Thirst of Applause
Fortune is only a result of the loyalty of people who work with love. And it all starts with the cheapest "reward” called applause.
Today, the public is noisy with its applause, precisely because there is a leader asking for an applause. I want to talk about how important applause is – an applause is a kind of a drug.
It is an extraordinary form of energy that can move people to goodness, but at the same time it can turn a person toward adversity. Applause can be sincere and honest, but at the same time it can be full of fakeness.
Do you still remember the talk shows during the New Order era in the 1980-1990s? For the government at that time, maybe they were "serious" events. However, for people who are familiar with the world of theater, these talk shows were like a stage comedy. It was very theatrical. There was a feeling of pretense, like stage actors trying to convince the audience that what was being played was the real reality.
Pak Harto never asked his people to applaud his statements. But the director of the talk show should have rehearsed carefully when "the people" should ask questions, answer, laugh and clap their hands.
In the talk show we saw the scene of a leader capturing the aspirations of the common people. The then president Soeharto sat, accompanied by a number of ministers and regional officials, even down to the sub-district level, and in front of him the people who were assumed to be "grassroots" sat nicely. Then the dialogue began.
PakHarto asked. The people answered. The answer was always smooth. It even seemed like rote. And if Pak Harto uttered a funny joke, the people, who were not real actors in the theater, stammered. He wanted to laugh, but was a bit worried.
Looking left and right, he finally laughed after there was some kind of command. So they laughed together.
Laughter was no longer a spontaneous expression and reaction to antics, but the audience sat as a kind of choir waiting on cue. It was the same with the applause. Pak Harto never asked his people to applaud his statements. But the director of the talk show should have rehearsed carefully when "the people" should ask questions, answer, laugh and clap their hands. Action and reaction were both controlled.
Full of fakes
For artists, of course, this was very inspiring and could be a form of social ventilation, and it also could reduce boredom after watching the ceremonial pleasantries broadcast by the government’s television station TVRI for too long. It was often broadcast live on the government’s radio station RRI and relayed by all private radio stations.
This type of terror in 1989 tempted the Gandrik Theater to stage the play Upeti (Tribute) by Heru Kesawa Murti. This play, which showed the anatomy of corruption in a kind of regional revenue office for a city, and began with a talk show scene, imitated Pak Harto's talk show style.
The style and atmosphere were the same. The difference was that in the play, this talk show was portrayed as full of fakery. There was a drill. There was a person who led the show and arranged who should ask and what to ask. There was also a person who commanded when they should clap their hands and laugh.
Through its witty staging style, Teater Gandrik only wanted to make satire in the style of a punakawan (clown servant) of the wayangworld. It just wanted to remind the knights when they were drunk with power there was a thirst of applause.
The spontaneous movement of clapping two palms together is like a drug that makes you addicted.
The spontaneous movement of clapping two palms together is like a drug that makes you addicted. These knights are always thirsty, even desperate to get applaud, beyond all limits, across professional disciplines, across religions, across gender, across social, across academies, across ages.
In short, anyone can get this syndrome. It is very human. I do not know what kind of psychological symptoms this is.
Parking water
We only know that applause is an appreciation. It is the cheapest and most spontaneous award. It is the meeting between reality and hope. It is a statement or an action that touches our hearts. It feels right and precise.
At the time, a thing that we keep in mind, which was originally only in our imagination, is manifested before us. So with sincerity and joy, we voluntarily give an applause. Applause resounds.
We often spontaneously stand up and applaud when listening to the voice of a melodious singer articulating poetry that touches the heart, with musical arrangements that make fantasies fly.
We also give a big applaud when watching the dialogues of the stage actors who seemed to represent the thoughts and anxieties of the audience. Likewise, when we hear a leader declare that he is ready to become a martyr for the welfare of his people, glorify the underprivileged, uphold equitable justice, provide the best service, create world peace, steer the wheel to become a better and more honorable country and the like, without anyone commanding us to clap our hands
Even when a leader apologizes for admitting his country's past sins related to human rights crimes, and promises to “solve” them outside of a legal channel; we still sincerely applaud and give appreciation for a tragedy.
Given that the nature of applause is spontaneous, authentic and sincere, of course, no one can have a monopoly over it. The applaud can be present in joy as well as pain, in the warmth of brotherhood as well as in hatred and in peace, but at the same time an invitation to enmity, even enmity.
In the political constellation, we often are entertained by television talk shows, how people who are thirsty for applause play words solely for the sake of being applauded, although they lose their logic, using poor data and often manipulating facts.
For example, flooding in the capital city can be justified because flooding is considered parked water. Or someone can be portrayed as critical opposition through making funny memes that actually lead to him facing criminal charges and is finally imprisoned.
It is a joke
Want another example? There were political figures who boasted that they would walk Jakarta to Yogyakarta if their predictions were wrong. It turned out that when their predictions were wrong, nothing was ever realized. He lied. The people were not demanding either. For him, the important thing was that his boast was received.
Then there was a woman political social activist who suddenly admitted that she had been beaten until her face was crushed, even though she had actually undergone plastic surgery. It was solely because she was addicted to applause and wanted to be viewed as a hero. But—it is so tragic—in the end, she ended up trapped in prison because of her lies.
Applause is like a drug that is addictive. It can also be abused. The function of a drug can be positive or negative depending on how we use it. I have always been fascinated by the tenacity of traditional performers and modern theater practitioners who struggle to survive in their world.
It is a world that is distant from the glitter of material wealth. It does not make them rich. Every time, they hold a stage, they even suffer a loss.
But they do not give up. Why? It is because when they end the performance and greet the audience, they receive an applause. The reward is just clapping hands. And the next day they will enjoy their misery again, practice again, perform again and lose again.
They just want applause which is spontaneous, sincere, honest and authentic. The actor and playwright Rendra used the jargon of the "price in poverty".
It is a motto to maintain militancy in theater. We can be brave even though we are still poor.
Even though theater does not guarantee economic prosperity or make someone wealthy, this motto burns energy so that people remain loyal to dedicating their lives to the world of theater. Art people only do what they love out of passion and with love.
Fortune is only a result of the loyalty of people who work with love. And it all starts with the cheapest "reward” called applause.
Now, I am actually worried. Lest this writing is also only intended to receive an applause because I dare to insinuate here and there. I don't know. Ask the “barking dog”.
Butet Kartaredjasa is an actor
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.