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Editorial4th July 1999 |
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47, W. A. D. Ramanayake Mawatha Colombo 2. P.O. Box: 1136, Colombo 2.
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Engrossingly gross?The current discourse going on in the cinema world about the new wave of 'adults only' movies in the Sinhala movie circuit is interesting for more reasons than one. This so-called new tendency arises from the increasingly liberal attitudes towards censorship inculcated by Somaratna Balasuriya, the czar of the Public Performances Board. On the other hand, this attitude it is said, has led to healthy frank expression of themes such as lesbianism and sensuality, previously taboo in the serious cinema circuit. The community of artistes and the cinema dilettante have almost in unison welcomed this tendency, and Sri Lankans have been generally happy about the fact that movies such as "Fire'' which were made in India but banned in India, could be shown in the Sri Lankan circuit. But, in the melee, the Lankan academic community seems to be now getting a vicarious thrill out of the confusion that reigns over some of the movies being made today taking full advantage of the attitudes of the performances board. There are movies such as 'Bahubharya' or the new "Siriyahana ginigane'' (also probably a spin-off of the Indian film 'Fire' exploring the theme of lesbianism) which seem to have caught the local critic in a tailspin. Both connoisseur and the dilettante are in a state of indecision over whether to label these movies cheap commercial products or whether to accord them the status of the serious art movie, albeit with a few necessarily sensual strings attached. Perhaps the discourse shows, if considered in wider perspective, the confusion over sexuality that prevails in a culture that is hybrid and highly commercialised though conservative in grain. It's difficult to think how liberal values towards censorship can be inculcated without letting in some sort of commercially motivated trash percolate to the viewer in the process. But, it is also true that some of these commercial movies are gross excesses, gross not so much because of the sex, but because of the puerile way in which the sexual themes are exploited . But in the meanwhile there are some actresses who seem to traverse the thin line between art and the pornographic . Whether they are doing so out of a bold artistic resolve or out of a weakness for the bucks is still not a decided issue it seems. All in all, a rather confusing but admittedly engrossing state of affairs. The economic RichterThe Central Bank has announced a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth of over 2.7 per cent in the first quarter of 1999 over the corresponding first quarter of the previous year, according to a Central Bank report. At least that's what is said in the state controlled newspapers. But other newspapers, quoting the same Central Bank sources claim different stories. For example, one weekend Sinhala newspaper claims quite boldly and unequivocally that the Central Bank privately claims a drastic economic downturn for the next year and the rest of this year. The downturn, it is said, is not simply going to be bad, it's going to be disastrous. We leave it to the Central Bank authorities to confirm the correctness or otherwise of these stories, and provide any clarifications, but we might add that however subtle the clarification, both stories cannot be equally correct. Statistics can lie, but the performance of the economic Richter is something that should not be perceived frivolously - it's not something like going to the movies. At a time when there are all types of millennial anxieties about an apocalyptic world food crisis, it would serve all interests to get at the truth of the economy before painting rosy or grey pictures for partisan advantage, especially since either way, it is the common man who is eternally feeling the pinch.
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