Finding Miyabi

“For destroying this country, you should be thrown out! Or have both your hands cut off! Then have both your feet cut off!” - Sahab Anggawi, a leader of Indonesia's Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), in an apparent fit to filmmaker Ody Mulya Hidayat of Maxima Pictures, December 2010.

What got Anggawi's crisp white turban in a twist was the star of his fellow countrymen's horror film, Carriage Ghost. Japanese star Maria Ozawa aka Miyabi, was already famous in Indonesia for her adult films. Maxima Pictures then tapped into the locals’ fascination with horror films starring Japanese adult-movie (better known as JAV) stars, fully clothed and heavily made-up with gore. In a trip to Jakarta to promote the film, Miyabi faced protestors at the airport and Hidayat at the offices of Maxima, the movie production house he runs. After the showdown with the FPI, the filmmaker buckled under pressure and sent Miyabi home.

Last month Hidayat and Maxima Pictures, driven by pure economics, released a horror film Suster Kuramas 2 (or Evil Nurse 2) starring another busty JAV star, Sora Aoi. This time filming was done with minimum publicity so as not to incur the wrath of the FPI. Still, google Aoi and you'll find a gem of a quote: "Indonesian man is very warm". The movie is the sequel to the 2009 horror flick, this time with Rin Sakuragi, known for far steamier roles. Other genres also benefit from the pull of porn stars. Miyabi starred in one Indonesia's highest-grossing films of 2010, Menculik Miyabi (or Chasing Miyabi), a teen comedy that sold tickets many say on the strength of her name. The ironic business plan of peddling local movies with Japanese porn stars fully clothed is apparently a good one.

Amidst all the irony, one of Indonesia's rising stars waste away in jail, sentenced to three and a half years and fined. Nazril Irham, or Ariel as he is widely known, naughty front man of Indonesian band Peterpan, was found guilty of aiding in the distribution of two private home-made sex videos that spread like wildfire on the internet in 2010.

While Hidayat's horror films were produced within the boundaries of Indonesia's licensing framework, Ariel became yet another celebrity who thought people can be trusted and heavily penalised for the lapse in judgement.

As with the Peterporn Case, morality may be threatened and imposed, but in a country where local celeb nipple slip sites are available for consumption on the Internet, jailing poor Ariel for 3 years seems pretty harsh. And if you believed that only a minority of people in Indonesia appreciate erotica, there wouldn't be much interest in horror or teen films starring porn stars.

It is very hard to control what is out there. While I'd like to believe in the Internet as a source of good, as with most things, there are downsides. The wealth of information at your fingertips does include a fair amount of smut from anonymous content providers that exploit such anonymity.

Recently there was an idea bandied about in a neighboring country for a "consensus" to be formulated for how people should behave on the Internet. Friendly discussions abound on blogging responsibly and mindfully, how to balance freedom of speech and incitement. Shaking hands in a non-binding agreement aside, it's also about self-regulation and good manners. Basic principles we learnt as children at home and in the playground.

We communicate and receive data with an ease that is amazing and scary, in equal footing. This means that the knee-jerk reaction hard-liners get with morality is often counter-productive. For example, banning usually drives things underground where it spreads rampant and upsets the economic balance. While I believe that it is up to a particular country on how it handles pornography, the individual play his or her part. It's a bit difficult to try and police the internet. At the end of the day people have to take their own steps to control and assess what is readily available online and not depend on the state. More importantly, parents should be mindful of what their children consume on the Internet.

Reminders on acceptable boundaries for our society is a good thing, but I don't understand what the big fuss is about Maria Ozawa's 'Tinkerbell with an H, the second one finished what the first one started'. 

@emmagoodegg

Illustration by Cuboi Art.

For the edited online version click nowhere because apparently there is no difference in writing pornography and writing ABOUT pornography.

Comments

[icys]

#FreeAriel =)

[icys]

Agreed!

[Mujahidjohar]

This is a good read, and I agree with many of the points raised here.

I definitely do not agree that a video meant for personal viewing warranted a 3 year jail term. I support self-regulation when it comes to the internet as morality should not be imposed onto the public by the government (note that there is a difference between law and morality).

Education and involvement is the key here if parents want to avoid their children encountering pornography on the internet. Educating children on why something is bad for them is infinitely better than banning it from them.