Lady Gaga in Asia

By unpopular demand

May 29th 2012, 12:27 by S.M.

THIS month a major film distributor from Indonesia visited the Odeon cinemas in High Street Kensington to watch the “The Dictator”, a bawdy comedy involving Arab tyrants, beheadings and muscular female bodyguards. “I’m looking forward to this,” he said. But I was puzzled. He usually watched movies in Indonesia, preferably in one of his own theaters, where tickets cost 50,000 rupiahs—around £3.50, or $5.50, compared with Kensington’s £11.25 (160,000 rupiahs). Considering he was in London for only three days, it seemed an odd priority. “Well, you see,” he said, “the film has been banned in Indonesia.” Oh? I said. “Yes, they’re getting a bit nosy these days.” Later, during a particularly bawdy scene, he pointed out that “even if they allowed the film to pass, this entire scene would have been cut.” He wanted to see the film in its unadulterated form.

bawdy = indecent; lewd; obscene: another of his bawdy stories
unadulterated = 1.not diluted or made impure by adulterating;  pure: unadulterated maple syrup. 
2. utter; absolute: unadulterated nonsense

It has been springtime for cultural conservatism in Indonesia. For nearly two months events have tested the charged détente that now exists in Indonesia between religious conservatives and the cosmopolitan middle classes. We are often told that Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, is peaceful and tolerant, and it is true that radical Islamic parties have never been particularly successful at the Indonesian ballot box. But radical Islam’s victories in the cultural sphere have not been inconsequential. In late March, Ali Suryadarma, the religious-affairs minister, fixed his eye on the short skirts of Indonesian women. He declared his wish to ban them and have the women fined and arrested, mostly because “they make men do things.” He did not elaborate. The matter, far from being dismissed as ludicrous, is now being studied dutifully and prayerfully by a presidential task-force.

détente = a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, as by negotiations or agreements.

inconsequential = 1. of little or no importance; insignificant; trivial.

2. inconsequent; illogical.

3. irrelevant.

ludicrous = causing laughter because of absurdity; provoking or deserving derision; ridiculous; laughable: a ludicrous lack of efficiency.

task-force = a group or committee, usually of experts or specialists, formed for analyzing, investigating, or solving a specific problem.

 

In early May, a Canadian liberal Muslim writer, Irshad Manji, who is a lesbian, had several book events in Jakarta disrupted by toughs from a local Islamic militia. A colleague of hers was hospitalised after being walloped repeatedly with a metal stick. Two hotels, worried over precisely this kind of security risk, had refused her request to stay. She sniffed: “Four years ago, I came to Indonesia and experienced a nation of tolerance, openness and pluralism. Things have changed.”

Perhaps they have changed decisively. In 2008 a controversial anti-pornography bill was passed by parliament that regulates images, gestures, or talk deemed pornographic. The presidential task-force charged with implementing the bill began its work in February this year and has since been aggressive in highlighting freedoms it deems curb-worthy.

decisively =

1. having the power or quality of deciding;  putting an end to controversy; crucial or most important: Your argument was the decisive one.

2. characterized by or displaying no or little hesitation; resolute; determined: The general was known for his decisive manner.

3. indisputable; definite: a decisive defeat.

4. unsurpassable; commanding: a decisive lead in the voting.

The law’s most recent victim has been an American pop singer, Lady Gaga, who cancelled what would have been her first concert in Indonesia, refunding 52,000 tickets. This was the culmination of a month-long national saga in which wispy-bearded vigilantes in groups like the Islamic Defenders Front threatened “chaos” if this “messenger of the devil” so much as showed her face. The authorities appear to have acquiesced. For instance, Indonesian authorities asked Ms Gaga to tone down the show by not, for instance, frolicking on stage with a harem troupe of male dancers. Rather than defend the right to artistic expression against an irritable rabble, the government has joined them as another thorn in her side. As Ms Gaga herself pointed out in a tweet: “the Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence.”

This fracas does not entirely ruin Indonesia’s reputation as a place where “religion and democracy need not be in conflict,” as Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, said recently on a visit to Jakarta. Many Indonesians were appalled by the stink over the Gaga affair, though no one much expects it to linger. Most are admirably ecumenical in their religious instincts. But where the views of the majority appear to have been overruled by a vocal minority so easily, it makes one wonder who is in charge. With the anti-pornography bill’s task-force gearing up in the background, the recent slew of cultural skirmishes is unlikely to stop soon.

(Picture credit: AFP)