Ben Murtagh

Istana kecantikan: The First Indonesian Gay Movie

This article discusses the first Indonesian film to deal with specifically gay rather than waria (male to female transvestites) subjectivities. The 1980s was a period that saw growing public consciousness of the gay subject position, and the release of this film in 1988 may be seen as the first cinematic attempt to react to this new level of awareness. For this reason, it can be argued that the film says as much about Indonesian perceptions of the gay world as it does about the reality of life as a gay man in Jakarta. The movie has been criticized for its pessimism and negativity regarding the portrayal of gay life in Indonesia, the main character being imprisoned for murder in the final scene. This stands in contrast with more upbeat representations in the recent film, Arisan. However, despite a generally pessimistic ending, the films portrayal of homosexuality is perhaps more complex, particularly with regard to how family, friends and even psychiatrists relate to the principal gay character. This article argues that rather than the lead characters homosexuality being the reason for his eventual demise, it is his perceived hypocrisy that leads to his ultimate incarceration.

A JAWI SOURCEBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF MALAY PALAEOGRAPHY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

This special issue of Indonesia and the Malay World was compiled by friends and colleagues as a tribute to Professor E. Ulrich Kratzs three decades of teaching Jawi and traditional Malay literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and to mark his 70th birthday on 14 October 2014. Reflecting Ulrichs deep interest in Malay manuscript texts and letters over many years (see the list of publications compiled by Helen Cordell in this issue), this Festschrift takes the rather unusual form of a compilation of reproductions of Malay manuscripts in Jawi script, accompanied by commentaries on the handwriting and spelling. Nearly all the manuscripts are dated or firmly dateable, and come from known locations. The hope is that this issue will be useful as a sourcebook for the study of the development of Jawi script, and in particular its palaeography and orthography, over the course of nearly three and a half centuries. The manuscripts presented date from the end of the 16th century to the early 20th century, and originate from all corners of the Malay world, from Aceh to Aru and from Melaka to Mindanao, as well as from Malay communities in Sri Lanka and Mecca.

GAY, LESBI AND WARIA AUDIENCES IN INDONESIA: Watching homosexuality on screen1View all notes

Since the fall of President Suharto in 1998, Indonesian cinema has been noted for its concern with the representation of gay and lesbi sexualities. However, even during the New Order (1966–1998) a small number of films were produced which represented non-normative genders and sexualities. To date there has been no research on how Indonesias sexual minorities respond to representations of themselves in film. Drawing on a number of focus groups conducted with gay, lesbi and waria Indonesians in Surabaya in 2008, this article examines the variety of responses and discussions that arose from watching Wahyu Sihombings 1988 film Istana kecantikan (Palace of beauty). These responses are contextualised by examining the press reports of the film when it was screened at the 1988 Indonesian Film Festival. While this film has recently been disparaged by film-literate critics as being depressing and homophobic, this article demonstrates that it was still seen as meaningful to many of the gay and waria focus group participants. The more film-literate discussants however, particularly from the lesbi group, responded to the film far less positively. Whilst informing the researcher as to the possible variety of meanings that audiences might draw from the film, this research method also highlights the potential role that viewing such films may play in prompting gay, lesbi and waria individuals to think about their own identities in new ways.

Coklat Stroberi: an Indonesian romance in three flavours

This article focuses on the 2007 Indonesian film Coklat Stroberi and its accompanying novel and pop video. The novel by Christian Simamora was based on the film script. The song ‘Di sini untukmu’ was written especially for the film, in which the band Ungu made a cameo appearance, and the accompanying pop video features numerous scenes from it. While in recent years quite a number of Indonesian films have featured gay characters, this film is notable for the fact that it puts a gay relationship at the very centre of a romantic comedy, and is clearly aimed at a young (17–25) audience. Coklat Stroberi is undoubtedly trying to show same-sex relationships in a progressive light. Nonetheless, the representation of the characters and the films final outcome highlight an ambivalent attitude towards homosexuality that is common in many Indonesian films. This article pays particular attention to those ambivalences and explores how our understanding of them is enhanced by analysing the transformation of the film into the genres of novel and pop video. Attention is also paid to an apparent mismatch in the filmic imagination of gay characters and the reality of gay lives as they are lived in Indonesia today.

Beautiful Men in Jakarta and Bangkok. The Pressure to Conform in a Recent Indonesian Novel

Recent years in Indonesia have seen a marked growth in the number of novels taking lesbian or gay relationships as a key if not central theme. One of the most popular of these novels has been Andrei Aksanas Lelaki Terindah [The Most Beautiful Man], published in Jakarta in 2004. The novel describes a love affair between two Indonesian men, from its first flourishing while the men are on holiday in Bangkok, to its final collapse on their return to familial and societal pressures in Jakarta. In particular, the article considers the very different portrayals of Jakarta and Bangkok from a gay male perspective: while Bangkok is painted as a modern and progressive city, Jakarta is portrayed as restrictive and limiting. In addition, the article considers the ideas of beauty and non-heteronormative sexuality as they are presented in the novel.

Syair Perang Inggeris Di Betawi: A Malay account of the British invasion of Java of 1811

The Malay rhymed epic Syair perang Inggeris di Betawi was written by an anonymous author in 1815. The syair, which is over 1,700 lines in length, primarily concerns the British expedition in Java that began in 1811, when British forces landed at Cilincing, just along the coast from Batavia. This paper presents a preliminary introduction to this text, looking in particular at the presentation of historical events, and also the structural arrangement of the SPIB.

GAY, LESBI AND WARIA AUDIENCES IN INDONESIA

Since the fall of President Suharto in 1998, Indonesian cinema has been noted for its concern with the representation of gay and lesbi sexualities. However, even during the New Order (1966–1998) a small number of films were produced which represented non-normative genders and sexualities. To date there has been no research on how Indonesias sexual minorities respond to representations of themselves in film. Drawing on a number of focus groups conducted with gay, lesbi and waria Indonesians in Surabaya in 2008, this article examines the variety of responses and discussions that arose from watching Wahyu Sihombings 1988 film Istana kecantikan (Palace of beauty). These responses are contextualised by examining the press reports of the film when it was screened at the 1988 Indonesian Film Festival. While this film has recently been disparaged by film-literate critics as being depressing and homophobic, this article demonstrates that it was still seen as meaningful to many of the gay and waria focus group participants. The more film-literate discussants however, particularly from the lesbi group, responded to the film far less positively. Whilst informing the researcher as to the possible variety of meanings that audiences might draw from the film, this research method also highlights the potential role that viewing such films may play in prompting gay, lesbi and waria individuals to think about their own identities in new ways.

Double Identities in Dorce's Comedies: Negotiating Gender and Class in New Order Indonesian Cinema

Dorce Gamalama is one of Indonesian television’s best-known celebrities. She first rose to fame in the 1980s and her career is very much based on her public profile as a transsexual woman. This article focuses on Dorce’s performance of gender and class in two films: Dorce ketemu jodoh (Dorce meets her match, 1990) and Dorce sok akrab (Dorce up close, 1989). In Dorce ketemu jodoh, Dorce represents herself as a woman, albeit one who is unlike other women, and who is confident enough in her gender identity not to shy away from gender playfulness. In Dorce sok akrab, Dorce’s character encapsulates the possibility for upward social mobility as an integral aspect of New Order development ideology, though it is a mobility which strongly resists notions of westernisation and elitism, and is instead firmly rooted in local forms of cultural identity.