Sex and Drugs Sell

Viet Nam's Government pushing the anti-drug message

By: Mona Mangat, UNODC, Thailand
Source: Eastern Horizons, No 14 June 2003

Watching Bar Girls; no one would ever believe that Viet Nam's hottest movie is government propaganda. Vietnamese paid triple price to scalpers and ticket lines went around the block when the movie was released this past February.

It taken in more than $1 million to become Viet Nam's highest grossing film ever, smashing records set by Korean, Hollywood, and Bollywood imports. The film about prostitution and drugs was produced by the People's Army who run the major motion picture studio Ho Chi Minh City's Liberation Films in Viet Nam.

This film is a new chapter in Vietnamese state-sanctioned cinema that focuses on taboo story lines with the Communist Party's campaign message embedded in the fabric of the film: Bar Girls' message is against social evils that lurk in the dark. It is entertainment with a strict warning: drugs kill. Set in the nightclubs and slums of Ho Chi Minh City, the film follows doomed prostitutes Hoa (My Duyen), a heroin-addicted rich girl who works nightclubs for kicks, and Hanh (Minh Thu), a gentle soul who dreams of a better life. The only anti-climatic feature of the film is obvious: how could anti-drug propaganda ever really have a fairytale ending?

Bar Girl, though attempting to elucidate the dangers of a drugged out lifestyle) it also manages to titillate as much as it educates. Satisfied with the anti-drug message, censors allowed an unprecedented amount of skin and sin to show in the movie. There are many scenes of vomiting in toilets and a heroin overdoses, but there are also two catfights (one in mud), girls in bikinis jumping up and down, and Viet Nam's first government approved topless shot. It makes one wonder if the government is using shady tactics to lure in the crowds? Director and co-writer Le Hoang has been quoted in Time, saying. "Nowadays, if your film is not appealing enough, your propaganda efforts will fail."

Viet Nam will probably be seeing a lot more 'Propatainment' in the time to come. Has the anti-drug message reached its audience? Ticket sales would corroborate that possibility. Making people face the erosion of society and their families played out in a gripping drama, can have a greater impact than boring propaganda. The government's real challenge is finding ways to appeal to this MTV generation who is at risk for potential drug use and sexual exploitation. 60% of Viet Nam's population is under the age of 25.

Holding onto their audience has prompted the government to decree that private film studios may form for the first time since 1975. Six companies have already applied for permits, The government will still censor the finished films, carrying various messages against social evils, but competition could mean better films from Viet Nam People will buy a ticket to see, no doubt, aftez films like Bar Girls they'll line up to do so.