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A 90-year-old bachelor decides to give himself the gift of a night with an adolescent virgin. This happens in life and it takes place in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's latest novel Memories of My Melancholy Whores. Anti-prostitution groups are objecting to a movie being made on this work. They believe it will promote child prostitution.

Literature, cinema, art have always been questioned along these lines. It is assumed that fewer readers get influenced than viewers. The possibility of the visual being more straightforward and tangible does have definite and definitive appeal. I wonder why no one is concerned about 90-year-old men, then.

If it is assumed that young girls will watch a film and think of joining the profession, then won’t this spur on elderly men? It has in fact happened when a German offered to pay a huge sum and wanted to die in the act. He wanted to reach a climax the right way. We have had Lolitas and Geishas in various forms.

The protesters ought to divert their attention to the large number of children who are already plying the trade. The virgin is a big draw, and in India it has got religious sanction in the form of the devadasi cult where a girl in some families is offered to the goddess, but is exploited by the priests and the feudal lords of the area. That many of them later find themselves in the red light areas is evidence enough that the racket is flourishing.

Cinema does have responsibility, but not merely to protect people from the truth. And young children are very much desired. I have not read the book, but at a psychological level I can imagine how men might find them non-threatening – a harking back to their callow youth.

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In another report, there was this precious headline: ‘Porn star barred from fully-clothed role’

It is ridiculous. Maria Ozawa, of mixed Japanese and Canadian parentage, has been described as one of Asia’s most successful pornographic film actresses. A report states that she “does not look like an obvious candidate for the blacklist…she is not a terrorist, journalist, or a convicted criminal. But Ozawa has been forced to cancel her arrival in Jakarta on Thursday in a row that has drawn in Islamic fundamentalists, feminists and others”.

Can someone please elaborate? Who are these others? Why would feminists have a problem with her being a journalist or a convicted criminal? Indonesia, like several countries, does have a problem with pornography even though it might be hugely popular in private. No wonder the account is breathless:

• Although little known in the West, she has surpassed even acting legends such as Pamela Anderson as the most searched for celebrity on Indonesia’s internet version of Google.

Since when did Pamela Anderson become an acting legend?

As happens often, the crux is to hit out at “conservative Islamic organisations in the latest round in an ongoing debate about sexual morality”.

The supposedly fully-clothed role was to be a comedy “about a group of teenagers obsessed with Ozawa’s work who ‘accidentally kidnap’ her as she is attempting to escape from a mob of fans. The screenplay ends happily with the adult star settling down in Jakarta, where she opens a lingerie shop”.

Why would they be obsessed with her work? Why does she settle down? Is Jakarta the only place where she can open a lingerie store? And why only lingerie? Why not nuts and bolts?

The Indonesian Ulema Council has put its foot down: “If someday we approve the film, many teenagers will see it, then after that they will idolise her and we are worried that they will eventually seek out her porn films.”

You know what? They are technically more right than those anti-Marquez film protestors. For, this is not based on a classic; it has populist appeal and shows teenagers in awe of her body of work, so to speak. They are bound to find out what lies beneath those clothes, if they already don’t know.

If the filmmakers are so keen on the subject, they could cast someone else in the role, could they not?

In both instances, however, we are dealing with situations where women are the objects of desire. It would be foolish to assume a self-righteous posture and say that they may not enjoy it. The difference lies in the details. Ozawa has made the choice; a child prostitute does not. The influence of the former is greater on the general psyche because she is not catering to individual but herd instincts.

It is herds that decide on social behaviour and values.