Court decides against viewing banned play

Raymond Cachia

Oct 23rd 2009, 13:06

The whole censorship board should be abolished.

The idea that certain persons (both not others) are hand picked to be on the Censorship Board, in itself implies that certain people are above others and superior both morally and intellectually, and therefore can dictate what the rest of society is allowed to read or watch. This is a very Elitist attitude.

One thing that has always puzzled me about censors, if they get to watch all the plays and films and decide whether these are to be released, how is it that they themselves are not tainted and corrupted, but instead remain upstanding members of the community that everyone looks up to?

That in itself should be proof enough that censorship is not needed otherwise these people would be the most depraved among us.

Instead, what there should be is a classification board, which has no power to censor but instead classify films and plays by recommended ages of viewers.

Mannequins, crucifixes, divorce and now plays - the world has moved on in Malta we are still hotly debating whether the earth is round! Unbelievable!

J Farrugia

Oct 23rd 2009, 07:47

I hereby declare, and am willing to testify, that not censoring this banal play offends MY morals. Since I'm fairly certain that I am not the only one offended by this, the actors and the script writer would be guilty of offending public morals too, and should be thrown out of every theatre in Malta and abroad.

Leann Gauci

Oct 22nd 2009, 18:43

We are supposed to live in a democracy, where people have a right to choose. Censorship is means to stifle art; the voice of the artist. It is a means by which the state keeps its power over the people intact. theatre has always been a means to talk across to the audience, give them something to think about! What does this country want? Theatre as in the past in Soviet Russia, where the state controlled who wrote what and about what?
Offending public morals you say??? How can you generalise when none of the general public has watched the play? How do some people get to decide what i hold morally right or wrong? Censorship on the other hand goes against my ideals and principles. So isn't that morally wrong to impose censorship?

Charles Taliana

Oct 22nd 2009, 15:43

It is my opinion that the Censorship board should be discarded, because in all my years living abroad I nver came across absurdities that the Maltese suffer from. If one does not watch the play what difference it is going to by reading the book of the play from where the play is adapted. Fuddy, duddies should reseign and let the population decide whats good or bad for them. In my time as member of HM Forces we were not allowed to purchase or read a spy book by an ex MI5 Operaative by the than British PM Mrs M Thatcher, I still went out and bought one and read from page one to the end. So what keeping the public from reading the book of the play?

C.Attard

Oct 22nd 2009, 14:26

By this decision alone the Judge has given Unifaun the ammunition to take this case all the way to the European Court,if the judgement goes against them. Rest assured,once there, this will be laughed out of court and once again we will be seen to be the idiots we obviously can be,without even trying.

Humbug to censorship.Might as well close down the internet,ban all television and close down the cinema's.

erica borg

Oct 22nd 2009, 14:03

MAMMA MIA .... what doesn't offend the public on this island !

Please give us a break. If you don't like the play don't watch it but if you do want to then im sorry you cant because some higher power decides that it shouldn't be aired !! Democracy at its best.

edwin formosa

Oct 22nd 2009, 14:02

Some people think that they are more clever than others because they know how to utter "the middle ages"."if you think you'll be offended, don;t go"," we are still 50 years behin" Similarly i might ask,' why should the majority of the Maltese be offended in their own coutry ?'. Well 50 years ago not only we did have more oxygen than toxics in the air we breath and safety in all the food we ate but also less stds tal-ivvizzjati around us. Likewise the moral environment was not in crisis because right and wrong were absolutes producing stability and direction.The clevers' way is that since the right thing is too hard and people don't want to do it, then pretend that the wrong things are right and that will eliminate problems

Dr Emmy Bezzina, B.A.,LL.D.

Oct 22nd 2009, 12:56

There is nothing disrespectful to anyone by arguing that in a country which is oriented towards Democratic Media,every citizen should have his say: however as a theater-goer when I find time,I do not want anyone to interfere with what I see or hear,what I read or talk about,what I think about or privately implement.Going to the Theater is an intimate,private ,personal experience where within the confines of a roofed theater,a patron con divides an experience with the author of the work, the actors giving that work life through a personal interpretation as directed,and the other co-patrons attending to watch,share and live that intimate event.
CENSORS are reminiscent of outdated times in modern Man`s history so they should be scrapped not made to dictate to those who want intimacy to be their private decision not counter-balanced by undemocratically -imposed ,Ministerially appointed INDIVIDUALS who choose to tell us what to see or not see.I am not entering into the merits of the initial Court decision,but let us not make our Malta even culturally deficit now in addition to the many deficits we already have.STITCHED whichever way it goes at Court will always be a REFERENCE TO IDIOCY!

George Vella

Oct 22nd 2009, 12:14

Well done Mr. Justice and Lawyer Peter Grech.

Ramon Casha

Oct 22nd 2009, 11:18

I hereby declare, and am willing to testify, that censorship offends MY morals. Since I'm fairly certain that I am not the only one offended by this, the classification board would be guilty of offending public morals too, and should be disbanded.

D. Scerri

Oct 22nd 2009, 10:58

What doesn't offend public morals in Malta?

This seems to be an all encompassing excuse charge.

If you think you'll be offended, don;t go and see the play. I reckon 99% of people who complain have not even seen the play.

Get out of the middle ages.

Ray Mangion

Oct 22nd 2009, 10:50

This cencorship business in Malta is ridiculous. We are trying to be up-to-date with Europe and be like everyone else and then one finds areas where we are still 50 years behind. Simple. if a play or any type of production is for adults only, it should be rated as such. Anyone who gets offended with such work does not have to go. I had a production company, one of the best in Malta and I always argued that fact. Censors have no right to cut parts of a script because they themselves cannot cope with what they read. neither have they the right to interfere with businesses. We,as producers and directors will be breaking the international law for changing script without permission. Wake up Malta, Wake up judge, this is 2009!