Back in the seventies, the TV series “Il-Madonna tac-Coqqa” was aired and caused a scandal. A scene aired in which the actors Jane Marshall and Lino Mintoff in which the former wore a nightie implied that her character slept with the priest.

Lo and behold, all hell broke loose, and Jane Marshall started getting all sorts of threats and insults, so much so, that she had to leave the country for good. She was made to fear not only her own well-being but also that of her family. Fast forward to 2020 and not enough has changed, when we see the case of Pia Zammit, an actress who had to try and argue in court that she is not a Nazi sympathizer, and was just portraying a role in the play Allo Allo.

Let that sink in slowly.

The inability of people to see this, especially those who should know better, like the very editor of It-Torca, shows a lack of progress in mentality. Having people act and get into someone else’s shoes should prove helpful in a society where judging and jumping to conclusions has become a national sport, with social media playing heavily in showing people's darkest side.

It is easy for people to disassociate themselves from the horrible things they say at the computer when they are sitting comfortably at home, protected behind a screen, and totally oblivious of the harm their words are causing.

This court sentence can lead to a new form of censorship, with actors thinking twice what characters they can portray, as people might actually think they are like that, or attack them. We still have a large chunk of the country unable to understand satire, taking it as a blatant insult to their gods - the country's political elite. This lack of critical thinking, coupled with lack of empathy, is breeding space for a country with no imagination, creativity or even the ability to think outside the box. Everything is taken at face value and the result is an experience which is as boring and dull as it is a shallow interpretation of reality.

The fact that Pia Zammit is an Occupy Justice activist was repeated over and over by the media, putting in second place what she really is - an actress. The focus on her activism makes this sentence sound like payback just for being outspoken. Anyone who does not follow the masses, who creates trouble, and who is not a yes man will get his share of trouble, and they will dig into your past and conjure anything up just to shut you up without even being subtle about it.

The deafening silence from the Minister, Jose Herrera, is also alarming, as this may imply that he is backing this sentence in the usual “min mhux maghna kontra taghna” mentality. Theatre, like literature, should challenge, provoke and help one's mind to think and to question. The importance of the arts is not stressed enough anywhere in Malta, even starting from schools and in the art world itself, where many view it as a hobby which one does for fun rather than a proper job. This needs to change, and this change has to stem from the theatre world itself. Actors have to be paid - all of them. Doing work for exposure is, as they say, not on. In the world of social media, where you can get all the free exposure that you want, exposure does not mean anything. In schools, arts and drama as well as music should be given more importance and should not be viewed as a waste of time. The arts are a way of expressing oneself, so why shut anyone up? #istandwithpia 

Sandra Gauci is an executive member of ADPD