Unsuitable for Some People

I dunno actually why the movie was banned to play at Indonesian cinemas. Lotta people told that Indonesian government raised objection to the movie, coz the movie impressed that Indonesia was a sadistic country for East Timorese who actually was its own ones.

Photo from http://fresh.co.il

Last week Indonesia’s Film Censor Bureau was criticized coz it banned Balibo movie played at Indonesian cinemas. Balibo is a film made by Australia which exposed five of Australian journalists who died while they were covering the battle at East Timor (today: Timor Leste). According to the movie, those journalists died coz Indonesian soldiers shot them.

In the setting of the movie, East Timor was anxious coz some of its people wanted to be Portuguese colony as it used to be, some other wanted to be part of Indonesia, while some other rebelled to build their own country, and then things were messed up. Indonesia wanted East Timor became its part, too, so it sent its soldiers to manage orderliness in East Timor. But the soldiers’ existency just created a new conflict right there, so there were often clashes among some East Timorese and Indonesian soldiers. Probably in the middle of the battle, those Aussie war journalists became victims. This event was famous as Balibo Five, coz those journalists died at some place called Balibo.

Photo from http://media.vivanews.com

There are different kinda versions about the deaths. Some people said that soldiers shot them purposedly. But some other said that these journalists became victim in wrong time and at wrong place. Definitely, their death had inspired to create a movie.

I can get what would happen if the movie was watched by people who didn’t understand history, especially about East Timor. A misunderstood person who just watches this movie in contemplationless, will say that Indonesian soldiers were that cruel to East Timorese. I’ve talked to a citizen of Timor Leste, and he said that even though Indonesia and Timor Leste were brotherhood, but he couldn’t forget how Indonesian government never really treated East Timorese as its people. Indonesian government didn’t develop East Timor well, and just let the province ignored. And when East Timor tried to protest, Indonesia just replied it with guns.

But I’ve also got another interesting testimony. A nurse from Timor Leste who worked in my town today, said that the situation got messed ever since they separated from Indonesia. Lotta foreign countries mixed to instigate East Timorese for separating from Indonesia, just for using East Timor for the foreigners’ stuffs. Thousands East Timoreses had to be refugees and preferred being citizens of Indonesia, coz though Indonesia didn’t manage its economy appropriately, it’s still easier to find a better job in Indonesia, rather than in Timor Leste.

Photo from http://abc.net.au

Those testimonies make me aware that history of Timor Leste is such a complex stuff, involving Indonesia’s relationship not only with Timor Leste itself, but also with the other countries which ever been involved in conflict right there, such as Portugal, States, and Australia. We need to understand completely why conflict happened there, including why Timor Leste insisted to declare its own country, and why Indonesia insisted to keep East Timor as a part of Indonesia. And those answers, can’t be learned from just watching Balibo.

Briefly, Balibo is only appropriate to be watched by people who understand history and like to get it completely. Instead of just being assumed as a commercial show in cinema which can be entered by audience who hasn’t been mature enough for understanding a history scene.

I hope DVD of Balibo will be released soon. Coz more stricted a movie is forbidden to play, then it’ll be more enthusiastic people wanna watch it, and much bigger that people’s interest is for selling the pirated movie.