TV forums, especially those aired by RTM, usually provoke two divergent kinds of reaction from viewers: the debates are intellectually challenging or the panelists are intellectually challenged.

The discussion on Fenomena Seni, an arts forum that was broadcast live over TV1 on the fateful night of April 23, 2006, unfortunately fell under the latter category.

With the exception of film director Hassan Muthalib (who won hands down as the voice of reason and sanity), the rest of the panelists Berita Harian assistant entertainment editor Akmal Abdullah and film producer Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman who were supposed to discuss the rather skewed topic of the day, ' Sepet dan Gubra Pencemar Budaya ' ( Sepet and Gubra a Cultural Smear), only succeeded in flaunting their intellectual chaos and superficiality.

For starters, the 'culture' (in the discussion topic) that was feared by the panelists and by extension, the society's self-appointed moral guardians to be at the brink of destruction in the hands of movie makers such as Yasmin Ahmad actually refers to Malay culture. Such a narrow scope of the discussion obviously could not address Yasmin's the larger concern, which is multicultural Malaysia and its attendant problems. This also reflects the intellectual myopia of the people involved in managing this TV programme.

A compassionate bilal

Ever so ready to slam Yasmin - who directed Sepet and Gubra - Akmal released his first salvo by accusing Yasmin of smearing the Malay-Muslim culture and religion through certain scenes and characters in the movies that he found objectionable.

He was indeed visibly perturbed, for instance, by the fact that Yasmin characterised the Bilal in Gubra as someone who was not only religious but also had compassion for fellow beings, particularly his neighbouring prostitutes and a three-legged dog to boot.

The viewer wonders at this juncture whether Akmal's emotional rant had ironically smeared the image of his journalistic profession and the company that he works for, especially when there were times he became extremely rude and irritating.

The Bilal, reminded Akmal vehemently, should have alerted the religious authorities (or moral police), particularly Jakim, to nab the two Malay-Muslim prostitutes. What kind of Bilal is he? he querried.

To this outcry, Hassan intervened and rightly pointed out that Yasmin wanted to caution us all not to be easily judgemental about others whom we consider 'different', especially women who are perceived to be of lower social status. It is of course much easier to condemn others from the pulpit or in the comfort of the air-conditioned office without even wanting to investigate and understand the structural factors, such as poverty and social discrimination, that compel certain women to indulge in such nefarious activities.

Incidentally this is the kind of patronising attitude or mindset that promotes name-calling such as ' gatal ' (randy) against women in our society particularly among patriarchy-drenched men. In a sense, the male gaze can be quite ominous in this context.

Lest I'd be conveniently condemned to hell by those who are self-righteous, what I am trying to say here is that it is unjust to harbour simplistic perceptions of people such as prostitutes. They, like us, are also complex beings, which is what Yasmin attempted to show in Gubra . One of the prostitutes in fact had started on her own steam to learn to recite the Quran as well as saying prayers at the time when she was on the verge of 'retiring' from the oldest profession after saving enough money for her future.

Forbidden love affair

Akmal was equally animate when he criticised Yasmin for having foregrounded the love affair between a Malay girl and a Chinese boy. This, he thundered, did not reflect the social reality in Malaysia. How could a Malay-Muslim girl get hitched to a non-Muslim Chinese boy, he asked. Such a question clearly revealed the inability, or refusal even, of people such as Akmal to acknowledge the fact that a multicultural, multireligious and multiethnic Malaysia provide such possibilities.

He also seemed oblivious to the fact that Yasmin's movie is not a Malay one, but a Malaysian movie that tries to explore the emotions, fears, anxieties and joy of a multicultural Malaysia.

Such portrayal of Muslims in Yasmin's movies, Akmal insisted, can be a dangerously corrupting influence on the Malaysian, or rather Malay, viewing public.

Hassan interjected, and rightly so, that one shouldn't underestimate the Malaysian viewers' ability to understand and appreciate the social complexities that the movies try to project.

To be sure, such patronising attitude is indeed a rude reflection of the wider society. Why, wasn't it just recently that Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin remarked that the Malaysian TV audience were not on par with the British Broadcasting Corporation audience?

It's the same paternalistic 'advice' of government ministers that Malaysians aren't ready for a vibrant press and freedom of expression because (surprise, surprise) they simply aren't ready yet despite the country attaining independence some 48 years ago. It begs the question as to who is really not ready for sober and intelligent discourses and debates.

As if not to be outdone by Akmal, Raja Azmi made no pretence about her dislike for Yasmin's movies. She initially opined that Yasmin's Sepet shouldn't have won Malaysia's Best Film award last year. Asked why by moderator (and actor) Rosyam Nor, she coolly said that there were other films by other directors that were supposedly better than Yasmin's without even having the decency of offering reasons for such an assessment.

Shallow understanding

Raja Azmi, too, managed to reveal her shallow understanding of Islam when she criticised Yasmin for having portrayed the Bilal as someone who's willing to help out his wife in the kitchen. Islam does not permit that kind of thing, she emphasised with empty confidence. Such startling statement swiftly evokes images of dutiful and obedient wives in many of the run-of-the-mill Malay movies.

Indeed, this is the very kind of narrow-mindedness among Malaysians that Yasmin tried to challenge in her two movies. In various ways through her movies, she has interrogated ethnic bigotry, prejudices against the 'Other', distorted views of Islam, and a reactionary perspective of men-women relationships, among others. She has jolted people out of their taken-for-granted-ness and comfort zones with her deliberate provocativeness.

While there are a number of weaknesses in the two movies discussed, one cannot take away the credit from Yasmin for having the gumption to provoke the minds of Malaysian viewers and, of course, the censors.

If there is a lesson to be learnt from this purported TV forum, some Malay movie makers and movie critics need to move forward to transcend beyond the old, constricted paradigm of looking at society.

Otherwise, the proverbial frog would still be contented under its cocoon in the midst of today's frenzied globalisation.

MUSTAFA K ANUAR is a lecturer with Universiti Sains Malaysia's School of Communications.