Indian films are OK.

Indian films are OK.

In the Jan. 25 edition of The Jakarta Post I read a letter
from Evy in Balikpapan in which she blamed Indian films on
television for the increase in the rape of children.

My first reaction was to think that this was a joke and I was
about to review my opinions about the poor sense of humor of
Indonesian people. Several of my friends had a good laugh about
the letter but we then had the idea that maybe Ibu Evy was
serious. Oh dear! How sad!

I have to say that I have never seen anything even remotely
decadent in any Indian films but even if people are shown hugging
and kissing, is this really so bad? My children are already
adults but if I had young kids now, I would prefer that they see
films showing people being affectionate rather than being
violent.

Indonesian TV is overwhelmed with violent films and it seems
that is alright to show people being killed in the most sadistic
ways as this is very entertaining but don't let the children see
anyone showing affection as it could blight their lives forever!

The sexual and physical abuse of children is a serious problem
and should not be treated lightly but it has been going on for
centuries and to put the responsibility on Indian films is naive
in the extreme. There are many people in this country whose
fathers are also their grandfathers and this all happened long
before the families had television.

Ibu Evy is putting her trust in Teguh Juwarno at RCTI who, she
says, is very Islamic but I suggest to Pak Teguh that he consider
the impact of the violent films rather than the singing and
dancing Indian films.

ANDREW CHARLES, Denpasar, Bali