Film censorship board walking a tightrope

WHY do some people take to the streets over a film they deem as insulting to their value system, beliefs, principles and way of life?

Simon Jenkins in his article ‘Rated “L” for lies ‘ said , “...films appeal to inner fears and chauvanist prejudice... “( Sunday Star, Jan 27).

It is precisely because of this that the Tamil film Vishwaroopam which opened on Thursday to packed houses has been withdrawn from cinemas following a directive from the Home Ministry after the Penang Muslim League president Datuk Najmudeen Kadeer demanded a review of the film as it portrayed Islam in a negative light. ( The Star, Jan 26).

The protest probably followed the ban on the film by the Tamil Nadu government in India after it created unhappiness among Muslims in that state.

Going by the slogan of ‘ Rakyat Di Dahulukan’, the Home Ministry has directed the Malaysian Film Censorship Board to review it.

The issue before us as a civilised society is where do we draw the line whether a film is seen as touching on one’s religious or socio-politico sensitivities?

If we want to scrutinise every films, then we can make a mountain out of a molehill for almost every film touching on one’s sensitivity.

To some, like film director Kathryn Bigelow, who when commenting on her film Zero Dark Thirty which depicted gruesome scenes of CIA waterboarding in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, said it is “just a movie” not a documentary and pleads her First Amendment right “to create works of art” and speak her conscience..”( Sunday Star, Jan 27). Prior to 1980, films were seen as entertainment and viewed for its cinematic appeal.

Classic films such as Ben Hur, Spartacus, The Bible, Ten Commandments, The Fall of the Roman Empire, King of Kings, Jesus of Nazareth, Cleopatra, Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, were never an issue.

Today, any film with a Christian theme must have a crawler warning Muslims that these films are for non-Muslims only to prevent any issues arising from it, by some individuals or NGOs.

For old timers who are Muslims, they don’t see the rationale for it.

Times have changed and producers like Kamal Hassan who produced the film Vishwaroopam must be wondering where he had gone wrong and intends to sue the Tamil Nadu government.

Even the popular Rambo series can be an issue if the Vietnamese government lodged a protest claiming it does not portray the real situation on how a one-man army in Rambo can destroy the whole Vietnamese army.

It is American propaganda of the worst kind they might say. For the sake of maintaining good bilateral relations, do we need to ban Rambo if an official protest is lodged by the Vietnamese government?

That goes for the film Black Hawk Down where the Malaysian Government could have protested to the American government as it did not portray the heroism of our military men that saved many American soldiers in Somalia.

If we protest, the American government will tell us “That’s Hollywood!”

Simon Jenkins suggests, “Nothing should be banned, but the film censors should make themselves useful and revise their categories. If a “true story” appears in a film’s preamble and is clearly wrong, the film should carry certificate “L, for lie”.

We would then know where we stood...”. ( Sunday Star, Jan 27).

Indeed, the Malaysian Film Censorship Board has to walk a tightrope and constanly in a Hamlet-like situation, ‘to cut or not to cut, that is the question!’. HASSAN TALIB Gombak, Selangor