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

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)