Greta Gerwig‘s highly anticipated film Barbie has received as 12A classification rating in the UK.
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Per an official classification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the film’s 12A rating means only kids above the age of 12 can watch the movie unaccompanied. Anyone below the age of 12 has to be accompanied by an adult.
Reasons for the film’s 12A classification are the film’s supposed use of “moderate innuendo”, “brief sexual harassment”, “violence”, “dangerous behaviour” and more. These reasons are fleshed out with examples, explaining why they warrant the 12A rating.
For violence, the BBFC notes: “Comic fight scenes include undetailed punches, kicks, headbutts and used of improvised weapons”. For threat and horror, “infrequent scenes of mild threat include a car chase. This occurs within a comic context”.
Strong language also seems to be a big factor in Barbie‘s 12A classification, with the BBFC explaining: “There is use of bleeped strong language (‘motherf**ker’), as well as moderate bad language (‘bitch’) and milder terms such as ‘crap’, ‘God’, ‘hell’ and ‘damn’.
Sexual innuendo are also made in the film, including “occasional gags about ‘beaching off’ and ‘sugar daddies’.The film also includes a scene of sexual harassment, “in which men catcall a woman and make inappropriate comments about her appearance. A man slaps a woman’s bottom”.
Other reasons detailed for the film’s rating include a scene in which a child melts a doll’s hair with the use of a lighter, and the film’s themes of death and mental health.
Barbie is set for release on July 21 in the UK, with a runtime of 114 minutes. It stars Margot Robbie in the titular role, with Ryan Gosling as Ken.
Most recently, it was revealed the the film is being banned in Vietnam as it includes the “nine dash line map” that depicts islands in the South China Sea as being controlled by Beijing.
“We do not grant license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper stated, citing Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
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