After an entire evening of cursing and swearing on social media over the possibility the movie Beauty and the Beast may be banned, the Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF) finally issued a statement that it had given approval for its screening “quite some time” back – after editing a minor scene concerning a “gay moment”.

Now I do not wish to talk about the film’s distributor making the decision to postpone the release of the movie in Malaysia indefinitely. What I would like to do, is point out my worry, as a concerned member of society, that the LPF has mistakenly edited the wrong “sensitive scene” from the movie.

While the board feels it is inappropriate to promote an LGBT agenda to children through a scene in which Le Fou, the goofy sidekick to main villain Gaston, is “confused about his sexuality”, I would like to point out a few other unedited scenes which are not only inappropriate, but also unnatural in every sense of the word.

• The talking and singing clock, teapot, wardrobe, feather duster and other enchanted household objects in the movie promote superstition. Shouldn’t those scenes have been banned?
• A spell transforming a young prince into a Beast and the idea that only true love can break that curse – does this not smack of witchcraft? Why then was the scene not nicked?
• The Beast attacking Belle’s father promotes disrespectful behaviour towards the elderly. Seriously, is this what our children should be watching? Censor it!
• Belle and her father are kept in the castle by the Beast against their will – is this not promoting abuse of human rights? Pray tell me, why wasn’t those scenes cut?
• The movie shows two unmarried individuals of the opposite sex alone inside a house – are we promoting ‘khalwat’? Censor it!
• In the ballroom dancing scene, Belle is wearing an inappropriate yellow spaghetti strap dress with a plunging neckline. She looks indecent. Are we not a nation who blames females for provoking rape and sexual harassment? Why then has this scene not been censored?
• Before Belle leaves to meet her sick father, she holds the Beast’s hand as both of them gaze into each other’s eyes – is this scene not promoting illicit affairs between two unmarried individuals? Censor it!
• The scene where Gaston gathers the villagers to kill the Beast promotes violence and animal cruelty – should it not have been censored as well?
• The entire film is about Belle falling in love with the Beast – seriously, is the censorship board okay with humans having intimate, romantic relationships with animals? Good God!

Seriously, with the entire movie composed of a collection of inappropriate scenes, as far as Malaysia’s high standards of decency are concerned anyway, I wonder why only the “gay moment” was censored.

Truth is, there is nothing wrong with a scene depicting homosexuality. Our children are not going to be brainwashed into becoming homosexuals overnight simply because they watched an actor playing the role of a gay man.

If the censorship board stubbornly feels gay characters are negative influences to an audience made up of children, I suggest we start censoring every show we telecast on television including cartoons because some are unbearably violent.

The only way to fight negativity is by nurturing a positive mindset. And to do that, we should begin by letting our children think for themselves.

Fa Abdul is an FMT columnist.

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