EDITORIAL - Censored

Did he quit, was he fired, was he forced to resign? The circumstances surrounding the departure of Nicanor Tiongson as chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board are just as confusing as the Philippines’ views on sex and pornography. Tiongson called a press conference yesterday to announce he was quitting as chief censor after the government pulled out Live Show, a movie about live sex performers. There were indications, however, that Tiongson had been forced to resign. "We have to launch a moral revolution from the top," President Arroyo said after accepting Tiongson’s resignation.

The critically acclaimed Live Show has been entered in 13 international movie festivals in North America, Europe and Australia, starting with the Berlin Film Festival last year. Its director, Jose Javier Reyes, chairs the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines. The movie was rated R-18 and approved for public viewing by the previous MTRCB. Tiongson said the approval was effective for five years, but this was not the only reason he was defending the showing of Live Show. The movie is "a powerful exposé" of the way live sex performers are dehumanized, he said. "It is ironic that the freedom of expression that liberated us from a corrupt and incompetent government will become the victim of religious bigotry," Tiongson said.

He was referring to the Roman Catholic Church, which found the movie "lewd" and led protests against its showing. Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin is said to have personally lobbied against the showing of the film. It’s not the first time that the Church has protested against the depiction of sex in the movies. Religious pressure nearly stopped the Philippine run of the award-winning movies Schindler’s List and The Piano. The censors chief at the time pointed out that the two movies had scenes that merited an "X" rating, meaning they would be banned unless the controversial scenes were censored. Those scenes included frontal nudity and "pumping" or sexual intercourse.

As in the case of those two movies, Tiongson argues that Live Show must be viewed in its totality. But Malacañang, still busy repaying its debts in EDSA II, is unlikely to listen to him. And the Church, which considers even French kissing in the movies lewd, is just as unlikely to back down. Amid criticisms that the administration is becoming hostage to clerico-fascism, the nation must define its stand on sex in the movies. There’s a thin line between acting as morality police and suppressing freedom of expression. At the very least, we must be able to tell the difference between pornography and art.