Wind In My Head: Brokeback, Tight Slap
Wind In My Head
Friday, February 03, 2006
Brokeback, Tight Slap
Conversation with my brother this morning.Bro: No class, ah?Anyway in today's life, got one 18yr old whining about Brokeback Mountain rated R21, so she cannot see. Want to complain. Please scold her.
Me: You want me to go around and scold every 18 year old girl?
Bro: But this one really quite selfish, she want the movie cut so that it will pass as M18 then she can watch. And all the rest of the population will have to watch the cut version. I want to smack, but will kena throw in jail.
Me: And I won't?
So, apparently, today in Life!, an 18 year old girl is lamenting the fact that she cannot watch Brokeback Mountains. While she makes some valid arguments that it shouldn't need to be an R21 movie, her alternative goes against conventional wisdom. In essence, she says Singaporeans are mature enough to watch it. But if the Powers That Be (PTB) don't think so, then they should just censor the "offensive" love scene and release it to a broader audience base.
How is that logical? Isn't that just more ammunition for them to continue slicing and dicing? The PTB obviously aren't going to open up and see that if you show a gay film to under 21's, you're really not going to make them gay. So, they'll just take the alternative presented so nicely to them on a silver platter.
To reach a broader audience or to retain the integrity of the movie and show it in its entirety? Obviously this girl wants both. When I was about her age, we were told to see Schindler's List since we were doing European History. But we couldn't. Because it was R21 for far less a reason than Brokeback is. Of course we were miffed. And righteously indignant. What? They didn't think us old enough to see concentration camp internees, stripped and walk naked into the shower rooms of death? But I don't think it crossed our minds at that point to ask for it to be cut just so that we could watch it. I think we were more preoccupied with burning effigies of the PTB and resenting the fact that we lived in a small, myopic fishbowl society.
Little Girl, you obviously learnt how to argue some in school. But did you learn broader logic? You claim to be mature enough to watch the movie, yet you do not see the broader repercussions of what you are suggesting. We live in a society that needs little encouragement to be uber-conservative. Give them a reason, any reason (it doens't need to be logical) and they'll head right back into the stone ages. And here, you've put it in a pseudo-intelligent way for them. No spinning needed on their part. Goodness.
Another similarly articulate 18 year old suggests that you might as well use your time more productively and figure out how to get fake ID and sneak in if you really want to see it. Then, you can tell the whole world that you've seen Brokeback Mountain.
But, personally, I think maybe you should just watch I Not Stupid Too! It's PG. No need to cut. Also about contemporary issues that affect society and will open society up more.
Ondine tossed this thought in at 13:28
1 thoughts...
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At 3:21 pm
Tym said... Thanks for saving me the trouble of ranting about this :)
Meanwhile, the government of this country feels that 18-year-olds are old enough to learn to kill another human being and to live in close quarters with people of the same sex whom they are encouraged to bond with, but won't let them choose for themselves to watch a movie about homosexuality, because they'll all become gay overnight. Funny: working intimately with the SAR21 doesn't turn them into mass murderers, does it?