Intérpretes y Ejecutantes

In this chapter I discuss the broad implications of the gender-order crisis for Indonesian cinema. In the previous chapter, I mapped the trajectory of the crisis within the three structures of the gender relations that support Indonesia’s official gender order. In this chapter, I provide a broad overview of how the gender-order crisis crept into the structure of Indonesian cinema and forced changes in the cinematic representations of gender and sexualities. How did, on one hand, the crisis open up new avenues for filmmakers to engage in innovation and experimentations with alternative gender ideals on screen; and on the other, it restrain the filmmakers’ political endeavours to offer such alternatives on screen? I essentially argue that the gender-order crisis permeated

Indonesian cinema during the period from 2000 to 2014. In fact, Indonesian cinema became a contested territory in which various interest groups took part in a political endeavour either in support of or in challenge of official gender ideals. I identify two major forces significantly shaping the directions of gender politics pursued in

Indonesian cinema amidst the weakening of official gender ideals. They are Islamisation and women’s cinema. I shall demonstrate that while they developed into strong forces of change within the structure of Indonesian cinema as well as the cinematic

representations of genders and sexualities, they also deepened public anxiety and moral panic concerning gender and sexualities.

Islamisation in Indonesian cinema is an extension of its off-screen phenomenon in the country at any given time. Islamisation is a series of processes involving certain measures and campaigns, regardless of the identity of the advocates and their motives, which call for the establishment of what are considered to be Islamic doctrines in legal, political and social systems (Salim 2008: 45). This phenomenon has been the most visible feature of Indonesian politics, economy and culture. Islamisation in

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contemporary Indonesia, indeed, is a complex set of processes. As argued by Ariel Heryanto, it involves a set of multiple processes with multiple directions, in which various Muslim-affiliated groups, which do not necessarily hold shared views, are involved, and none of the groups holds control over the trajectory of the process. Islamisation is even more complex with the involvement of non-religiously affiliated groups and individuals as well as other factors, including post-authoritarian politics, the expansion of global capitalism, and the development of information and media

technology. In popular culture, the phenomenon manifests partly in the explosion and celebration of products which are deemed by the Indonesian community as reflecting Islamic values (Heryanto 2014: 26).

I shall demonstrate that during the period under study, Islamisation in Indonesian cinema manifested partly in the explosion of films promoting Islamic values—popularly known as film Islami. Films under this category provide a rich site of

innovation and experimentation with alternative gender ideals, femininity and

masculinity, which foreground Islamic piety. I will also show that Islamisation has been significant in shaping film censorship in Indonesia, both official and unofficial censors. Muslim protests against films, while not new to twenty-first-century Indonesia, have been much more visible when compared to the period under the authoritarian regime. Cinematic representations of alternative gender ideals have mostly been produced, censored and circulated in ways that anticipated or prevented unwanted protests which could have led to the withdrawal of films from distribution or even to their banning.

The second major force shaping the trajectory of gender politics in the first 15 years of twenty-first-century in Indonesia is women’s cinema. I define women’s cinema as an institution and a set of practices in which women filmmakers and women’s issues

Chapter 3. The Gender-Order Crisis around the Silver Screen

are central to film production, representations and distribution.1 Indonesian women’s cinema is an extension of the flourishing feminist women’s movement off-screen. Women’s cinema is an avenue for women filmmakers to voice their concerns and protests against unequal gender relations that sustain the gender order in Indonesian cinema and beyond. As argued by Fatimah T. Rony (2012), films made by filmmakers who are critical of gender issues can be seen as political interventions aimed at raising viewers’ awareness of gender issues in their society at a particular time. I shall

demonstrate that during the 2000 to 2014 period, a vibrant women’s cinema in Indonesia not only challenged the taken-for-granted male dominated cinema, but also triggered an intensive search for alternative gender ideals—femininities and

masculinities. Yet, at the same time, these ‘vulgar’ cinematic challenges often annoyed various interest groups who supported official gender ideals. Thus, women’s cinema also deepened public anxiety around the possibility of impending moral decay.

While not specifically addressing the feminist women’s movement and Islamisation in the previous chapter, I did mention that they played major roles in shaping the trajectory of gender politics off-screen. I suggested that both have contributed to the maturation of crisis tendencies in each of the structures of gender relations. For instance, I emphasised the role of the feminist women’s movement in forcing changes to the Indonesian legal system to criminalise acts of domestic violence. I also underscored their role in advocating for changes to the Compilation of Islamic Law to address gender biases. In addition, I also highlighted the role of radical Islamists in mobilising forces to curb non-heteronormative expressions of gender and sexuality.

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Indeed, there are films made by men which reflect feminist ideologies very well, yet I consciously limit the definition to exclude such films. For instance, I will include Lucky Kuswandi’s Selamat Pagi, Malam (Good morning, Night, 2014), although Kuswandi is a man. The film is produced by a renowned feminist producer, Sammaria Simanjuntak and problematises the life choices of lesbians in Indonesia. The feminine perspective offered in this film questions the normalised practice of marriages of convenience among Indonesian lesbians. Yet, I will exclude Hanung Bramantyo’s Kartini (2017) as part of women’s cinema because it is his auteur work despite problematising women’s issues, such as rights to education.

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This chapter paves the way for deeper scrutiny of filmmakers’ struggles in undermining the hegemony of bapakism through screen representations. Its exploration

of the rejuvenated struggle of gender politics behind and around the silver screen will help us to understand the opportunities as well as the limitations that filmmakers encountered in staging their public gender politics through commercial cinema. Not all innovations of alternative gender ideals are able to be represented, let alone idealised, on the screen in a particular cultural and historical setting. While some alternative ideals successfully appeal to the viewing public, others are banned, censored, protested about or withdrawn from circulation. This chapter explores the forces which on one hand fostered intensive search for new alternative gender ideals, and on the other limited such innovations within Indonesian cinema. Understanding these forces will help us

comprehend why filmmakers were driven to promote certain forms of masculinities, while supressing or even avoiding taking sides on others in their films.

We have witnessed certain depictions of gender ideals in commercial films that have been publicly protested about or badly censored. For instance, the idealisation of Muslim men and women who promote religious pluralism in Hanung Bramantyo’s ?

(2011) was heavily criticised by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Indonesian Muslim Clerics Council (MUI); the protests caused the film to be temporarily

suspended from circulation for re-editing (Afrisia 2015b). Brokeback Mountain (2005,

Ang Lee) was not exempted from state censorship before its release in Indonesia in 2006. Assuming that the film promoted same-sex relations, the state censorship board cut many scenes in the film, to the point that it disturbed the flow of the story (Detik Hot 2006). Consequently, staging political protests against established gender ideals through commercial cinema requires careful assessment of the intersection between politics and the economy. The political dimension apparently extends from off-screen (see Chapter 2) to within the structure of cinema itself. Such assessment is important in

Chapter 3. The Gender-Order Crisis around the Silver Screen

order to create representations which are not only relevant but also potentially marketable. Eventually, political and economic considerations, independently or together, leave traceable consequences in the range of cinematic representations of gender ideals on the silver screen.

This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section discusses the Islamisation of Indonesian cinema. It examines how this most telling phenomenon shaped the trajectory of the political battle for official gender ideals in Indonesian cinema. I begin by describing the emerging film category which foregrounds Islamic piety—a category that became a rich ground for innovation and experimentation with alternative ideals of masculinities and femininities. While Islamisation inspired an intensive search for new gender ideals, it also posed limitations in the process through its intervention in film censorship—both official and otherwise. Islamisation

contributed significantly to determining what could and could not be represented, let alone idealised, on screen at that time.

The second section of this chapter is dedicated to exploring another major force shaping the trajectory of gender politics pursued in Indonesian cinema—women’s cinema. A newly emerging genre with barely any precedence, women’s cinema has been a powerful force of change in Indonesian cinema. This section begins with an explanation of the exponential increase in women filmmakers in Indonesian cinema. I will underscore the implications of such an increase for the structure of Indonesian cinema as well as the production of cinematic representations of gender ideals on the silver screen. Then, the discussion shifts to the moral panic and anxiety triggered by the flourishing of women’s cinema. Due to supposedly ‘vulgar’ and confronting depictions of gender and sexualities, women’s cinema was often linked to pornography. This chapter concludes with a reflection on the political–economic dimension of commercial cinema and how the production of cinematic representations of gender ideals is shaped.

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Considering the intricate relations between politics and the economy in commercial cinema, we can expect that filmmakers must carefully negotiate their personal political views with off- and on-screen gender politics as well as the pressure to make a profit.

Islamisation: New alternative gender ideals and the evolution of