Chris Aalberts.nl — Viewers of the Sid Lukkassen sex film are no better than its makers
26 October 2021.
This week sees the online premiere of a film featuring commentator Sid Lukkassen. De Balie is even devoting an evening to it. Put bluntly, the film boils down to Sid responding to an appeal from a left-wing girl called Jini, who wanted to fuck a right-wing man to forge a connection. I haven’t seen the film, but the responses indicate that Sid is humiliated and begs for the footage not to be used. The makers say it is art. In NRC, we read that the maker believes you ‘may sacrifice things for the work of art, including Sid Lukkassen’. To pass a clear moral judgment? NRC found that too difficult.
A reality check, then: Sid was a VVD councillor for eight years and was certainly no figurehead for, say, Forum for Democracy. In terms of ideas, you might call him influential among his own fans and a few right-wing parties, but that was almost always behind the scenes. His fame stems mainly from a photograph with Zihni Özdil and perhaps a single appearance on Buitenhof. Sid is not important to the general public, so there is no need to tear him to shreds in the first place. He is completely powerless, both in publicity terms and politically.
It is worse than that. I checked with Sid. He expressly withdrew from this project and did not consent to the footage being used. He considered taking part in the project and wanted a genuine encounter, but an entire crew turned out to be waiting. Sid was under the impression that Jini had started an independent art project and was sincerely interested in its subject. The idea was to begin by discussing her motives and then see how far they would take it. Things turned out differently.
No media power
The makers wanted to start filming straight away. Sid gave in to the pressure. He soon regretted it. During filming, one of the makers told him that Jini wasn’t a left-wing woman at all. You could say he was set up. The makers went ahead with the film anyway, without consulting him further. Sid thinks it is bizarre that they are releasing it without his consent. He is now suffering serious anxiety and stress and is unable to discuss the film. A friend of his confirms this. All in all, the makers are doing a pretty good job of ‘sacrificing’ Sid.
Suppose Thierry Baudet were in this film. Would the makers still be allowed to spend an evening at De Balie chatting about their ‘art project’? Would they have received an NRC article resembling an advertisement, or a piece in Het Parool without any moral judgment? Of course not: Baudet would have sued everyone into oblivion. That is why this is a film featuring someone who has no media power or army of lawyers, but is socially awkward, hung around somewhere on the fringes of Forum, was never a real threat to anyone and wouldn’t hurt a fly anyway. For many, Sid was and remains an incomprehensible writer. An unknown one, at that.
It was incredibly stupid of Sid to take part in the filming. Now everyone can laugh at him, perhaps even at the size of his genitals. Ask yourself whether anyone would have accepted this if Sid had been a woman. We would have reached for every term from revenge porn to sexual harassment and assault. If you watch this film, laugh at it, feel good about it or encourage others to watch it, you are no better than its makers or the political movement Sid represents.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
This blog also appears at ThePostOnline. Image: Sid Lukkassen on Buitenhof (YouTube still).