, suggesting that China seeks to control what Americans see, hear, and think, using its film markets to influence American companies to propagate CCP (Chinese Communist Party) propaganda, citing the Barbie movie’s map as an example.
While Cruz takes a strong stance on such issues, critics argue that he might be overreacting to what they consider a minor misunderstanding. Nonetheless, Cruz remains adamant in his position, sparking further discussions around the intersection of entertainment, politics, and international relations.