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)