KUALA LUMPUR (UCAN) -- An Indian filmmaker speaking in Malaysia warned that movies and television have become virtually "third parents" to impressionable children, and urged viewers to become "active" critical reviewers.

Magimai Pragasam, vice president of SIGNIS Asia, the Asian segment of The World Catholic Association for Communication (SIGNIS), said constant exposure to movies and TV could account largely for the erosion of values among youth.

In a seminar on Tamil movies held July 23 in Kuala Lumpur, Pragasam shared his views on media and gave a critique of Tamil movies from southern India.

"Cinema and TV have become 'third parents' for children, and their exposure to these media is greater than their exposure to their first (biological) parents and second parents (teachers)," he explained.

"In the past, parents discussed movie-watching, such as which movie to watch, which theater to go to, whether to watch with or without the children," the Catholic filmmaker said.

However, with the advent of satellite TV, more movies can be viewed more easily, he said.

Pragasam noted that cultural values used to be transmitted to the younger generation through parents and grandparents. "Nowadays, good and bad values are picked up from movie actors and actresses," he said.

He recalled an incident in India in which three 13-year-old youths left their hometown without informing their parents. They traveled by bus to another town in the hope of meeting Tamil movie idol Ajit Kumar.

He stressed that moviemakers have a duty to offer wholesome movies to the public. "Their responsibility does not end when the film is completed because the movie moves into the public domain," said Pragasam, who has made more than 40 films for television on a variety of social issues.

The SIGNIS officer pointed out the need for discipline in viewing films and television.

He encouraged people to watch movies and television programs with a critical mind, like that of a reviewer, so that they will become part of an "active" rather than a "passive audience."

Pragasam noted the absence of an authentic relationship between the mass media and consumers. "It is a one-way communication, and many viewers believe what they see and hear on TV and in cinema," he said.

In his view, TV advertisements are produced in a way that does not encourage children to think logically since "unrelated images are shown in disconnected sequences."

SIGNIS is a merger of the International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisuals (OCIC, French acronym) and Unda (Latin for "wave"), the International Catholic Association for Radio and Television. The new organization was launched last November in Rome.

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