Moslem leader calls for end to `True Lies' debate
Moslem leader calls for end to `True Lies' debate
JAKARTA (JP): A prominent Moslem leader called on ulemas and
the national censorship board to sit together and resolve once
and for all the controversy over a film allegedly insulting to
Islam.
The uproar over the movie, True Lies, featuring American film
star Arnold Schwarzenegger has created an impression of conflicts
among the ulemas, an unwelcome picture for Indonesian Moslems,
Lukman Harun said.
The former leader of the Muhammadiyah organization told The
Jakarta Post yesterday that the continuing war of words over the
film by members of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) is only
serving as free promotion for the film importer.
"The question is not only whether or not the movie insults
Islam, but also how long this controversy among ulemas can go on
before it alienates Moslems," he said.
Lukman himself has not watched the movie, but said he had
become impatient with the prolonged debate over the action-
comedy, which has become an overnight top box office success
here.
Following wide reportage of the controversy, movie houses in
Jakarta reported a sudden surge in the size of their audiences in
the past two weeks.
"I call on MUI to take a stronger, uniform stance on the issue
and stop the squabbling among themselves," he said.
Meanwhile, the Film Censorship Board's chairman, Soekanto, has
strongly denied that his office has two different versions of the
movie as some people allege.
"The film that is screened for the public is the same as the
one we screened for the ulemas," he was quoted as saying by the
Antara news agency yesterday.
The censorship board decided to invite a number of MUI leaders
last week to see the film and pass judgment.
But one of the leaders, who said he had seen the film in a
movie house, pointed out that the version shown to the ulemas was
not the same as the one shown in movie houses and that some of
the parts that were censored in the special showing were, in
fact, being shown to the public.
Soekanto said yesterday that the board has its own set of
procedures which are based on the Laws on Movies.
"We have to make formal reports when we want to pass even one
film for public screening," he said, adding that the 45-person
board reviews around 50 titles daily.
"We are in a no-win situation here," he complained. "If we cut
too much of a movie, the public is enraged, if we don't, they are
still angry." (swe)