I have been following Joel Stein’s opinion, one of many columnists who frequently wrote his opinion at LA Times. One of his views dated on December 12, 2006 was about Indonesian Playboy Magazines by raising a question whether the magazine was indecent or not related to the trial of Erwin Arnada, editor of the new Indonesian edition of Playboy, who faces up to 32 months in prison for putting out a magazine with indecent pictures . Unlike his other opinions, especially for this issue, I shared my view with him. I'd like you also to read his opinion at the end of this column and start thinking that what he meant is beyond what he wrote.
Suharto stepped down in 1998 and Habibie took over the position. It was obvious that both have left a lot of unfinished work to their people. Since then, every single movement in this country was unpredictable. Two big extremes had become a magnet to drive the situations, namely Status Quo (has been there for quite long time) and Reformist (as many claimed). The social life has been maintained “busy” for something that less fundamental.
Press, as media, has taken advantage from the situation. And what’s more, Gus Dur as president at that time (superseded Habibie) has given press a substantial role. He released the press from old tyranny that control free speaking via media in Indonesia during Suharto’s era. The era of press in Indonesia was then born as a freed bird. I should say the press was freely flying like a bird. Now the bird can perch anywhere depends on who give him food a lot. Isn't it?
Press, as media, has taken advantage from the situation. And what’s more, Gus Dur as president at that time (superseded Habibie) has given press a substantial role. He released the press from old tyranny that control free speaking via media in Indonesia during Suharto’s era. The era of press in Indonesia was then born as a freed bird. I should say the press was freely flying like a bird. Now the bird can perch anywhere depends on who give him food a lot. Isn't it?
Back in the old days, you will not even think to ask a question whether something is indecent or not. Indonesia’s culture has bound its society by dictating that if something can be sensed to be inappropriate then it is no need to be questioned. You have your own judgment from your inner sense without saying good or bad, indecent or decent. The universal value accept as true that every human being has guidance inside his/her mind to justify such an action to be classified as appropriate or not.
Unfortunately, with new era, this beautiful mind was brutally taken by Brainiacs who claim themselves as a new generation of logic’s power. They deem everything must be following human’s common sense. They also consider that everything has to be expressed it into something. How many of us hearing argumentation that a nude pose is an art instead of porn? Do they realize that basically they lie to themselves? That’s ignorance.
I am proud to be an Indonesian, but at the same time, I feel hesitate to proclaim if the act of showing body is not part of Indonesian daily life. Why? I have been witnessing many actions in our society that presenting a portrait that is more naughty than what Indonesian Playboy Magazines’ published. Have you been in mall where teenagers usually choose as place to show off in Indonesia? Well, if you are sexually normal, deep down in your heart will say “hmm..hmm good…..” Can you imagine how many Night’s Club have been approved to do their business every year in Indonesia? The number is a lot.
Nowadays, you can find night’s club not only in the big city in Indonesia, but also in the place that far from electricity source. They are willing to use petromax (a lamp with kerosene as fuel) or diesel, plus a local music dangdut for supporting their night business. Unbelievable! Why is this business approval so easy to get in the country that claim has a religious society? Because, it is easy money. That is it. If money can talk, then forget anything about moral.
Joel….. I agree with your statement that Indonesia Playboy’s magazine is showing off nothing but short pants or just bikini. Even though I have not seen it myself :-), your screening during “half an hour with Indonesian Playboy” has convinced me about the view. However, I believe everything starts from small and grows become big and then bigger and bigger. If I can do something to stop anything that potentially menace our society in the future, I will stop it NOW than later on. So, if you are still asking whether this version of playboy is indecent or not, then you are out of the big picture for the real situation. If your future references are teenagers who become new generation in this country, then I believe you will have the same view as me. (Prahoro Nurtjahyo, Friday, 12 January 2007)
Unfortunately, with new era, this beautiful mind was brutally taken by Brainiacs who claim themselves as a new generation of logic’s power. They deem everything must be following human’s common sense. They also consider that everything has to be expressed it into something. How many of us hearing argumentation that a nude pose is an art instead of porn? Do they realize that basically they lie to themselves? That’s ignorance.
I am proud to be an Indonesian, but at the same time, I feel hesitate to proclaim if the act of showing body is not part of Indonesian daily life. Why? I have been witnessing many actions in our society that presenting a portrait that is more naughty than what Indonesian Playboy Magazines’ published. Have you been in mall where teenagers usually choose as place to show off in Indonesia? Well, if you are sexually normal, deep down in your heart will say “hmm..hmm good…..” Can you imagine how many Night’s Club have been approved to do their business every year in Indonesia? The number is a lot.
Nowadays, you can find night’s club not only in the big city in Indonesia, but also in the place that far from electricity source. They are willing to use petromax (a lamp with kerosene as fuel) or diesel, plus a local music dangdut for supporting their night business. Unbelievable! Why is this business approval so easy to get in the country that claim has a religious society? Because, it is easy money. That is it. If money can talk, then forget anything about moral.
Joel….. I agree with your statement that Indonesia Playboy’s magazine is showing off nothing but short pants or just bikini. Even though I have not seen it myself :-), your screening during “half an hour with Indonesian Playboy” has convinced me about the view. However, I believe everything starts from small and grows become big and then bigger and bigger. If I can do something to stop anything that potentially menace our society in the future, I will stop it NOW than later on. So, if you are still asking whether this version of playboy is indecent or not, then you are out of the big picture for the real situation. If your future references are teenagers who become new generation in this country, then I believe you will have the same view as me. (Prahoro Nurtjahyo, Friday, 12 January 2007)
Is Indonesian Playboy indecent?
A little in-depth research to see if the charges against the magazine's Indonesian editor are valid.
December 12, 2006
I DO NOT have any official role within the Indonesian judicial system. But I do feel like I can provide an important advisory service in the trial of Erwin Arnada, editor of the new Indonesian edition of Playboy, who faces up to 32 months in prison for putting out a magazine with indecent pictures. I may not know much about the law or Islam, but I do know an awful lot about indecency.
Indonesia — the largest Muslim nation, with more than 245 million people — is pretty moderate. The press is somewhat free, women wear jeans, and we haven't declared war on it. Still, the publication of Playboy freaked the country out. When the first issue hit the newsstands in April, the Islamic Defenders Front attacked the offices of the editors who produced this "moral terrorism." This act of suppression proved so successful that the issue sold out and was soon selling on the black market for four times the cover price.
To find out if Indonesian Playboy really is indecent, I put it to the same test our courts have used since Justice Potter Stewart wrote the majority opinion in 1964's Jacobellis vs. Ohio: Does it give me an erection? Although I may not have the legal mind of Stewart, I believe I am just as good at getting excited.
Although I was unable to obtain the premiere issue of Playboy Indonesia — the cover of which shows a woman's face and the enticing headline, "Always Happy Early" — I got the two latest issues. November's cover line is "Justify Beauty." December announces that model Isyane Angelita is "Against All Odds." At the very least, Indonesian Playboy is slowly teaching Arnada English.
The first thing I noticed inside Indonesian Playboy is that there is absolutely no nudity — not even women in lingerie. All the models are wearing gowns, long dresses or skirt-jacket combos. More shocking was the fact that Arnada, like Hugh Hefner, is convinced his readers care about seeing party pictures involving LeRoy Neiman.
Despite these setbacks, I was determined to give this legal matter a fair shake. During an intense reading session in a New York hotel room, I noted that there was, in fact, something sultry and teasing about the poses. Or, as prosecutor Resni Muchtar put it last week, "The models also had inviting expressions on their faces." Muchtar is not known for his bedroom talk.
In the December issue, I found myself ogling Cindy Bachito, whose hard stare into the camera, slightly parted lips and floral print skirt were almost doing it for me, though she did look a little young. I momentarily felt bad about being turned on by her, but then I remembered that if she's in an Indonesian skin-mag, she's got to be at least 14.
After half an hour with Indonesian Playboy, I cannot in clear conscience fully recommend that Arnada be acquitted. Sure, these photos were no more intense than Prada ads, but, in a way, Prada ads — with their submissive poses and glorified promiscuity — are a form of "moral terrorism." The history of sexual social progress, after all, could reasonably be described that way, from the Garden of Eden to the printing of "Ulysses" to the career of Britney Spears.
There are plenty of real porn movies sold in Indonesia, but they're relegated to seedy stores in Jakarta. The challenge Playboy presents is that it's sold in presentable bookstores and mixes journalism with sexuality. That was its brilliance when it was launched in the U.S.: the thrill of publicly subverting mainstream morality. With boobies.
So this trial means a lot in the global war between fundamentalism and liberalism, but Arnada might have to be a casualty for showing Miss November in a long red dress with a butterfly print. If Indonesian prisoners are anything like American ones, I'm guessing the inmates beat him up just for that.
*jstein@latimes.columnists.com
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