Censor board defends violence, sex standards<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Film Censorship Institute, accused of laxity
\nof standards, has declined responsibility for the country's
\ntelevision schedules, which the public says are saturated with
\nsex and violence.<\/p>\n
"The body doesn't pass programs which are filled with sex and
\nviolence," institute director Soekanto told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday. "All films which are broadcast on television have
\npassed our criteria.<\/p>\n
"If people say that our standards are lax, let them talk.
\nThey're just emotional. They don't know that we have standards
\nand criteria that we use to judge whether to pass a film."<\/p>\n
He cited kissing scenes as an example of how it implements its
\nstandards. "We can't just ban all kissing scenes. If there is
\nkissing between father and daughters, we leave it in," he said.
\n"But if the kissing scenes become explicit, then we'll certainly
\ncut them."<\/p>\n
He said that the recent agreement between the state-owned TVRI
\nand five private television stations to cut down on sex-and-
\nviolence programs has not caused much change to the censor body's
\nwork.<\/p>\n
He dismissed reports that the body will hold a meeting with
\nthe television stations to follow up on the agreement.<\/p>\n
The television stations agreed on Wednesday to establish a
\nforum among themselves to prevent unhealthy competition and to
\nreduce the number of programs with content, such as cohabitation,
\nthat is contrary to local and religious values. A number of
\npopular television series, such as Baywatch and Melrose Place,
\nare reportedly going to be scrapped soon.<\/p>\n
Budi Darmawan of SCTV said his station would not face problems
\nin reducing the number of programs which contain explicit sex and
\nviolence. "We haven't broadcast many films which contain too much
\nsex or violence," he said.<\/p>\n
Zoraya Perucha of ANteve said that her station could easily
\ncomply with the agreement as it has been its policy all along to
\ncurb sex and violence in its programs.<\/p>\n
The stations also agreed on Wednesday to increase the
\nproduction and airing of local programs to 80 percent.<\/p>\n
The television stations said yesterday that they are still
\nstudying a recent appeal by Minister of Information Harmoko to
\ndub foreign programs into Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Budi Darmawan said the called-for dubbing of foreign films, if
\nundertaken, will be a great financial burden on the stations.<\/p>\n
"We're still studying the appeal. At the moment, it is still
\njust an appeal," Budi told the Post yesterday.<\/p>\n
"It's too early to talk about it," Zoraya said. "But, we have
\nalready started to look at our own situation before making any
\ndecision."<\/p>\n
The minister's appeal will become law if the House of
\nRepresentatives approves a bill on broadcasting. The bill will be
\ndebated next week by the House.<\/p>\n
Budi and Zoraya, however, said they were not sure whether the
\nappeal for dubbing excludes programs in English. "It's my
\nunderstanding that we have to dub all foreign programs into
\nIndonesian," Budi said.<\/p>\n
Zoraya agreed the project will be costly, but admitted that
\nthe appeal does have its positive aspects.<\/p>\n
"The public will find it easier to understand our programs,"
\nand added that, if undertaken, the appeal will force television
\nstations to compete for good dubbers.<\/p>\n
"Good dubbers are very hard to find, especially those who can
\n'play' with their voices and reveal their emotion just like the
\nactors in the films," she said.<\/p>\n
Harmoko had earlier said that his appeal applies to imported
\ntelevision programs from India, China and Latin America, all of
\nwhich are growing in popularity among Indonesian viewers. Most of
\nthese programs have already been dubbed into Indonesian. (31)<\/p>\n
Editorial -- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/censor-board-defends-violence-sex-standards-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }