Para Pecinta Fiksi, semoga berita tentang Jagoan Lokal dalam event LoF - Mana Jagoanmu? ini bermanfaat: November 12, 2008 The Jakarta Globe
Life & Times / Arts & Entertainment / Article Titania Veda Calling on Reel Local Heroes In Riri Riza’s film “Gie,” local activist Soe Hok Gie says: “We would not be living in freedom if someone had not fought for it.” Cinemas in Jakarta usually show crowd-pleasing romance, comedy and horror films. But it is a rare wind that brings ordinary characters with heroic qualities, like Gie, to the big screen. The simple fact is day-to-day heroes, such as Soe Hok Gie or Acehnese freedom fighter Tjoet Nja’ Dhien, are difficult to sell to audiences hooked on laughs and terror. Yet fictional or real, heroes share personality traits, such as self-sacrifice, generosity and servility, that we, the people of a growing nation, can learn from. In celebration of National Heroes Day on Monday, this issue was raised at an event to discuss local representation in local films. The event, themed “Where is Your Hero?” was held by Fiximix, a community of fiction lovers that aims to develop Indonesian fiction through all media. Directors whose works explore local identity, such as Garin Nugroho, Nia Dinata and John de Rantau, were joined by actor Surya Saputra, film critic Eric Sasono, iconic comic creator Djair Warni and members of comic communities, at the event. While it may seem like the Indonesian public is enamoured with Batman and Western superheroes, Henny Purnama Sari, head of Fiximix, sees things differently. “It turns out that youths, ranging from high-school students to young execs, have an interest, even an obsession, with local heroes,” she said. “I think they deserve to be encouraged.” Henny said that short films and comics by young people demonstrated their growing interest in national heroes, both in real life and in folklore or mythology. Anggi, coordinator of Fiximix, was quick to point out that the term “national hero” had a broad definition. “Heroes can also be real people. Those who aim to help others are heroes,” she said. Diyan, also a Fiximix coordinator and writer, said, “Heroes can range from kampong legend Jaka Sembung to a martial arts warrior from a Djair Warni comic book to a local teacher helping the community.” National heroes had their heyday in the ’70s, when they were the subjects of movies like “Si Pitung,” “Si Buta Dari Goa Hantu” (The Blind From the Haunted Cave), “Pendekar Bambu Kuning” (Yellow Bamboo Warrior) and “Wiro Sableng.” In the ’70s, the only TV channel was the state station, TVRI, and cinemas were not yet showing foreign films. According to filmmaker Garin Nugroho, globalization has compromised Indonesia’s cultural identity. “From 1985, the economy crashed, TV became more globalized, Suharto became unsteady. Everything fell apart,” he said. Sasono, founder of the online film review Web site Rumah Film, said, “We are all trying to find heroic figures to look up to.” The irony of Indonesians overlooking their national heroes is not lost on Garin. “We are a hypocritical culture. We want to be local but we are in love with the global. We have a local soul but a globalized body,” he said. The host of the local event, Budhi Setyawan, said: “Other countries raise their heroes’ profiles, like Britain did with Harry Potter, and they end up becoming a local product here.” Surya Saputra said: “There is no one we can look up to [in Indonesia]. These days our kids want to be Superman.” To Budhi, the solution is clear: “We need to strengthen local identity and local pride again before taking on globalization.” Henny, who regularly works with young people, said it was not necessary to choose one over the other. “It is not that we do not love our local heroes, we just need to find a balance between national and international figures,” she said. Western heroes have longevity because they are constantly in the media, while Indonesian heroes appear to have drawn the short straw. General Sudirman, Rasuna Said and Gajah Mada are better known as street names than national heroes, who seem to live only in school text books or in library books collecting dust. In a country as heavily populated as Indonesia, there is a large audience for local films. The problem lies not in the numbers, but in the local lifestyle. “We, as creators, think we are successful,” Garin said. “But we can only sell a lot of products basically because we have a large population.” The recent success of the screen adaptation of “Laskar Pelangi” (Rainbow Warriors), from Andrea Hirata’s bestselling novel about a selfless teacher who inspires her students, demonstrates the public is ready to embrace everyday heroes and not just follow the latest trend in film, Henny said. “ ‘Laskar Pelangi’ is actually a very global film. It moves people,” Sasono said. “The characters handle the problems they encounter on their own, with no help from supernatural powers or the government.” Only time will tell if local heroes will prevail after the credits have rolled in today’s globalized world. --> berita ini bisa juga di-klik di: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/life-times/arts-entertainment/article/620.html FiXiMix, stasiun fiksi Toko – Rental – Diskusi – Workshop & Kursus – Pertunjukan – Eksperimentasi – Publikasi Jl. Desa Putra No. 74, Alber- Jagakarsa, Jakarta Selatan 12640 Tel. 021-713 90 682 e-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] friendster: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --> http://profiles.friendster.com/fiximix milis : [EMAIL PROTECTED] blog : http://fiximix.multiply.com FiXiMix Fiksikan dunia!
