Luna Maya Is Sad...

I abominate all honourable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself ...

- Ishmael (From Moby Dick)

It is the essence of gossip that there are so many personal struggles that would be time better spent that gloating over the trials and tribulations of others as we watch their lives unravel on national TV and in the tabloids. Ho hum...

The saga that is Peterporn and the trial of Nazriel 'Ariel' Irham is destined to take its toll on many more than just the man in the middle of all this. There are those novice female porn stars who took part in the sex tapes, the extended families of all, the lawyers and prosecutors, and the fans and other supporters. Perhaps it is worth having a sneak peak at Luna Maya and her struggles with this particular 15-minutes of fame that she did not expect or seek.

Luna Maya was famous before this sex tape, and she will continue to be famous after it. The sex tape will be something that is always there, but ultimately it is not going to be the sole event that defines her or her career. There is no doubt that the public's fascination with the intimate details of the sex lives of the rich and famous will ensure that the sex tape always remains an interview question, the reality is that there will be other celebrities with more juicy scandals to follow in the future. Once this trial is done and dusted, then interest will subside and life will get back to some degree of normalcy for all involved, including me.

Luna Maya is the girlfriend in this sex tape saga. The video that she is in is a grainy, poor quality mobile phone job. What is sad about this is that people film themselves all the time. What is sad about this is that sometimes these "home movies" include footage that is better left in private circles. What is sad about this is that despite your best intentions, there are always those that will exploit your fame for 15-minutes of fame for themselves. What is sad is that the ignorant here are winning the war.

This is just a sex tape, nothing more and nothing less. It is not earth-shattering footage. It is not the end of the world. God is not going to cast thunderbolts down to earth and destroy it and us because Ariel and Luna Maya got down and dirty. More to the point, and God aside, there has been no crime committed here. This is a tape that was created for personal purposes. I am pretty sure it was not created for the purposes of playing on the big screen in the background to future marriage nuptials. I am not going to judge them for making the tape. To each their own.

The legal issues are just as interesting to me as the fascination we have as human beings with the misfortune of others. For example, if Ariel is guilty of helping distribute the sex tape, then where is the actual perpetrator who did the distributing? And, why is this person not on trial somewhere? Even more critical is the chain of possession of the offending sex tapes.

The prosecution case looks weak, very weak. One has to wonder why this case ever went forward, particularly as it seems to be a "test case" with respect to the provisions of the law indicted here.


If the tapes were stolen, then Ariel and Luna Maya are victims. So, if Luna Maya is sad, she has a right to be.

Ariel and the FPI...

Amongst all the serious and tragic news today of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, there is this piece of "news". It appears Nazriel 'Ariel' Irham of Peterpan (aka Peterporn) fame has decided to repent and make his peace with God after his recent escapade into the sex-capade business of amateur porn.

There is nothing wrong with people deciding that their previous ways were in error and seeking to make their peace with whoever they think they must. But, the very idea that you would be seeking out the FPI to repent your sins and make everything swell with God again is funny in the most perverse kind of a way. Although, I am pretty sure that in order to repent, one must first acknowledge and admit to their "sins".

So, does this mean that Ariel is ready to say "Sorry Cut for not getting around to this sooner as I have been too busy trying to save my own arse, but yes that is us in that sex video, and you were good! In fact, one of the best that I ever had. Can I just say, your husband is a lucky man!"

The very idea that one would seek out these white-robed thugs parading as the enforcers of God's laws is sure to be a source for further embarrassment.

However, if the news in The Jakarta Globe is accurate then it would seem that it is Ariel and his team reaching out to the FPI in order to make things 'right'. The FPI visited Ariel in Kebonwaru Prison in Bandung today, and specifically with Hilman Firdaus. Hilman is, of course, interested in this development. If for no other reason than it provides some legitimacy to the FPI as being important in matters of religion rather than just promulgators of violence.

Yet, hearing it Hilman style is a little scary because he seems to think that if Ariel wants it, then the FPI is williong to help set him on the straight and narrow, while simultaneously helping Ariel and Peterpan regain their former glory.

The mind boggles at the thought of how the FPI envisages 'helping' Ariel and Peterpan regain their previous days of glory.

The Distribution of Pornography -- The Case Against Ariel...

You really do have to wonder about the intent in this case. When it is all said and done this is a case of a two videos shot by consenting adults. Are there moral issues to be considered in a case like this? Perhaps, but the charges that Ariel has been charged with are not moral ones, they are criminal.

The charges relate exclusively to the distribution of the videos themselves. Nevertheless, it may be argued that the use of the 1951 Emergency Law  is intended as a "catch-all" charge that will allow prosecutors to take the moral route and claim that Ariel has violated some existing customary or traditional law that applies in Indonesia.

So far, only Ariel and Cut Tari have been charged. The most controversy over this relates to the use of Law No. 1 of 1951. The Emergency Law was clearly not drafted for this purpose. Contextually the 1951 Law relates to a period of Indonesian history where it was experimenting with its unique form of Sukarno-ist constitutional democracy and trying to untangle itself from myriad of Dutch created laws and norms and replace them with some of their own.

Funnily enough, in 2010 it could still be argued that the process is an ongoing one! Luna Maya, the other amateur porn star involved in these tapes has so far evaded charge. She used to star in an advertisement for Lux soap, perhaps there is a pun to be had here in relation to her ability to keep herself clean of charges.

So, what is Ariel really looking at here. The main charge relates to Article 29 of the Anti-Pornography Law (and for some reason the similar provision under the Information and Electronic Transactions Law), Article 56 of the Criminal Code and Article 5(3) of the 1951 Emergency Law.

The Anti-Porn law provides for a 16-year jail sentence for the distribution of pornographic material. Whereas the ITE law only allows for a 6-year sentence. This is standard prosecutorial procedure in a case where one is not so sure of what crime has been committed, so charge the same offense in myriad of ways ranging from the most serious to the least serious and with a bit of luck maybe one of them will stick somewhere along the line.

What is interesting about this case, aside from the stupidity of pursuing it, is that the police still have not been able to establish an accurate timeline of the event relating to the videos, particularly when the Cut Tari video was filmed. The police have also seemingly not been able to nail down exactly where it was shot either. Strangely enough there is some discussion that the video may have been shot in 2005, or perhaps 2006, or maybe even as recently as 2010...Ouch!

Oh well. Back to Ariel and his dilemma or lack thereof with the current charges. The primary charge seems to be that he was actively involved with the distribution of the videos. The police are apparently basing their entire case on the testimony of one man, Redjoy or Reza. Redjoy has piped up that he received the tapes in the form of computer files with the express instruction to prepare them for upload to the internet. According to Redjoy's testimony, these files were provided by Capung Studio. Capung Studio happens to be the studio that Ariel owns in Bandung. What seems to be missing from most reports on this transaction is whether it was Ariel himself that handed the files over to Redjoy.

This is going to quickly degenerate into a he said vs. he said scenario. Ariel, despite Cut Tari's admission to the contrary, has yet to acknowledge that it was him in the video. However, that aside, it has been consistently argued by the alleged amateur porn stars that they were the victim of a crime themselves, theft. And, it was this theft that saw the files wend their way online. Now, it would seem that if Redjoy was involved in the theft then it would make sense to start claiming that no theft happened but rather the files came into his possession through Ariel, or someone linked to Ariel, for the purpose of uploading the files for the enjoyment of the world over.

The trial seems destined to proceed. It would be a real turnaround for the prosecutors to fold on this case now. The trial will be in West Java, Bandung to be precise, so their should be a steady stream of infotainment journalists making their way to Bandung.

This is going to be messy.

Self-Portrait...

I was going through some old photos as I was looking for a photo of George Mason and the quote of the previous post, and I came across this one.

I am an amateur photographer, and I use the term amateur loosely, and I have a little point and shoot Casio Ex-P700 camera.

I have always found the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC to be one of the most powerful, thought-provoking, and inspiring memorials I have visited, even as an Australian. I know that others have widely divergent opinions of the memorial to mine. I think that the power comes from the ability to see ourselves reflected back at us, and for me this gives me pause for a little introspection on a great many things. This happens for me at a great many war memorials, including Australian, wondering what drove these brave young men and women to sacrifice so much.

I am forever grateful for the freedoms that they secured for me so many years ago, and also to the young men and women of today who continue to sacrifice so much in the defense and maintenance of those things that I, we, hold dear.

With a bit of luck, the family and I will be heading to Gallipoli in 2015 for the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing.