Know Your Role!

Samoa’s Film Control Board recently banned the comedy “Sex Tape” from being publicly shown at the only Samoan Movie Theater.

The Samoa Observer reported:

According to the Chief Censor, Lei’ataua Niuapu Lei’ataua, they are merely doing their job.

“The reason why we’ve banned the public screening of the movie is because of the explicit scenes of sex and sexual activities,” he said. “This will affect our culture and traditions if we allow this movie to screen publicly. So we’ve decided to ban it.”

I can understand that the Film Control Board would like to keep the culture and traditions of Samoa safe, but that is not their job.  Their job is to classify the movie and let the people decide whether or not they feel the movie is appropriate for them to see.

If keeping the culture and traditions of Samoa safe was their main objective then they would not have allowed Hercules, Transformers, Fast and the Furious or The Other Woman to be shown in Samoa.  Ok so I watch a lot of movies, but these were the most recent that I have watched at the Samoan movie theater.  Why would I say that all these movies should not have been shown?

Hercules – Don’t hate me I love The Rock and I would watch this movie again on DVD if given the chance because there is a great number of six packs and I am all for appreciation of God’s creations.  But it goes against Samoan Culture and tradition as it makes violence appear to be something good.  That going around with a bow and arrow or a sword and killing people is ok.  It also shows us that animal cruelty is acceptable.

Transformers – Ok I am also a fan of Mark Wahlberg and mother of a boy who loves transformers so I know that I will be watching this movie again.  But if we were to use the rule set down by the Film Control Board we should not have been able to view this because the girl in the movie is disrespectful of her father and lied to him about a boy!  I am sorry but Samoan culture says that we should all be respectful to our elders and definitely should not be dating or thinking of kissing a boy at that age.

Fast and the Furious – I have watched this more than a few times and will watch it again because hello Tyrese, The Rock, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.  But this movie goes against Samoan traditions as it teaches that stealing and not listening to authorities such as the police are acceptable not to mention the idealizing of driving dangerously over the speed limit.  With that said I don’t understand why the Film Control Board allowed it to be shown.

The Other Woman – Ok I kind of see why this was allowed as adultery is a common thing now in Samoa so it kind of upholds our traditions, but you would think that as God fearing people that we would not have allowed it just because of the fact that they drink heavily in this movie and the bible says that we should not drink heavily!

I like the intentions of the Samoa Film Board in trying to keep Samoa safe from all things that are bad in movies, but the reality is that you aren’t doing that consistently.  If your sole reason was to safeguard our traditions and culture then you really need to be consistent because I am sure that I can name other movies that could be detrimental to our culture and traditions.  However, I still believe that it is not the role of the Board to safeguard our culture or traditions but rather to classify the movies so that I can tell if it is appropriate for me to take my ten year old son to.  I believe that at 35 years of age I am old enough to determine whether or not a comedy showing the pain and heartache of filming a sex tape and having it go public will make me want to go out and make a sex tape and if I did choose to make a sex tape I am an adult who has every right to do so as long as it is consensual and within the laws of the land I live in.

So what do I have to say to the Samoa Film Board?  Know your role!