Ariel, Is It You?

The big questions are about to be answered in the ongoing saga that doubles as the Nazriel "Ariel" Irham sex tapes trial. The biggest question of them all, in fact, "Ariel is that you in the tape making mad passionate love with Cut Tari?"

Well, according to Cut Tari, it is Ariel. There were no ifs, buts, or maybes in Cut Tari's testimony. In fact, when Cut Tari appeared to give her testimony she was asked to go to the front of the court room and watch a couple of clips of the [in]famous sex tape that she has admitted to being in. While she was there, the judges asked her who she was bumping uglies with. Cut responded, unequivocally I might add, with "why, your honours that is Ariel!"

Strangely enough, Ariel through his defense counsel is maintaining that, despite the somewhat obvious similarities between the man in the video and him, it is not him doing the bump and grind with Cut Tari. In some ways it is not hard to feel for Cut Tari. This must be an incredibly humiliating experience. She has confessed believing that the truth will set her free. Yet, it has still got to be difficult having this whole sordid affair played out in public. Nevertheless, the trial remains closed to public in order to protect the public's "innocence" and "morality" from harm.

The more interesting part about Cut Tari's testimony is that the video is placed in 2005 or 2006 as a production year. This is interesting because there is no real certainty in that time frame. So, does this mean the affair lasted for some time during that two-year period? Or, does it mean that they made so many tapes of their sexual encounters that she cannot rightly remember which tape this is? It is also interesting because Cut Tari was married in 2004. This has led to some hardliners wanting to see the whole trial process for Cut Tari cast aside and just get to burying her up to her neck and then stone the woman to death.

Folks, it is just a sex tape. It is most definitely not the end of the world as you, or we, know it! Life goes on, the band will keep playing. This whole charade is becoming increasingly not worth the effort.

Although, that said, the prosecutors are pulling out their big guns. Anton Castilani, a police officer from national headquarters has taken the stand to offer expert testimony as to whether there is any likelihood that the man in the video with Cut Tari is in fact Ariel or a very good look-a-like. Castilani's testimony seems to support the prosecution case theory that the man in the mirror is not Michael Jackson but it is Indonesia's own, Nazriel "Ariel" Irham of Peterpan fame.

I will let "you" the experts in the court of public opinion decide for yourselves. The choice bits of this photo for comparison have been pixelated. In my expert opinion, it's Ariel.