Bullshit in the Objectification of Women

In Indonesian horror films, the dominant ghost is always female. Why does it always have to be a woman?

ARSIP MD PICTURES

The cut scenes from the horror film "Badarawuhi di Desa Penari" which aired during the Lebaran holiday on April 11, 2024. The film was directed by Kimo Stamboel and produced by MD Pictures. The actors involved in this film include Aulia Sarah, Maudy Effrosina, Jourdy Pranata, Ardit Erwandha, M Iqbal Sulaiman, Aming, and Diding Boneng.

How scary are women so that most Indonesian horror films feature ghosts or haunting spirits in the form of women? Maybe it's just bullshit objectifying women.

Swaying in a green kemben combined with a jarik, hair bun, and yellow scarf, Badarawuhi catches attention. Her depiction is beautiful yet tempting, but quietly she is skilled in manipulation, deceit, and cunning to trap her victims.

Badarawuhi is one of the many representations of female ghosts in Indonesian horror films such as those appearing in the films KKN in Penari Village (2022) and Badarawuhi in Penari Village (2024). Badarawuhi's appearance is free from the "standards" of local female ghosts from the 1980s-1990s, who wore white dresses with blood spots and long, tangled hair. Even so, the "basic characters" are eleven-twelve: both are evil forces that disturb peace.

Also read: Intimidation of Badarawuhi Dancing Demons

In the midst of the emergence of awareness and efforts to build gender equality, many Indonesian horror films actually show representation of women in an almost complete way through storylines. -just like that. Female ghosts almost always "have the same fate". When life is shackled by various rules, you become a victim of violence, then you die horribly. After death, his spirit wanders around and somehow has the power to damage and kill the people who are the target of his revenge.

In an Indonesian horror film produced in 2000, evil spirits usually possess sweet urban women. Through the woman's body, the spirit creates fear and spreads the terror of death.

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KKN film in Penari Village

That is the case, the female figure in Indonesian horror films has extraordinary power, precisely when she has "become a devil". However, that power is a destructive force for the security and harmony within society.

So, who can restore peace and harmony? In Indonesian horror films, a protagonist figure like this is generally portrayed as a male figure who either holds a religious position or possesses spiritual power. This has been a classic solution in many Indonesian horror films since the 70s until the 2000s, where a wandering female ghost can be "organized" by a male figure, whether through negotiation or coercion.

Also read: Selling Curiosity on Satan's Path

Only in the films Servant Satan (2017) and Servant Satan 2 (2022), the power of religious leaders is actually made weak in the face of ghosts. Even so, there is still a female figure, namely Mother, as the ghost who spread terror at that time.

Tia Hasibuan from the Come and See Pictures Production House, which co-produced Servant of Satan 2, Thursday (23/5/2024), said that her latest production with Joko is Siksa Kubur (2024 ) no longer makes women ghosts. In fact, here, women become main characters and the driving force of the story in line with the aim of creating sympathetic characters and presenting a depiction of the world that the audience can believe in.

"However, in Siksa Kubur we actually want to invite the audience to contemplate and think, both with themselves and with other viewers," explained Tia.

Tia called this step a novelty in horror films. For him, Indonesian horror films have improved a lot by trying to present a variety of novelties. Starting from themes, characters, treatment (treatment), to other technical matters in the making process.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

The movie poster of Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion was displayed at the CGV Grand Indonesia cinema in Jakarta on Thursday (4/8/2022). Directed by Joko Anwar, the film premiered in cinemas across Indonesia on August 4, 2022.

Simply put, in the context of horror films, it is no longer enough for audiences to be presented with scary surprise scenes (jump scares), scary monsters, or bloody action. The audience is also made to care about the characters, themes and storyline.

"With the element of novelty, our horror film will feel fresh. This is important, especially considering that there are almost always new horror film titles showing in cinemas every month," said Tia.

However, such works are not yet commonly found. The majority of production house owners, scenario writers, and directors still adhere to the old formula of repeatedly showing women as victims, both in life and after death.

According to Laura Mulvey in the book Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, things like this cannot be separated from the male perspective or what is commonly called the male gaze. This is of course also related to the film industry which is dominated by men so that what emerges is the perspective and thoughts that exist in men's heads.

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One of the scenes from the film Siksa Kubur.

Considered terror

Extraordinary Lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy, Parahyangan University, Annisa Winda Larasati, who also wrote about The Domination of Female Ghosts in Indonesian Horror Films with her colleague Justitio Adiprasetio, found that there were 338 out of 559 Indonesian horror films for the 1970-2019 period that featured figures. woman as the main ghost. In percentage terms, it reached 60.47 percent.

Next, the ghost figure will be confronted by a male protagonist in the form of a religious leader. Annisa and Justitio's findings are similar to those found by Katinka van Heeren in the book Contemporary Indonesian Film: Spirits of Reforms and Ghosts from The Past. The presence of religious figures fighting female ghosts follows the Censorship Guidelines and Criteria in Government Regulation Number 7 of 1994.

Religious leaders are considered as embodiments of the government that must be obeyed for the sake of order. On the other hand, the Indonesian Film Production Code at that time always had a black and white ethical code, where the good always triumphs over the evil.

In the context of horror films, such crimes often come from vengeful female ghost figures, who are disciplined by male religious leaders in the form of a process of returning to their "realm".

The character of women almost always fall on two sides of a coin, as either ghosts or victims. Annissa divides the types of victims in these films into two. Firstly, women with deviant personalities from social norms. "So the portrayal is of a woman who is "not good," or too independent, who enjoys drinking/clubbing, and so on, making her deserving of being killed and can only take revenge when she is already dead," said Annisa.

Second, women become victims for no apparent reason. However, Annisa admits that this category is rarely found compared to the first.

So the portrayal of a woman who is "not good" or too independent, enjoys getting drunk/partying, and so on. This leads to her being deemed worthy of being "eliminated" and only being able to seek revenge after she has already died.

Returning to the first category, women who are too independent are not in line with the New Order era where women are always associated with the term "kanca wingking" or friends who are behind and are not allowed to stand out compared to men.

Therefore, independent women are seen as a threat and considered to violate norms. One of the efforts to regulate them is by using horror films featuring women who are usually out late at night, then becoming victims of sexual violence, dying and becoming vengeful ghosts.

There are also women who don't want to obey men so they run away. But instead he was met again by another group of men who tortured him. In this case, the New Order government wanted to discourage women from acting too much. An example of a film that is quite legendary is Si Manis Jembatan Ancol (1993). Other films are not much different, such as Beranak di Kubur (1971), Sundel Bolong (1981), Queen of Black Magic (1981), Malam Satu Suro (1988), to Kliwon Friday Night (1986).

"I see that horror movies that represent women as monsters are more of a form of discipline than resistance. Especially in Indonesian horror films, if you do not behave as you should, then you must be 'punished' and 'killed' and become a source of fear that causes suffering for those around you who are alive," said Annisa.

Also read: Eid Film Trends, from the Drama Era to the Domination of Horror

In addition, Annisa believes that horror aims to frighten or make people uncomfortable. Generally, things that make people uncomfortable are something outside of the norm.

As it is known, women always carry many social norms in their daily lives, so there seems to be a mandatory moral construction to be followed, despite unconsciously repressing women.

"Therefore, it is described as more frightening because it acts outside the established norms. Women also became a source of terror. He is capable of killing sadistically even though he should be obeying. "In fact, she is like that because she was a victim during her life," explained the author of the book Forcing Mothers to Become Ghosts: Maternal Horror Discourse in Contemporary Indonesian Films.

MARTINUS DANANG PRATAMA WICAKSANA

The front page of the book is entitled 'Forcing Mothers to Become Ghosts: Maternal Horror Discourse in Contemporary Indonesian Films'

After the New Order, Indonesian horror films shifted towards young people and social legends such as Jelangkung (2001) and Tusuk Jelangkung (2003). These two films, which are pioneers in the revival of horror films after the sluggishness of the cinema industry since the mid-1990s, also offer ghosts that are not women.

Unfortunately, in the same period, many Indonesian horror films returned to selling women's fear and sensuality as happened in the 1990s. These films include Tali Pocong Perawan (2008), Bride Waterfall (2009), to Suster Keramas (2009). They sell the objectification of women.

In recent years, horror film stories have started to touch on religious and cultural doctrines. Unfortunately, women are still represented as repeatedly victimized, as in the premise of horror films during the New Order era, where women who do not comply with religious teachings or oppose cultural traditions will be punished.

This is a collective work on how to put women on screen with the right representation.

Separately, the Executive Director of the Humanist and Social Innovation Foundation, Tunggal Pawestri, who is also an experienced film producer, emphasized the importance of filmmakers being able to change the narrative. Until now, Indonesian horror movies have not strayed far from stories of community legends or urban legends.

"If we trace it further, the urban legend that has been around for decades does not have any bias towards women because it appears with images of women at that time that are appropriate for the time. "Right now, a lot of awareness has emerged and points of view have also changed," said Tunggal.

Although he understands that such changes may challenge comfort and potentially face rejection, in the context of the screen landscape that eventually affects the community's mindset, this shift in perspective is worth doing.

"This is a joint work on how to place women on screen with correct representation," said Tunggal.

In several horror films, female figures can also be used as a medium for reflection, contemplation and thinking about substantial matters, such as in the film Siksa Kubur, for example. In other words, it's time to stop all forms of objectification of women.

TANGKAPAN LAYAR YOUTUBE MVP PICTURES ID

One of the scenes from the film Si Manis Jembatan Ancol

Note: This article is the result of collaboration with an intern at Kompas Daily, Rilanda Virasma Meiprita, a student at the Department of Indonesian Literature, Diponegoro University