Fearing the Gothic: Indonesia cinema

This fascinating article on a best-selling Indonesian film (Ayat Ayat Cinta, 2008) offers a fine example of Gothic fear.  That is, of how people fear or resent horror stories.  The mix the article shows draws on global Gothic culture, with a national flavor.

First, note the combination of undesireable things: sex and ghosts.

Worldwide, films which feature scantily dressed women, contain images hinting at or showing sex, or show horror or supernatural occurrences, have incited complaints on the basis of religious morality. Likewise,
Indonesian religious leaders often have voiced their objections to popular film productions that contain sex and ghosts calling them film maksiat (immoral films).

The article seems to assume that depictions of religion don't involve the supernatural.  That seems to mean focusing on religious practice in personal life, and not showing any divine intervention, miracles, etc. 

Second, there's a class argument.  The author complains about "Idonesian lower class horror films," without mentioning art films (if there are any, in this context).  This is compared with art which appeals to viewers who are "hip, fashionable and capable of socializing" - in other words, horror presents an economic anxiety.  Moral films represent the upward economic path.

Third, the paper is concerned about distancing Islam from horror.  For instance,

Several Muslim groups have not supported the mixture of horror and Islam shown in Indonesian film.

Fourth, there seems to be an anxiety about gender and sexual relationships.  Note the familiar concern about sexualized women, not men.  Combine that with the movie's plot, which focuses on marrying a man.  His sexual desires aren't a danger, apparently.  He is, in fact, a pious lad, and a religious student.

Fifth, there's a fear about... fears, specifically how some Muslims (not the author's side) might react:

[film] producers did not so much bear in mind censorship from the state, but rather from the street: read fear of Muslim protests. Muslim protests were feared most because some groups like the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front) did not shun the use of violence to make their point that they would uphold the morals of the nation.5 The fear of FPI and other such groups was realistic since there was a history of violence by the groups attacking nightclubs, bars, and cultural centres. Moreover, as the government and police forces only half-heartedly countered these actions, many people were unsure about whether they would be sufficiently protected if they drew the ire of radical Muslims.

The article does historicize these concerns:

under Soeharto’s New Order, horror films which showed sexy women, violence, evil supernatural beings, and everything else that "God has forbidden," used a deus-ex-machina appearance of a kyai (a traditionalist Islamic teacher), or other religious symbol, to restore order at the end of the film.

It would be a useful classroom assignment to ask students to compare this with, say, the history of British Gothic in the 1790s, or the 1950s American panic about horror comics.

(thanks to Ed Webb)

Comments

[Steven Kaye]

It would be interesting to see how this compares with other countries in the region - I know Cambodia and Thailand have horror films, don't know about Malaysia or Vietnam offhand. See for example this article from 2004.