Schwarzenegger's `True Lies' insulting to Islam: Ulemas

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) has been rocked by disagreements among its members over an action-comedy film featuring American muscle-bound film star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The controversy over the film True Lies, which is now still being screened at various movie houses across Indonesia, was started by one of its own members who said that the movie was insulting to Islam.

Later, another council executive who also sat on the national censorship board (BSF) issued a statement saying that he did not see anything wrong with the movie.

The censorship board last week decided to invite a number of MUI leaders 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 before the ulemas was not the same as the one shown in movie houses and that some of the parts that were censored were in fact shown to the public.

Amidst this controversy, the council's executive board held a plenary meeting on Saturday to discuss the movie and to forge a common position.

It came out with a statement "recommending" the withdrawal of True Lies from the movie houses "because the debate it has generated is causing unrest among the people in Indonesia."

The MUI's statement, signed by chairman Hasan Basrie, made no mention of whether or not the film indeed was an insult to Moslems as some of the ulemas have suggested.

But the council leadership will impose sanction on its members who have instilled confusion by claiming to speak on behalf of the MUI executive board. It also plans to review its membership in the censorship board.

The last part of the statement apparently refers to Subky Hasbie, an assistant to the MUI chairman who sits in the censor board. Last week, he suggested that the MUI Chairman, after watching True Lies, quipped that it was an ordinary action film "just like Rambo."

The controversy over True Lies, rated as a mediocre movie by critics, could make it one of the top box office successes -- at least in Indonesia. Movie houses in Jakarta reported a sudden surge in audience in the past two weeks.

After watching the film, a number of moviegoers said they were puzzled by the debate and could not see how the film could be considered offensive to Moslems.

`Jihad'

A number of Moslem leaders objected to the use of the term Jihad, which means Allah's way, to refer to the terrorist group in the film.

The two-hour film tells the story of an American hero, played by Schwarzenegger, who foils a Middle East terrorist group from destroying the United States with nuclear weapons.

The film has apparently been criticized by Moslem community in the United States. Women groups have also deplored the film, saying that it degrades women by portraying them as sexual prey for the terrorists.

Early this year, the MUI and a number of other Moslem organizations succeeded in preventing the screening of the Oscar- winning film Schindler's List, which they said was a mere Zionist propaganda.

Schindler, winner of seven of this year's Academy Awards, including for best movie, never made it past the censor board which decided that the film was filled with violence and pornography.

However, the board rejected the suggestion that the film was banned in Indonesia because of the allegations of Zionist propaganda. (par)