Local teen flick withdrawn after Muslim leaders' protest<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
After weeks of controversy, the government-sanctioned Film
\nCensorship Institute (LSF) pulled local movie Buruan Cium Gue
\n(Kiss me quick) from cinemas.<\/p>\n
LSF chairwoman Titie Said said the institute withdrew its
\napproval of the film on the grounds that it had \"disrupted public
\norder\".<\/p>\n
\"We have to listen to aspirations from the public. Following
\npublic rejection of the film, both LSF and movie producer
\nMultivision Plus withdrew the film together,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued
\na letter to revoke the distribution license of the film, while
\nMultivision asked cinemas to stop screening it.<\/p>\n
Titie said that the censorship body had allowed the film to be
\ndistributed for public viewing after cutting several scenes and
\ngiving it an X-rating, meaning it was approved for moviegoers
\naged 17 years old and above.<\/p>\n
The movie, which has a kissing scene at the end, has been
\nscreened at cinemas for two weeks.<\/p>\n
\"We did not anticipate the public furor after the movie was
\nreleased in theaters,\" Titie said.<\/p>\n
LSF has allowed many imported films with sex scenes to be
\nscreened in cinemas across the world's most populous Muslim
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives is deliberating a bill on public
\nmorality, which bans kissing in public.<\/p>\n
The was no such outcry when local film Arisan (Get Together),
\nin which gay lovers kiss, was screened last year.<\/p>\n
However, citing the underaged characters in Buruan Cium Gue,
\nnoted Muslim preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar protested against the
\nfilm, saying kissing encouraged premarital sex.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged he had never seen the movie but had come to
\nthe conclusion after hearing the film's title.<\/p>\n
\"People say to me, once you've kissed, your hands will go all
\nover the place. Kiss me quick means 'Hurry Up and Have Illicit
\nSex with Me',\" the Warta Kota daily quoted Gymnastiar as saying.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) also made a similar
\nprotest and went further by asking the government to stop the
\ndistribution of the movie.<\/p>\n
The scriptwriter of the movie, Ve Handojo, said the reaction
\nto the film illustrated immaturity.<\/p>\n
\"It is funny because they are reacting to the title,\" he said
\nas quoted by Associated Press. \"Most of the protesters have not
\nwatched the movie.\"<\/p>\n
Multivision Plus producer of the movie Raam Punjabi could not
\nbe reached for comment.<\/p>",
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