The relevant bit:
For my part, I, in my Multiply blog, bewailed its stupidity and called again for the abolition of this irrrelevant and pre-historic agency, an oppressive vestige of the Martial Law era. Imagine the stupidity of censoring a film honored in prestigious film festivals abroad like the Venice Film Festival! While other countries are honoring Diaz with retrospectives, his own countrymen are persecuting him and trying to shut him up.
And the most offensive thing about this whole affair is that the MTRCB didn't even bother to watch the entire movie. They only watched less than thirty minutes of the eight-hour movie, and when the first breasts appeared on screen, they decided that their job was done. Who are these morons passing judgment on these works of art? Do they have an idea of what 'context' means?
Fortunately, unlike the filmmakers of 'Serbis,' Lav Diaz stood his ground and gave the MTRCB the finger. In an interview, Lav Diaz said: "I don't believe in censorship. The existence of the board of censors is very fascistic. Censorship is poison to the arts. Censorship is poison to culture. Censorship is a very feudal act...I will not change anything [in Encantos]. The real struggle is to make good films for our people."
Now that's the way to slay this monster. Way to go, Lav! An unjust status quo will continue to be foisted on its victims if the victims continue to give in. Luckily for us, Lav Diaz is not a victim. Mabuhay ang Pelikulang Pilipino!
Wow. There is so much wrong in the entire screed it is hard to figure out where to begin.
Now, I'm no art-house type. I'm the kind of guy who watches movies because they're entertaining, and from time to time, they have smart things to say. So, I really cannot wrap my mind around the particulars of the avante garde psyche. However, stupid is stupid, no matter what the source.
First of all, calling out the MTRCB for being old ("prehistoric"? You know what else is prehistoric? Art. Let's abolish that too, shall we?) and "Marcos era" (They had movies during Marcos' time too. Shall we abolish movie-making in the Philippines? In your case, please say yes.) is all sorts of stupid. Yeah, let's ignore the concept behind an organization and attack the time it was organized.
Calling it irrelevant has more substance, but also won't get far. Movies are an industry, and industries require some form of regulation. As far as I can tell, based on the decree which created the MTRCB, the board was a concession to an industry already on the brink of collapsing under the weight of its own collective ego. Plus, there is a reason why the American FCC will always be there, especially now that the Production Code has been dead for several decades. Movie messages and themes are seldom universal, and you will need a ranking system to help parents decide whether or not a movie suits their kids, or to determine whether or not a movie is too unedifying for public consumption (like porn). Don't attack the concept or the organization just because you disagree with its current members. Without the ratings system, the movie industry's revenue will plummet as parents become even more selective about where to take the family to on weekends.
As for not watching an entire eight hour movie, I don't blame the MTRCB. The presence of a blatant offense as listed by the criteria is determined, hence the rating. Indulging an eight hour monstrosity is not part of the job desciption. Finding violations is. Who wants to watch an 8 hour ego-trip? Lav Diaz ought to get hired as a professional torturer somewhere. Libya perhaps? Among book publishers, if you don't hook editors within the first five (or in some cases, just the first) pages of your brilliant 600-page manuscript, it gets tossed onto the reject pile. And these people are already there to assess quality. What more can you expect from people whose job is to simply see if a movie meets certain criteria or violates certain criteria. Apparently, it is Dino Manrique who needs an education in "context". Oh, and yes, Mr. Manrique, I can see the logic in censoring a film lauded by a bunch of snotty people who give awards to justify being snotty. Because being lauded by snotty people is no guarantee of good taste, nor of good movie-making. It can win the "coveted Crying Monkey Award" for all anybody ought to care. By the way, did you know that "Birth of a Nation", a racist glorification of the Ku Klux Klan, was also lauded by snotty movie people? Shall we honor it with some "Burning Cross" award?
As for decrying passing judgment on art, who the hell is Dino Manrique to "judge" this "art" worthy for all eyes to see? Anybody who thinks that the embarrassment to the Philippines known as "Serbis" is a good movie has lost all credibility with regards to telling us what a good movie is. F*** you too, Mr. Manrique.
As for Mr. Diaz, of course he doesn't believe in censorship. Anything that will prevent him from hoisting his monstrous 10-hour orgies of self indulgence on a hapless public MUST. BE. OPPOSED.
Censorhip, used rightly, can protect a culture. You know what is poison to culture? Stupid, egotistic artists. You give the rotten-false impression that you are the best our culture has to offer. Woe be to us if anybody outside believes that, but the true poison is when even we begin to believe that as well. Oh, and censorship is not a feudal act. Swearing vassalage and honoring societal heirarchies, duties and obligations are feudal acts. Censorship as an act existed for as long as there was art, which predates feudalism. Next time, read up on terms a little before bandying them around like some drunken debutante.
I do agree with one thing that Mr. Diaz said, though. The real struggle is to make good films for the Philippine audience. Unfortunately for Mr. Diaz, it seems that he stopped struggling a long time ago, and settled for intellectual masturbation. His dumb-ass statements reflect it.
X, you guys have a lot riding on your shoulders... I'm rooting for you guys.
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