Select any literary text, (novel, play, poem, song, movie, art, etc), and justify why it should not circulate in the Ugandan public. Referclosely to the Anti-Pornography Act 2014 MATURU JULIET NAMANDE

The Anti-Pornography Act 2014 was enacted by the parliament of Uganda and signed by President Museveni on 6th February, 2014. Its main aims are to control pornography, to define and create the offence of pornography, to provide for the prohibition of pornography, to establish the Pornography Control Committee and to prescribe its functions, and for other related matters. It is in accordance with the Penal Code Act of the Ugandan constitution, Caption 120. Under section two of this act, pornography is defined as “any representation through publication, cinematography, indecent show, information technology, or by whatever means of a person engaged in real or stimulated sexual activities or any representation for primarily sexual excitement”. According to Dr. Ronald Kakungulu of Makerere University School of Law, this definition takes into account fora used for propagating pornography, for instance media houses, video halls and the internet (monitor.co.ug). He adds that it is from this definition that the conclusion that the law bans miniskirts. Fifty Shades of Grey is a movie that was adapted from the novel Fifty Shades Trilogy by British author E. L. James. It is a 2015 British-American erotic romantic dramatic film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel (Wikipedia.org). It stars Dakota Johnson as ‘Anastasia Steel’ and Jamie Dornan as ‘Christian Grey’. Steel is a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Grey. The film premiered at the sixty-fifth Berlin International Film Festival on 11th February, 2015, by Universal Pictures (Wikipedia.org). Despite mixed reviews, it was an immediate Box Office success, breaking numerous Box Office records and earning five hundred and sixty nine million dollars world-wide. The movie plot centers around twenty-one year-old ‘Ana Steel’, an English Literature major at Washington State University campus near Vancouver. Her roommate, Kate Kavanagh becomes ill and is unable to interview Christian Grey, a twenty-seven year-old billionaire entrepreneur, for the college newspaper. Ana agrees to go in her place and meets Christian at his Seattle headquarters, literally stumbling her way through the meeting. Christian, who is that year’s WSU’s commencement speaker, takes interest in her; soon after, he visits the hardware store where Ana works. He agrees to Ana’s request for a photo-shoot to accompany the article. After the photo-shoot, Christian invites Ana for coffee, but leaves abruptly, saying he is not the man for her. He later sends her some books including Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles as a gift. On her graduation day, she drinks too much, and calls Christian to return the books to him. He comes for her, and she passes out next morning, Ana wakes up in Christian’s hotel room and is relieved when he says that they were not intimate. The two begin seeing each other very regularly, and sign a “non-disclosure agreement” to engage in sex. Ana wants romance, rather than the one-sided relationship Christian proposes. These two engage in a number of sexual experimentations, and Christian keeps Ana emotionally distant. The movie is characterized y a number of erotic scenes, which conflict with the anti-pornography bill of 2014. The movie received a very negative reception from the general public when it was released, and some of the reviews are treated below. The American Family Association called for theatres not to show the film. According to Tom Wildmon, the American Family President, “the irony is that the film’s main character is named ‘Christian’, while this film presents anything but a ‘Christian’ view of intimacy. He adds on that the idea that anyone would think this film is in anyway appropriate demonstrates an incredibly unhealthy view of relationships and sexuality. He says that that a more apt title for the movie would be “Fifty Shades of Evil”. This is a justification for the movie not to circulate in the Ugandan public as well. According to Timothy Laurie and Jessica Kean of the Sydney Morning Herald, the movie ‘’provides a language for decision-making around violence”. To them, it fleshes out an otherwise legalistic concept like ‘consent’ into a living, breathing and at times, a more uncomfortable interpersonal experience. It dramatizes the dangers of unequal negotiation and the practical complexity of identifying one’s limits and having them respected. I however don’t agree with this last statement, because it may easily lead to sexual exploitation in Uganda, just like it does in the movie. The movie was denied a certificate by the Malaysian Film Censorship Board because of its “unnatural and sadistic content”. The pot of the movie depicts male dominance over the fairer sex. Christian bosses over Ana and derives pleasure from her suffering. He for instance whips and handcuffs her, something from which he derives pleasure. According to Abdul Halim, the Chairman of LPF, “Fifty shades was more pornographic than a movie”. This is because the plot has nothing much to it than depicting erotic sexual scenes of Christian and Ana, and the story mainly rotates around these two people. It was banned in Kenya, Russia’s North Caucasus, UAE, India, Cambodia, et cetera. It was released in Nigeria for a week and removed for a week and removed from the cinemas by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). This is because its content can easily corrupt people’s morals, which is why I also don’t recommend it to be circulated in the Ugandan public. More reasons as to why I don’t support the circulation of the movie in the Ugandan public are treated below. The movie is an erotic romance by genre. In Australia, for instance, the movie was rated “MA 15+” for ‘’strong sex scenes, sexual themes and nudity.” It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism. Therefore, this material cannot be circulated in the Ugandan public as per section thirteen of the anti-pornography act that forbids a person from broadcasting such forms of pornography. Again, the movie understates some of the aspects that are most likely to cause psychological torture to the viewers to and incite violence. According to the Anti-pornography Watchdog Group Morality in Media, for instance, “the film’s R rating severely undermines the violent themes in film and doesn’t adequately inform parents ad patrons of the film content, and it encourages sexual violence.” The movie is also most likely to promote the commercialization of sex. Ana is paid by Christian to gratify his sexual urge and experimentation. This can easily have a negative impact on the Ugandan poor youth. For example, most Ugandan university students hook up with ‘’sugar mummies’’ and ‘’sugar daddies’’ so as to get money and other favours, and they in turn have sex with them. Most of these vices which were absent in the African culture are copied from movies. Similarly, the movie portrays sex as contractual. Christian initially says that Ana will first have to fill out paperwork. This in other words means signing a contract with terms and conditions to be followed. Breeching any of these terms leads to punishment. For instance, Ana is whipped six times by Christian when she breeches the contract. This demeans sex and lowers its worth. The movie portrays sex as dirty, horrible and tumultuous, and thus it should not be circulated in the Ugandan public. Ana is emotionally distant from Christian, and carries out sexual experimentations on her. For example, he ties her up and then has intercourse with her, and at other time she is handcuffed. Thus, Ana is practically tortured by Christian just because she is paid for her services. All this is most likely to have a negative impact on the Ugandan youth who like mimicking what they watch on television. The movie can easily corrupt the morals of the Ugandans via sexuality and relationships, which is why I don’t recommend it to circulate in the Ugandan public. According to Wildmon, healthy relationships seek to safeguard the emotional and physical well-being of another. However, the movie promotes inflicting emotional, physical and psychological harm on another for the sole purpose of self-serving sexual gratification. It is the epitome of elevating abuse, and Wildmon and the entire American Family Association call upon all theatres, (those in Uganda inclusive), to reject promoting such abuse on their screens. The movie should not be circulated in Uganda it breeches the anti-pornography act, yet this act ”prohibit[s] the promotion or recognition of pornography” (kakensamedia.com). according to Nicholas Otim, the Secretary General of the Uganda Law Society, the anti-pornography law, (with which the movie clashes), is premised on the assumption that pornography has become a big program in the country which has to be dealt with. Thus, the act basically creates the offence of pornography and sets up a Pornography Control Committee, whose responsibility, among others, is to prohibit pornography. Therefore, for people who circulate pornography , it is most probable that they will not escape the arm of the law. Therefore, in conclusion, I don’t recommend the movie Fifty Shades of Grey to circulate in the Ugandan public because it is not in accordance with the Anti-Pornography Act 2014. Bibliography. Daily Monitor, Monday October 19 2015. Anti-Pornography: Demystifying one of the Newest Acts. By Abdulaziizi K. Tumusiime.www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/anti_pornography_demystifying_one_of_the_newest_acts/691232/2220352/-/h9gq/92/-/index/htmlRetrieved from web October 19, 2015. Fifty Shades of Grey (18). British Board of Film Classification. February 2, 2015. Retrieved from web October 19, 2015. Fifty Shades of grey (2015). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved from web October 19, 2015. Fifty Shades of Grey (film). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_Grey_(film)#Plot Retrieved from web October 19, 2015. Kakensa Media. Museveni Signs Anti-pornography Bill.www.kakensamedia.com/museveni_signs_anti_pornography_bill.html. Retrieved from web 10th August 2015. Web “Say no to Porn. Boycott 50 Shades of Grey, the Movie: Sign the Petition.” Retrieved from web October 19, 2015. Web.