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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:27 am Post subject: India court orders Gere's arrest for obscene kiss |
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India court orders Gere's arrest for "obscene" kiss
2 hours, 30 minutes ago
JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - An Indian court ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere on Thursday for kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS campaign event this month saying it was an obscene act committed in public.
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Gere's repeated kisses on Shetty's cheeks at an event to promote AIDS awareness in New Delhi sparked protests in some parts of India, mostly by Hindu vigilante groups, who saw it as an outrage against her modesty and an affront to Indian culture.
The order by a court in the northern city of Jaipur came in response to a complaint by a local lawyer.
The judge watched a video recording of Gere kissing Shetty and found him guilty of violating Indian laws against public obscenity, the lawyer, Poonam Chand Bhandari, said.
The court also summoned Shilpa Shetty to appear on May 5, Bhandari said, adding that Gere was also ordered to be arrested.
Gere can be sent to jail for up to three months or fined or both for the crime if he is arrested. He is not in India now but can be held if he visits the country again.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/entertainment_india_gere_col |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:02 am Post subject: |
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nwise
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:05 am Post subject: |
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Seems so crazy and like something that would only happened in a 3rd world country until you think about the US FCC imposing millions in fines on Howard Stern, Imus getting fired for a racial comment, and Janet Jackson getting in trouble for a "wardrobe malfunction".
Guess they haven't heard of the "off" button over there either. Wonder how many times the Judge had to watched the "obscene kiss" in order to determine its obscenity? |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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| nwise wrote: |
Seems so crazy and like something that would only happened in a 3rd world country until you think about the US FCC imposing millions in fines on Howard Stern, Imus getting fired for a racial comment, and Janet Jackson getting in trouble for a "wardrobe malfunction".
Guess they haven't heard of the "off" button over there either. Wonder how many times the Judge had to watched the "obscene kiss" in order to determine its obscenity? |
This is somewhat different. Gere was doing it in good humour, not meaning to offend. It is not like the attention grabbing ways of Justin Timberlake. I don't even know if Gere was on TV and he didn't kiss her on the lips, he kissed her on the cheeks. As far as Don Imus, he works for a private corporation, and he was racist against successful African women who were doing well academically, and people had the right to fire him or retain him. No one said they wanted to arrest Don Imus. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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Adventurer wrote:
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| This is somewhat different. Gere was doing it in good humour, not meaning to offend. It is not like the attention grabbing ways of Justin Timberlake. I don't even know if Gere was on TV and he didn't kiss her on the lips, he kissed her on the cheeks |
This is a good example of equivocation on your part. While I'm no prude and would love to give gorgeous Shetty a smooch, I would only dare do so off camera, out of the public eye, and with the hint of her approval (like that would ever happen, eh?)
What annoys the pi-ss out of me about Gere is that he's a quintessential Hollywood liberal sometime activist on Tibet (and the actor/director of an ignorant movie "Red Corner" about China) who goes around purporting to be culturally sensitive and then he pulls this stunt which he knows will clearly offend most Indians. Kissing her on the cheek is only slightly less offensive, especially in view of the relentless manner in which he did it, practically pawing her. C'mon, are you kidding?
I hope he gets a month of jail time to cool his jets. |
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freethought
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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steve-o,
Gere is a practicing and from what I've read fairly devout Buddhist.
Most buddhist take the issue of tibet pretty seriously...
WHy do you always have to attack like that, as well? Are you really that angry in your life? |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
Adventurer wrote:
| Quote: |
| This is somewhat different. Gere was doing it in good humour, not meaning to offend. It is not like the attention grabbing ways of Justin Timberlake. I don't even know if Gere was on TV and he didn't kiss her on the lips, he kissed her on the cheeks |
This is a good example of equivocation on your part. While I'm no prude and would love to give gorgeous Shetty a smooch, I would only dare do so off camera, out of the public eye, and with the hint of her approval (like that would ever happen, eh?)
What annoys the pi-ss out of me about Gere is that he's a quintessential Hollywood liberal sometime activist on Tibet (and the actor/director of an ignorant movie "Red Corner" about China) who goes around purporting to be culturally sensitive and then he pulls this stunt which he knows will clearly offend most Indians. Kissing her on the cheek is only slightly less offensive, especially in view of the relentless manner in which he did it, practically pawing her. C'mon, are you kidding?
I hope he gets a month of jail time to cool his jets. |
A month in jail for kissing a lady on the cheek and holding her in some embrace imitating a movie scene he did i.e. a romantic scene?
Janet Jackson was not arrested. They are threatening to arrest Gere.
If they want to fine, which I disagree with, they can go ahead.
I don't think Gere would purposely offend Indian culture. As far as Red China, as I understand it has engaged in many serious human rights abuses. I don't know if the movie is accurate, but what they have done to the Tibetans is quite horrible. Obviously, if India was Saudi Arabia
I would understand the religious police would come out in full force, but I don't think Gere expected that. I think the judge is going overboard. There is no equivocation there. You just don't like Gere, perhaps, but it doesn't mean he should get a month in jail. That doesn't seem rational at all.
Last edited by Adventurer on Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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postfundie
Joined: 28 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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| saw a bunch or rightwing Hindu-fundamentalist groups on CNN today shouting....they need to get a life....Although Gere is a big hormone just walking around |
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nwise
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Adventurer wrote: |
| nwise wrote: |
Seems so crazy and like something that would only happened in a 3rd world country until you think about the US FCC imposing millions in fines on Howard Stern, Imus getting fired for a racial comment, and Janet Jackson getting in trouble for a "wardrobe malfunction".
Guess they haven't heard of the "off" button over there either. Wonder how many times the Judge had to watched the "obscene kiss" in order to determine its obscenity? |
This is somewhat different. Gere was doing it in good humour, not meaning to offend. It is not like the attention grabbing ways of Justin Timberlake. I don't even know if Gere was on TV and he didn't kiss her on the lips, he kissed her on the cheeks. As far as Don Imus, he works for a private corporation, and he was racist against successful African women who were doing well academically, and people had the right to fire him or retain him. No one said they wanted to arrest Don Imus. |
Valid distinction about IMUS-private vs public-good pt. Really the mkt at work. Fired when sponsors bailed and public protest. You are right.
Re Stern, Jackson/Justin and Gere-don't agree with you. Just don't believe that the gov't should interfere with FREE SPEECH unless it is damaging something OTHER than someone's FEELINGS.
If the govt can decide what is wrong, ie race, religion, obscenity, etc, what will it decide is wrong next? Where does it end? I worry about that slippery slope.
Do you really trust the people in, say, the US govt to be unbaised and fair to all races creeds and religions? They haven't been in the past.
I can list countless examples as I am sure you can. But, I will confine myself to just one that I think says it all: The govt of jamestown once ruled that that the celebration of Christmas was illegal. Think I'm crazy, look it up. Google- CHRISTMAS and ILLEGAL.
Even assuming that the govt was totally above board and not biased, (an impossiblity because its made up of people with beliefs, culteral and other), whenever you restrict something from being said/done on the airwaves, you are taking someone's rights away to hear/see it.
So how do you not abrogate anyone's rights? I believe that the answer is that the govt should stay out of regulating morality/obscentiy, and let the people who don't like something vote by not watching it or listening to it. The market will eventually elimate those things not supported by the populace, just like it did with Imus.
My points are simple:
1. Govt should not legislate morality/obscenity because it has not, and, cannot do so fairly; and,
2. If you don't like something, why don't you just turn the channel?
Last edited by nwise on Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:22 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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I don't like Gere.
But this is plainly unfair. The guy was doing charity work, and what he did was not obscene. I might feel differently if Shetty had disapproved later, but she seems to care primarily about the charity.
It's amazing what kind of pettiness can arise even when you are promoting charitable causes. |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Kuros wrote: |
this is plainly unfair. The guy was doing charity work, and what he did was not obscene. I might feel differently if Shetty had disapproved later, but she seems to care primarily about the charity.
It's amazing what kind of pettiness can arise even when you are promoting charitable causes. |
especially if you're a foreigner stealing a local woman from an Asian man. 
(-albeit for a momentary hug).
Can you imagine how the same incident would be recieved in korea?
Last edited by Junior on Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
| What annoys the pi-ss out of me about Gere is that he's a liberal. |
Fixed it for you. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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gang ah jee:
C'mon, bruddah, you took my words out of context. And for the record, if he was a neo-con I'd be just as annoyed.
Read on...
Adventurer replied:
| Quote: |
A month in jail for kissing a lady on the cheek and holding her in some embrace imitating a movie scene he did i.e. a romantic scene?
Janet Jackson was not arrested. They are threatening to arrest Gere.
If they want to fine, which I disagree with, they can go ahead.
I don't think Gere would purposely offend Indian culture. |
Oh, good grief. Look, my bone of contention, other than Gere's boner (which is understandable in this instance) is that HE is always touting himself as culturally sensitive, blah, blah, blah. This antic indicates otherwise. The fact that he is not in the least remorseful shows further insensitivity. And I'm surprised that you wouldn't be concerned about the backlash against Americans from Indians, regardless of how provincial they might be. After all, isn't that one of the charges levied at the Bush Administration on a daily basis--ugly Americanism and all that?
If you don't know much about Gere on Tibet, then why call my claim into question? Yes, Tibet was forcefully occupied by China in 1950, although at that time the country's leadership was hardly benevolent to all its people. I suggest your Google search "Tibet" and "Peter Hessler" (author of the great book River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze). He articulates the Chinese view on Tibet very well in a piece in The Atlantic Monthly. I'm hardly an apologist for Han Chinese intrusions into Tibet but recent economic reforms have benefited many of its people there.
My beef with Gere is that he was banned from China but went ahead and made a movie in which the Beijing settings are very inaccurate and almost everyone in the Chinese judicial system is made to look like leftovers from the Cultural Revolution. Gere has no idea what's going on there.
And speaking of the Cultural Revolution, that's the last time I heard a Westerner use the phrase "Red China." C'mon, man, even Nixon avoided that epithet.
Junior:
Your speculation is amusing and, yeah, can you imagine the reaction? Probably being throwing Molotov coc-ktails with kimchee juice at the US Embassy. 
Last edited by stevemcgarrett on Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:27 am; edited 3 times in total |
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cranura
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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| This is a perfectly acceptable arrest warrant under the laws of India. India, like many countries on this planet, is ultra conservative (look at nearly all of the Muslim countries). What is legal and acceptable in Paris, San Francisco or Amsterdam is not necessarily legal or acceptable in Mumbai, Dubai or Colombo. That is the essence of human diversity. When a world famous actor, well recognized as a "devout Buddhist" performs like harlequin character in front of a bunch of lorry (truck) drivers to get a laugh, he will be held accountable in India. It is not a foregone conclusion he will be fined or thrown in jail. I'm just surprised he behaved that way ... I doubt he would have acted with such disrespect in an audience with the Dalai Lama. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:30 am Post subject: |
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cranura wrote:
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| I doubt he would have acted with such disrespect in an audience with the Dalai Lama. |
Good point, but then Gere always thinks with his groin first. I hope the local authorities--if they have the jurisdiction--let him cool his heels. Maybe the perspective of a grimy little jail cell will fine tune his cultural sensibilities.
Madonna will probably rush there to pray with him. |
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