Anybody read the Sunday Times yesterday? I myself hardly ever read newspapers but picked one up because there was an article on the 15Malaysia project. That's when I saw the front page - 'Mat Rempit and Drag Queens OUT'. Apparently, rempits are now banned from film and television because "it is a fact that each time a movie about Mat Rempit is shown in the cinemas, police have to be on high alert".
This has happened because the Inspector General of the Police sent a letter to the Home Ministry stating this fact. I assume because outright banning something is easier than actually educating the public on why illegally racing on the road whilst trying to perform outlandish stunts on a kapcai.
And it's not just rempits. Illegal car racing portrayed on screen will also take a hit. Drag queens are out, as are scenes of men wearing women's clothing, even if it's in a 'Some Like It Hot' type of comedic scenario. No more lose women to be portrayed on screen. No gays or effeminate men in general.
I think it would be safe to say that chase scenes in general will probably be banned at some point, together with fight scenes of a violent nature, women in short sleeve tight t-shirts, the flashing of the ankles and dogs.
I don't have to tell you how inexplicably stupid this news is to me. Local films were in a bad enough state as it is without adding more restrictions. What, pray tell, is the rating system for, then? And are these laws going to be applied on international films as well, or do they get a pass since they're not Malaysian henceforth no one in this country will try and emulate them?
The thing is, I saw this coming. I saw it coming when the first 'Remp-It' movie hit the cinemas. The second I saw the trailer, with it's illegal racing and stunts and scantily clad women I thought to myself, "I can't believe this got past the censor board! I just hope everyone doesn't jump the bandwagon and keep one-upping themselves trying to see what they can get away with or the government's gonna ban it all."
Then this movie comes out:
"Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam". Great. That's helpful. Sure enough, this movie was one of the ones talked about as apparently, after this movie came out, the amount of rempit activity doubled.
I don't believe in censorship. I believe in ratings to give the public due warning of the content of a movie and to stop younglings from checking out porn at the wrong age. But censorship, especially at this magnitude, is downright obscene.
If you ever wonder why local movies are so dissapointing, look at it this way - creativity is hampered because of censorship laws such as this, combined with producers' greed in wanting to produce something that has all the elements that will sell yet at the same time too afraid to try something new and creative.
And it's this same greed that's landed us in this shit in the first place. We know the government will ban something if there's enough figures to show that it can be related to something that will harm the rakyat, we can't help that. This is the country we live in. And as much as it'd be nice to change that, adding the straw that breaks the camel's back is only going to hamper it.
Dear God, when will there be some kind of news that will allow me to write something nice about the local film industry for once?
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