Looming clash over pornography in Peshawar
The New York Times reports on a looming clash over pornography in Pakistan.
It was "English movie" night here in Peshawar, Pakistan's conservative Islamic and famously anti-American city near the Afghan border. But for the next two hours, what appeared on screen had nothing to do with the American movies advertised outside. First came three Indian music videos featuring curvy starlets with long, shimmering black hair, clingy shirts and, in one or two scenes, gently sashaying hips. An abrupt reel change later, the screen flickered with a series of Pashto-language stag films: Pakistani women in bathing suits and underwear gyrating, singing and taking off their tops. But in the end, it was the Great Satan that delivered the night's feature presentation: a hardcore 1970's-era pornographic film starring an American bleached-blonde named Jennifer Welles.
A coalition of religious fundamentalist parties won control of the provincial government in last month's election, on a platform which included a crackdown on pornography. The theater manager defends the screenings. "'If this closes, there will be more terrorism in their minds,' [the theater manager] said, referring to his patrons. 'If they see these movies, they are satisfied.'" (For those who don't like registration-required links, here's the same article reprinted at The Age.)
Hate to start the posting off on such an incredibly unintellectual note, buuuut. . .
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