Censorship board rejects monolog VCD

Censorship board rejects monolog VCD

JAKARTA (JP): Everyone, including artists, thought reform
would bring greater freedom of expression. It turns out they were
mistaken.

Butet Kartaredjasa, dubbed the king of the monologue for his
rare talent of impersonating the voices of public figures, might
be the first to realize reform has not brought significant change
for artists, including greater freedom of expression.

Butet -- who has successfully performed in several cities in
Indonesia, including Jakarta and Yogyakarta, as well as
neighboring Australia -- was unable to release the video compact
disc (VCD) version of his monologue Raja Rimba Jadi Pawang (The
King of the Jungle Becomes a Custodian), which was shot during a
live performance in Yogyakarta in May.

The VCD was rejected by the film censorship board in a letter
dated July 28. The board cited three reasons for rejecting the
VCD, including the fear that the performance would cause
political tension and harm the nation's interests.

"It (the rejection) does not make sense at all, especially the
reasons. It seems like it's all being made up. It's a real pity.
All this time I was mistaken; I thought there was change here. It
turns out the changes were only illusory," Butet told The Jakarta
Post by phone from his home in Yogyakarta on Saturday.

Officials from the board could not be reached for comment on
Monday.

The VCD was rejected even after the producer, Jakarta-based PT
Anugrah D. Sejahtera, revised the work twice.

Butet said he did not know about the "requested" revisions,
saying he was only informed by the producer about the VCD's
failure to pass the censorship board.

"I was informed by the producer only after the VCD was turned
down by the board. The producer did not tell me they had to
revise it twice... If I knew that, I would have objected. Why is
there a need for any revisions," Butet said.

The monologue itself focuses on two characters: an old tiger
and a cute baby tiger. Through his extraordinary skill of
mimicking people's voices -- the underlying strength of all of
his performances -- Butet used the voice of "he-who-allegedly-
has-handed-over-power" for the old tiger, and for the baby tiger
he assumed the voice of "he who was placed on the throne".

Butet not only can impersonate President B.J. Habibie's
voices, but also other figures, such as former president Soeharto
and House Speaker and former minister of information Harmoko. In
the monologue, it is not difficult to guess that he is
impersonating Soeharto's voice for the old tiger and Habibie's
voice for the baby tiger.

The first revision to the work occurred in the prologue about
Aceh. In the prologue, Butet said he would tell the story of
animals who fear humans for various reasons, particularly their
inconsistent attitude. He then used Aceh as an example, saying
there was a person who apologized to the Acehnese, but his
actions differed from his words.

Butet was clearly criticizing Habibie, who apologized to the
Acehnese for the pain inflicted on them during the 10-year
military operation in the province during his one-day trip to
Aceh in March.

After the VCD's producer revised the prologue, the censorship
board demanded a second revision.

The censorship board objected to the use of Angin Mamiri
(Breezing Wind), a song from South Sulawesi, as the musical
accompaniment to the monologue when the baby tiger takes over the
throne and the old tiger, instead of retiring into a mountain
cave to live out its old age, became the custodian of the animal
world.

Habibie is a native of South Sulawesi.

Butet said the VCD's release was intended to, among other
things, raise people's critical analysis and appreciation of art,
while at the same time introducing his work to a wider audience.

"With the banning, it means that the public is losing their
right and freedom to get information. In this case, they are
losing information that would enrich their minds; a function
provided by art," Butet said.

He also said the banning would hurt the government's image and
reveal a lack of coordination within the government, particularly
the Ministry of Information.

"I see that the minister of information is working hard to
improve freedom of expression, but why are the ministry's
officials acting like this," he said.

Minister of Information Yunus Yosfiah told reporters on
Wednesday he knew nothing about the ban and promised to check up
on the matter.

The banning of art works -- ranging from theatrical
performances, poetry readings and fine art exhibitions -- were a
common occurrence during the Soeharto administration.

During the New Order era, many artists had to compromise their
work through self-censorship. There were, however, those who
refused to do this and saw their works banned for reasons which
remained unclear.

Teater Koma's production of Sam Pek Eng Tay (1989) was
successfully performed in Jakarta, but banned in Medan, North
Sumatra, for the reason that the play supposedly exploited
Chinese culture, which was not in line with the nation's State
Policy Guidelines. Two other performances by the group, Suksesi
(Succession) and Opera Kecoa (The Cockroach Opera), were also
banned, this time for their satirical content.

Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah Accuses), a play about the life
of slain labor activist Marsinah by playwright Ratna Sarumpaet
and her Satu Merah Panggung theater group, was banned in Bandung,
Surabaya and Lampung, although it was successfully staged in
several cities, including Jakarta.

For Butet, the ban will not personally affect him or his
creativity process.

"It's fine with me. The ban does not directly touch my work or
me. It is true they're restricting the socialization of my art
works, but it will not have any impact on my creativity at all.

"In fact, the ban will boost my creativity, my spirit. It's
like old times, when we were playing hide-and-seek with the
authorities. Besides, I also want to find out and test what this
freedom is that has been talked about all this time." (ste)