Low-class theaters resort to erotic films to lure moviegoers

JAKARTA (JP): Watching a movie at a low-class theater might be a boring experience for those not interested in the kind of film that showcases an abundance of nudity and sex.

Such movies often do not have clear storylines, but compensate with plenty of sex, which is typical of the pornographic film industry as a whole.

An example of such a "cheap" movie could be seen Saturday at the Kramat I cinema, which is located at the notorious criminal hangout, Senen, in Central Jakarta.

By paying Rp 2,000 (24 US cents) for a ticket, one could enjoy a "blue film" Nafsu Dalam Cinta (Sexual Desire in Love), a one- and-a-half-hour movie without a clear plot and featuring women in underwear and bikinis, along with scenes of sex.

Within the first 30 minutes alone one was bombarded with five scenes of sexual activity that sometimes involved acts of masochism.

Such movies seem to be in great demand by people frequenting lower class cinemas.

The interest in seeing the movie was not in any way impeded by the hot and muggy theater or the uncomfortable seats; nor by the poor picture quality and less than stellar speaker system.

Unlike movie theaters catering to middle to high-class society, such as those operated under the 21 Group giant cineplex company, moviegoers at Kramat I cinema and similar cinemas prefer to see porno films in secret.

During the showing on Saturday, some purchased their tickets just seconds before the film began and then rushed into the theater.

This is probably because they did not want to be caught watching an erotic movie.

A moviegoer named Andi, who claimed to be a vocational course teacher, said he was not attracted to the eroticism of the film alone.

"I just want to kill the time," he said.

Ticket seller Wiwik said the number of moviegoers was higher on Saturday.

"About 100 tickets were sold today. Usually, we sell less than 30 tickets if we play Western movies or serious dramas," she said.

Even worse conditions could be seen at Wira I cinema in Tebet area, South Jakarta.

Eti, another ticket seller, said there were only about 10 moviegoers on average during the week, unless the film was about sex or eroticism.

"We should show these films, especially the national ones, if we want to draw in more customers," said the woman, who could only sell seven tickets on Saturday afternoon for an imported film titled The Girls from Beijing.

She said the number of theatergoers has decreased lately due to the lack of erotic movies.

"Many times we had to cancel the movie because we could sell only five tickets," she said.

Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indonesian Union of Cinema Owners (GPBSI), Djonny Sjafruddin, said the number of such movie theaters in the city was about 50.

"It is somewhere around 60 percent of the total in the city," he said.

Djonny said GPBSI was actually concerned that these theaters had a tendency to show erotic films and would have a bad influence on the people.

Reports show that such erotic movies have driven people to commit acts of rape.

"It (the existence of the erotic movie) is actually the responsibility of the Movie Censorship Body (BSF). Ethically, cinema owners cannot refuse the movies which have passed BSF's regulations," he said.

Djonny said that in this case cinema was just like a kiosk where film distributors displayed their products.

"It is the distributor who determines that certain movie theaters play certain films, based on the market interest. Cinema owners only "sell" the product.

"So, it should be a collective arrangement if we want to improve the market's taste (in film)," he said. (ind)