Not suitable for your viewing pleasure
For those of you who were waiting to see the next installation of Halloween on screens this week, prepare to be disappointed as the slasher-flick has now been deemed too violent and sexually explicit for gentle Malaysian audiences. Keep reading to find out which other films ended up getting the snip and why.
Halloween 2
Looks like we won’t be seeing Michael Myers cause havoc in Haddonfield this time round. Rob Zombie’s horror sequel to Halloween has been banned by the Lembaga Penapisan Filem Malaysia for being “too violent and containing sex scenes”. For some, this may come as a relief. It's about time someone finished off the dude in the hockey mask. We just never thought it'd be the local Film Censorship Board. Looks like a serial killer was no match for an expurgator. Still, with no blood, gore or violence on offer this Raya season, what are we supposed to do for entertainment? I guess there's always “Momok the Movie”.
Zoolander
Our dear countrymen got touchy when this film’s plot put a pretty male model on a course to assassinate "the prime minister of Malaysia." In Ben Stiller's cult fav, the world’s 2nd best male model, Derek Zoolander, is brainwashed and programmed to assist in a plot to keep the exploitation of child labour going in Malaysia, for the sake of the fashion industry. Zoolander was deemed unsuitable by our film censorship board despite it having minimal sex or violence. The film went on to become one of Stiller’s biggest hits and remains Malaysia's claim to fame amongst thick and uncultured Westerners. We have trouble deciding on whether it was the assassination plot or the child labour that did Zoolander in. Neither helped but we thank Hollywood for the dishonourable mention.
Bruno & Borat
This one doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Not only is Bruno incredibly blithe when it comes to losing his clothes but he is also arguably the campest character on screen. Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno was banned in the Ukraine on the grounds that the film had ‘unjustified’ showing of genitals and featured homosexual sex. Our film board didn't even bother explaining, sending Bruno the way of Borat. A few years earlier when a certain Kazak reporter took the world by storm through over the top sexual references and an overall disregard of political correctness, his worldwide success stopped short of our shores as the Lembaga Penapisan Filem axed Borat's entire movie. Perhaps Malaysians really aren’t ready to see two nude men wrestle each other but then again, who is? Still, it's a shame to deprive us all of the comedic genius that is Sacha Baron Cohen.
Brokeback Mountain
Homosexuality as subject matter really won't win you any favours with our local censorship board, despite what you might have heard. Ang Lee’s epic film about two gay cowboys was almost instantly given the red flag. It was a huge shame that Malaysians were forced to miss critically acclaimed performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, as well as the film's award winning cinematography. But its homosexual nuances were seen as unsuitable for our local audiences. Oscar winning or not, we prefer our cowboys dreary!
Babe
If you thought this children’s film about a sheep-herding pig seemed perfect harmless, think again. In 2005 the movie Babe was banned due to controversy over its title and subject matter not being “halal”. The similarity of the word ‘Babe’ to the Malay word for pig, ‘Babi’, was too close for comfort. Pigs (which are considered ‘haram’ animals) being portrayed in a positive light was frowned upon by local censors. Although this prevented the film from being shown on the big screen, the decision to ban the film altogether was overturned a year later, and it was released to video. It has subsequently been shown on TV here as well. That's another win for the lovable...you know...guy.
Fiza
This critically acclaimed film by Bollywood director Khalid Mohamed received a great response from all over the world and won numerous awards in India. However the subject matter strayed too far from the usual rolling-down-a-hill-and-dancing-around-a-tree-plot censors were used to seeing from Bollywood. The movie's backdrop and subject matter were deemed too sensitive for Malaysian viewers. According to local authorities, the portrayal of Muslim terrorists in the film would have offended Malaysians and hinged on the sentiments of the public. There might have been a little truth in that but we think the always delightful Hrithik Roshan would've probably smoothed over any sensitive areas explored in the film's plot. You gotta admit it, the man can dance!
The King & I
The 1956 musical about the lovable Anna and the King of Siam was initially banned in Malaysia. At the time of the film's release, Malaysia went along with Thailand's decision to ban it as the portrayals of the King as well as the Thai people were deemed offensive. Coincidentally, 1999's Anna and The King, was filmed in several parts of Malaysia (as Thailand still thought the subject matter wasn’t suitable for filming in the country) and the film became one of the biggest productions to have been filmed on our shores.
Pineapple Express
Well, despite being the film that probably launched Seth Rogen’s popularity into the stratosphere, this film checked all the boxes on the censorship list. “Pineapple Express” refers to a type of super marijuana that lands two guys into a whole lot of trouble. The rolling of super joints and scenes of unnecessary violence did not go down well with our Film Censorship Board, predictably. In a country where the 18 rating has four different flavours: 18SX (sex), 18SG (violence), 18 PA (politics) and 18PL (variety), Pineapple Express unfortunately pushed the boundary a little too far, in the eyes of local censors, even for an audience of adult Malaysians. Totally denied, dudes!
The Last Communist
This controversial documentary by local filmmaker Amir Muhammad was initially passed for local released but finally banned by the Home Ministry under the Film Censorship Act 1991, before it made it to a theatre near you. It is inspired by the leader of the former Malayan Communist Party, Chin Peng and is a semi-documentary cum musical. It debuted at the Berlin Film Festival and made its way to the Seattle International and London Film Festivals, receiving a good response from audiences throughout. The controversy though, was mostly on local shores where the film was never commercially released, despite it being a completely local production.
When it comes to our national history and heritage, the powers that be demand a great deal of restraint from filmmakers, writers and artists. It can often impede social progress but it has pushed many to be even more creative in camouflaging discourse. There are those too honest to hide beneath layers, who produce our most frank and upfront work. Work only made available to foreign eyes. As far as standards and practices go, that is a shame. Plus, how dangerous could a documentary/musical really be? (JS)
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