Public grows more open to on-screen sex

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

Moviegoers may still recall the public outcry after the release of action/horror flick Pembalasan Ratu Pantai Selatan (The Vengeance of South Coast Queen), back in 1987.

The movie, which was a rip-off of James Cameron's Terminator, was considered too raunchy and outright indecent by many.

The most condemned scene of the movie was when a kris supposedly was "born" from a woman's vagina. Following widespread outrage, the scene was altered by the filmmaker, this time with the weapon coming out of her bellybutton instead.

The protest only mirrored many other cases where people have reacted -- sometimes irrationally -- toward sensualism in movies and TV shows.

Strangely, local moviegoers enjoy female stars exposing their hairy armpits, donning tight bodices or even pants in martial arts movies such as the Jaka Sembung series, featuring Barry Prima and the 1980s bombshell Eva Arnaz, or even in the slapstick Warung Kopi (Warkop) group of Indro, Dono and Kasino.

Warkop, now without the late Dono and Kasino, has kept its trademark buxom female co-stars in skimpy outfits and miniskirts when their stories are brought to the TV screen, which remain a ratings success.

It is apparent that the hot issue is still all about censorship. Rocker Gito Rollies, in his song Passed by the Censor in 1988, said: "Your protest is so strong/your criticism is so harsh/but secretly you must have liked it."

Joining the chorus of protests about sex on the screen is the Indonesian Ulemas Council, but they have yet to set common standards, other than merely citing a moral cause, to decide a movie's suitability for all ages.

While little is discussed in public, there is a growing shift in local people's attitude toward sex on the screen.

"There has been a revolution in the last 10 years where people have become more open about sex scenes and issues," talented film director/producer/writer Riri Riza told The Jakarta Post.

One of the earlier widely acceptable movies about sex-related issues was Garin Nugroho's Cinta dalam Sepotong Roti (Love in a Slice of Bread) in 1991. The movie also won the Best Picture award at the now-nonexistent Indonesian Film Festival.

Cinta tells the story of a newly married couple where the husband is impotent. The movie paved the way for local filmmakers to bring the subject into their works.

Unfortunately, when the local film industry collapsed shortly after Cinta was released, sex scenes were derogated with sensual images intendedly formulated to lure the people to watch the movies. They were packaged in highly titillating titles such as Ecstasy dan Pengaruh Sex (Ecstasy and the Influence of Sex), Ranjang yang Ternoda (Stained Bed) and Sex dan Ejakulasi Dini (Sex and Premature Ejaculation)!

Instead of thrilling audiences, the films gained a few laughs.

The Indonesian movie industry slumped to its nadir in delivering appreciable products for more than a decade but the good side was that the era opened people's eyes toward the significance of sexual issues on screen.

Riri said the situation had created opportunities for filmmakers as well as television to cope with the issue.

He cited TV series such as teen-pop Dawson Creek, Ally McBeal and the more mature Sex and The City, which have gained popularity here despite focusing on the issues of premarital and extramarital sex.

He is right as there have been a number of locally produced TV shows dealing with the issue.

Take Pernikahan Dini. The weekly serial tells a story about teen pregnancy and how the teenagers, played by Agnes Monica and Syahrul Gunawan, deal with family life and parenthood. The other TV serial with a similar theme is a daily serial drama Belahan Hati which dealt with adultery and homosexuality as well as teen pregnancy.

The latter, which was aired by RCTI private TV station from last July until February, had even managed several bed scenes.

The same trend has yet to happen in local films produced for commercial release since there are still few of them.

"There has been no sex in local films yet," film/music video director Rizal Mantovani told the Post.

But sex scenes and nudity can be found in imported films at theaters as censorship seems to have loosened.

"People can even see a woman's top (on the movie screen) today," Riri claimed, adding that he had recently watched a movie showing a woman's breast but could not recall the title.

Local supernatural/action flick Reinkarnasi, which was released last year, also has a scene showing a topless woman in it which was passed by film censors.

Some viewers say that they can accept sex scenes if they constitute part of the story.

"I don't mind sex scenes in films or on TV if the story actually deals with the subject and not just as a device to spice up the movies," thirty-four-year-old Adamsyah Wahab who owns a community magazine Lintas Pondok Indah told the Post.

Nurul Kesuma, 28, also echoed Adamsyah's opinion.

"As long as it is not made for exploitative purposes, that's OK," said the researcher.

Adamsyah and Nurul's hope may be fulfilled because sex is no longer taboo and it is also being handled with the respect it deserves by filmmakers.

In the past, the sex scenes had been portrayed in various ways but mostly far from delightful. For example, the couple on the cast would giggle with their eyes fixed on each other before lying down, and the lovemaking scene would be then substituted by a sequence of blooming flowers or water dropping on a leaf to symbolize orgasm.

Riri pointed out that as the public has become more tolerant toward sex scenes, filmmakers have more opportunities to express their ideas.

A film titled Pachinko, and Everyone's Happy which was directed by Harry "Dagoe" Suharyadi is an example where local filmmakers had the freedom to display lovemaking scenes.

The director/co-star who did the scene with a Japanese actress still looked awkward but at least the scene was more tasteful than any other sex scenes in recent memory.

Harry also previously starred in an anthology film titled Kuldesak as a gay man, where he was shown kissing a man in one scene.

All these developments seem to indicate that it is just a matter of time before there will be more locally produced films dealing responsibly with sex-related issues as an important element in life.

Who knows that someday local audiences will be able to mention their favorite sex scenes from local movies, as film fans abroad can cite their favorite sex scenes from movies such as The Piano.