Censored!

I've just finished watching "Chasing Liberty" on one of the local Indonesian channels. I've already seen it before but being the romantic comedy fan that I am, although it isn't one of my favorites, I was looking forward to watching the movie again (It is one of those "pleasant, I don't want to think" kind of movie. The main actor, Matthew Goode, is undeniably cute (!) but the movie lacks a strong script & also, in my opinion, Matthew Goode has no chemistry with Mandy Moore, the main actress).

However.....thanks to Indonesia's censorship, this mediocre movie became unbearable to watch. They cut out all the kissing scenes, which is in my opinion the whole point of watching a romantic movie!

Well, I shouldn't have been surprised since I know about the TV censorship in Indonesia. TVs are not allowed to show scenes that are related to sex (which includes kissing scenes).

As I got online, I googled about "indonesian tv censor" and found an amusing post by Marek Bialoglowy about Indonesian TV. Notice that it was written in 2006, but I think not a lot has changed.

I googled further, and found an interview excerpt (please skip to the interview with Ratna Mahadi at the bottom half of the page) that mentions some of the more specific censorship rules (It also tries to explain Indonesia's taste for the typical "poor good girl meets rich before-a-brat-but-after-meeting-poor-good-girl,-he-comes-to-his-senses boy" plot (phew...that's a long phrase) : http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1258852.htm

All in all though, I think censorship in Indonesia is still tolerable. At least it is not like in Pakistan!