Live Show

The Philippines is in the midst of a fiery censorship debate over the locally produced film Live Show, which "explores the sad and desperate lives of several impoverished boys and girls who put on sex shows." The country's Movies and Television Review and Classification Board originally passed the film with an adults-only rating. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assailed the MTRCB for approving the film, banned the film herself, and pressured the MTRCB's liberal chairman to resign. These events have sparked worries about freedom of expression and the Catholic Church's influence over Macapagal-Arroyo's policies. In sidebars to this article, TimeAsia's Tim McGirk interviews both the newly appointed MTRCB chair, who says Gandhi was the last decent film he's seen, and the previous chair who resigned because "I refuse to be an instrument to suppress the freedom of expression."
TimeAsia