Pornography Sensors In Films Have Wide Perspectives

Illustration - A film is categorized as pornography if it intentionally displays sexual exploitation, although today it is often obscured with cinematographic art. (Unsplash)

JAKARTA- Although it has often been socialized, the age category given by the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) is still often ignored by the audience. Even though the age category is done to protect the audience.

Quoted from the website of the Ministry of Education and Culture, one of the functions of the LSF is the protection of the community from negative impacts arising from the circulation and performance of films and film advertisements that do not match the basics, directions, and goals of Indonesian cinema.

Based on PP Number 18 of 2014 concerning the Film Censorship Institute, there are four categories of film classification and film advertisements based on the audience. The categories are category films for all ages (SU), films for viewers aged 13 years or over (13+), films for viewers aged 17 years or over (17+), and films for viewers aged 21 years or over (21+).

Kiss and violence scenes are often the most highlighted part of a film. However, these two scenes can also be easily found in films in the categories SU, 13+, and 17+.

In the film Adventure Sherina 2 which has been showing in theaters since last week, for example, at the end of the film, there is a scene of Shadam, played by Derby Romero, kissing Sherina, played by Sherina Munaf. Even though the film Adventure Sherina received a SU label from the LSF.

Different stories with popular films such as Avengers: Endgame which is in the 13+ category of the LSF. But in reality, the film is widely watched by children under the age of 13. In the film, which is played by Robertbor Jr., it shows a number of fighting scenes.

Then, how does the LSF determine the classification that a scene, such as kissing and fighting scenes, can be categorized as 13+ or 17+.

LSF chairman Rommy Fibri Hardiyanto explained that the scene can be categorized as two, whether it's an informative or exploitative scene.

"Whether the scene is categorized as 13+ or 17+, we can see from two things, namely informative or explosive," Rommy told VOI.

"If we only kiss the cheeks, a kiss that shows affection, we can include it as an informative scene, so that it can be categorized as 13+. But if a kiss is struggling, for example, we put it in 17+ because it is exploratory," Rommy continued.

The same goes for fight scenes. If there is a scene that gets bloody, a sadistic fight, it must be categorized as 17+," Rommy added.

The rules related to pornography in a film are regulated in the Minister of Education and Culture Number 14 of 2019 article 12, which reads: Films or advertisements Films are categorized as pornographic as referred to in Article 8 letter b if the entire content of the film deliberately aims to display scenes of sexual exploitation by: (a) naked visuals, half-body for women or all-body for both women and men who are shown from the front, from the side, and/or from behind.

Rommy explained that the article did not explain in detail what scenes fall into the pornography category so that they often cause controversy. Especially in today's era, not a few scenes that are considered pornographic are 'blended' with beautiful cinematography so that there is no visible pornographic element.

"For example, there is a full naked or naked scene. Such a scene will be very easy to catch by the Pornography Law," Rommy explained.

"But when the cinematography is cool, the shooting of beautiful images, for example, shows only those silhouettes are allowed and are not included in the pornographic element, because what we see is cinematography. So, to determine whether this scene is included in pornography or not, the perspective is very broad," Rommy added at length.

Meanwhile, Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi is reviewing the potential for entering film streaming services such as Netflix into the realm of broadcasting.

"We are seriously reviewing whether OTT (over the top, internet video service provider, ed) will be included in the broadcasting realm," said Budie Arie in Jakarta, on August 10.

One of the reasons why Kominfo is reviewing censorship for OTT services is because of concerns about the entry of films with pornographic elements freely.

But according to Rommy, it is not only about pornography that is a concern of the massive streaming film service in Indonesia in recent years.

"The long-term impact, when the film that is shown contains pornographic elements, for example, the state will be considered to legalize pornography itself," Rommy explained.

This should be a state record and is currently beingdogized by Kominfo. There must be comprehensive regulations. Regarding OTT is not only a matter of censorship, but also how the state gets income from OTT. The sensors are only a small part, it contains taxes, PT legality, and so on. The state should be concerned about that," Rommy concluded.