The power of TV

On channel five I'm watching a movie about a family struggling through a difficult episode in their lives. The husband looks deeply into his wife's eyes and says, "It's true that times are hard. But I thank God every day because we've got each other." Just as he pulls her closer to giver her an affectionate kiss as a further expression of his love, the scene is left hanging with a jarring editing job.

During the commercial break I switch to channel six to see what they're offering. A man is in a heated dispute with a woman. He gets angry and slaps her. Seeing the wrath and danger in the man's face, she tries to escape. However, he is too fast and too strong, and he overcomes her, beating her again.

On channel seven I find a martial arts film with the usual high-flying kicks resulting in blood spurting from the mouths of hapless victims. On channel eight, three men chase down a woman, beat her into submission and then rape her.

Finally, I return to channel five to find the family's eldest son, a 22-year-old college student, receiving support from his fiancee who is also his classmate. She tells him, "If you ever need any help with anything, you can come to me, I love you, and I will always be there for you." And then...cut.

Since arriving in Indonesia, I have made new friends both in cities and in villages. Out of curiosity, I have asked them why the television censors remove every display of physical affection, regardless of the participants and the situation. Their response was that if people were to watch such activities on television, then it would give them bad ideas. People might decide to follow the examples shown on television, and that definitely would be undesirable. That type of behavior is socially unacceptable and should not be promoted.

I then asked the same individuals why graphic scenes of violence and rape were suitable for viewing by the general public. If people could be led to engage in physical affection by what they see on television, then could not they also be led to violence through the same means? If a society can be poisoned by images of sex, then what is the effect of images of violence? Unfortunately, my friends could not help me fathom this apparent contradiction.

Every society carries with it a unique set of social values and moral codes. I do not believe that any individual from one society can place an objective judgment on such a subjective topic as another society's values and morals. If this society deems it unacceptable to display any form of sex on television, then that judgment should not be questioned by anyone except the members of this society -- the people whom that judgment primarily effects.

However, my conversations with my friends reveal that the violence and crime that is shown on television is no more acceptable than the sex that is not shown. It is not appropriate to take the law into your own hands and destroy your enemies. And while the rapists, thieves, and murderers are almost always defeated on television, it is not desirable to plant the seeds of these crimes into people's minds where they could grow to think that they could be the ones to get away with it.

I believe that some additional thought needs to be given to the methods and choices of television censorship in Indonesia. There is no doubt that television is a very far-reaching and very influential form of mass media. One village family that I have visited has had electricity for only three months, and their first acquisitions were a satellite dish and a large color television set. It is because of this power of television that people must think about what messages a television program as a whole is sending. One must consider what images are filling people's minds, and where one believes the balance should be. These are the images that will contribute to the shaping of Indonesia's rapidly evolving society.

STEPHEN LEN

Bogor, West Java