Cool or Weird?

NTV7 not censor "Gay & Lesbian"

Watched the 81st Academy Award show on NTV7 (recorded/non-live) last Saturday night and found that NTV7 never censor Dustin Lance Black speech...

According to news sources, the censor over Astro feed was done by StarTV on 3 StarMovie feed to 3 countries. StarTV purposely censor it due to Malaysia rules, it claims..

Funny that local/domestic TV that deal with domestic affair never care about this...

Anyway, anyone watch the NTV7 first broadcast on last Friday morning 10am? Have they censored?

Dustin Lance Black’s Oscar Acceptance Speech Gets Censored In Asian Broadcasts

Oscar-winning scribe, Milk writer Dustin Lance Black, enjoys a cup of coffee with a friend in West Hollywood on Wednesday (February 25).

The 34-year-old screenwriter accepted the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay on Sunday. His acceptance speech was censored in fifty different Asian nations by pan-Asian satellite TV network STAR, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

STAR spokeswoman Jannie Poon defended the network’s muting of the words “gay” and “lesbian” by saying STAR has “a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration.”

Here’s Dustin’s uncensored speech in its entirety: “This was was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13-years-old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.

(Continue reading Dustin’s Oscar speech inside…)

“I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.”

And here’s some additional backstage Q&A of Dustin from the Oscars:

Congratulations on your win. It was very touching, and I loved what you said. Do you think President Obama should reverse the stand on gay marriage? I think that there’s a few things that I would love him to do immediately, which is to repeal “don’t ask don’t tell,” and DMA, Defensive Marriage Act. But I do think that for inspiration for the gay community, we need to look not to Proposition 8, but dream bigger and look back to 1964 and the Civil Rights Act, because no group has ever won full civil rights in this country going state by state or county by county. I think it is time for the gay and lesbian community to have a federal civil rights act for full civil rights.

So you think it should be reversed? Absolutely. We are equal. Everyone.

You were talking about how you were inspired by Harvey Milk when you were a kid. What would have happened if, say, you were 13 and you saw someone like you at the Oscars, saying what you said? What do you think that would have done for you back then? I don’t know. I didn’t hear that at the Oscars when I was a 13 year old kid. You know, I just hope it makes you feel a bit less alone. It’s easy in San Francisco and L.A. and New York, Chicago, because you can find support, you can find mentors and heroes. But where I’m from, and a lot of places, you know in this country, in small town America, they just don’t know there are gay heroes, and they don’t know there’s other gay people, and they don’t know there’s a potential future, I mean a beautiful future. I mean, look at this; it’s insane for out gay people. I hope it inspires some folks.

Working on the screenplay that you did, have you ever have the dream of an Oscar moment or award moment? Did it fulfill the expectation that you felt? It’s all sort of an out of body thing. I mean, definitely, when we started this journey, I was, you know, just charging hotel stays and gasoline on my credit card and driving out to meet with Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg in San Francisco. There’s no studio, things like that. Your dream is don’t screw it up, first of all; and your second is, let’s get it to a great director. And I was fortunate and got it to Sean and it just kept being the next thing in front of you. And then all of a sudden, four weeks ago was a nomination, and it’s just sort of unbelievable. I don’t quite believe it yet. Maybe when I see my mom in a few minutes, I’ll believe it.

Did you know what you were going to say if and when you got up there? I had an idea. I mean, for me, the whole thing was always just sort of, you know, pay it forward. You know, Harvey gave me his story. And Harvey gave me his story and it saved my life. I just thought it’s time to pass it on. So the only thing I really knew I wanted to say is tell those kids out there they are going to be all right.

You’re making us all emotional. You’ve mentioned your mom a couple times. Was there something your mom said to you right before you came in came here tonight or were on the red carpet? Is there something you guys talked about that really struck a chord with you? You know, she always, you know, she just says, “I can’t believe we are here. Think of where we came from.” You know, we were, like, a broke family. It was just my single mom raising us for a very long time before my beautiful stepdad came around, and, you know, and it was just about survival for so long. So, I think for her, she’s completely overwhelmed and, you know, and she just does what she always does. I mean, this is a Mormon woman who should not be accepting or loving, and she just says I love you, and I want you to fall in love and be as happy as I am, so…

I wanted to know at what point did you think that this film could grab the attention of the Academy? I think that’s an easy one. I think it was the moment we first saw Sean with his hair cut with the suit on, and he came in, onto the set. And I was blown away at how much it reminded me of everything I’d heard and seen of Harvey. And I looked out to turn to Cleve and I went, “My God. That’s him, isn’t it?” And Cleve was outside like smoking manically going, “Oh, my God. I’ve seen a ghost.” But that was the thing. I thought this film would only succeed if we could somehow get close to that charisma, because that charisma of Harvey Milk is what transcended our community again and reached out to all these other people and will embrace the film. I think they have.

WHY HATE GAY PEOPLE SO MUCH?

Below is a letter written by Pang Khee Teik to Astro. Please join him to write letters, or simply cut and paste his letter and forward to Astro, as well as the media to complain about Astro's censorship.

LETTER:


*Why did Astro censor the words "Gay" & "Lesbian" from Oscar acceptance speeches?*

I want to thank Astro for screening this year's Oscars, which gave us the very heartwarming wins by the screenwriter and the lead actor of the movie
"Milk". Congratulations too to the movie "Milk", about the first openly gay man elected to public office in California who was then assassinated, for winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor. The acceptance speeches by screenwriter Justin Lance Black and actor Sean Penn were both moving, bold and timely. They spoke up about the need for equal rights, to love, to share this land, and to be heard. This year, the Oscars celebrated the kind of
diversity that the arts is able to champion; it's the kind of diversity that desperately needs championing in a world so overwhelmed by racism, war, and hatred.

This is part of Justin's speech:

"When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married. I wanna I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have
equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thankyou. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk."

And this is Sean's:

"For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect, and anticipate their great shame, and the shame in their
grandchildren' s eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone," said Penn.

However, if you caught the Oscars on Astro, you would have noticed something so bizarre almost to be ironic. The words "gay" and "lesbian" have been censored from both these speeches. For me, this act of censorship defeated the very victory won by these two men. The two moments of silence rang out like the gun shots that killed Harvey Milk.

We live in a time when understanding is needed, when artists need to be bold in addressing the manifold injustices of the world. Hence, such a movie had
to be made, such acceptance speeches to be uttered. But by its act of censorship, Astro has sent a message to all Malaysians that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public's ears. As a gay man, I am truly offended. After all these years of contributing to the country through my work, of helping people regardless of their orientation, being proud of who I am and helping others be proud of who they are, I can
assure you that the only thing wrong is how much hate gays have to endure simply for the way we love.

What is Astro trying to achieve with the censoring of the words "gay" and "lesbian"? Do they think these words will promote homosexuality? Let me assure you that homosexuality cannot be promoted, it just happens. Just as a person's sexuality becomes apparent to him or her when the hormones kick in in the teen years; you don't need sex promoted to you by the TV, your body does its own promotion.

Meanwhile, words like "terrorist", "rapist" and "murderer" gets passed and nobody gets their panties knotted over how these words might promote terrorism, rapes and murders. On the other hand, words like "gays" and
"lesbians" that describe people among us who happen love the same sex get treated like it is a crime to even mention in public. Is Astro promoting hate over love? Just what kind of society does Astro want to be creating?
One where people can talk about terrorism but not love?

You want to know what breeds social ills? It is the kind of insecurity and low self esteem that results from such continual shaming through the media, that then leads to machismo, violence, bullying, and other superficial ways
with which men employ to compensate for their insecurity.

Does Astro not know that many of its own staff are gay? I won't name them, but trust me, I know many of them (and I congratulate Astro for smartly tapping into such a pool of talents). But is Astro now ashamed of its many
talented gay and lesbian staff?

And does Astro not know too that a huge number of its viewers are gay and lesbian? Otherwise, why bother to screen "Brothers & Sisters", "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", "Six Feet Under" and other popular TV series that
show how gays and lesbians are not only part of society but play vital roles in shaping that society for the better? Is Astro ashamed of its gay and lesbian viewers? And if this is some national guideline, then Astro needs to
question it if it hopes to be fair to its viewers.

Stop censoring the words that describe who I am. I am a Malaysian. I work hard for the right to be here, and I work hard for the right to love, just like everyone else. Thank you.

Pang Khee Teik

Beautiful Man