Balinese community leaders have voiced objections to the screening of what they call a misleading portrayal of Bali in the documentary film Cowboys in Paradise.
Streamed on YouTube and other social networks, Cowboys in Paradise was directed by Singaporean Amit Virmani. The film documents Kuta Beach as a paradise for gigolos, male sex workers preying on rich foreign and local women.
Virmani describes the gigolos as local muscled boys with brown skin. The director also portrays them as competent surfers who speak English quite fluently.
“If the content of the film is a true picture of Kuta, we must take real action to revitalize Kuta in particular and Bali in general as a spiritual island. We don’t want such things happening here,” Governor Made Mangku Pastika said Tuesday after a meeting with legislative members.
Commenting on a raid on gigolos by Kuta community leaders, the governor reminded people to abide by the law. “All action must be based on existing regulations and laws,” Pastika added.
The news of the film’s appearance on YouTube had sparked angers among residents of traditional villages in Kuta, one of the island’s famous tourist destinations. Led by Gusti Ngurah Tresna, community members cracked down on alleged gigolos operating along Kuta Beach.
During the raid, they caught 28 young men, most of whom carried no identity cards.
“They are not residents of Kuta and they do not even have any legal identity cards. We are suspicious that they are gigolos,” Tresna said.
Kuta residents have expressed their anger at the film. “I was so furious and sad at the same time when I saw the film for the fist time. I thought somebody was trying to ruin the image of Kuta,” Kuta Beach lifeguard I Ketut Artayasa said.
He said he believed the director was taking aim at local Kuta surfers and lifeguards in particular. “If this was a real documentary, we don’t recognize the ‘actors’ in his film.”
The director, he said, assumed that all men on the beach in Kuta were male sex workers. “I don’t think it is a fair portrayal. There are probably one or two boys who are gigolos but certainly the film presents a false picture to the world.”
I Nyoman Sutiari, a handicraft seller in Kuta, also complained that the film was groundless. “In one of the scenes, a local woman allows her husband to sell his body to foreign visitors. This is disgusting and misleading,” he said.
Kuta traditional village head I Gusti Ketut Sudira acknowledged that Kuta was a powerful magnet that drew many people in search of leisure and business opportunities.
“The film’s setting is indeed in Kuta Beach and we acknowledge that Kuta is not free of commercial sex activities. But we should not make generalizations that all Kuta boys are gigolos,” he said.
A photo from a scene from the documentary featured on the film’s Facebook page. The film traces the interaction of Indonesian gigolos and tourists. (JG)
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