Butet's monolog cries for journalistic truth<\/p>\n
By Yogita Tahil Ramani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"I will not boast about the virtues of the
\njournalistic profession. There is no sense in implying that
\njournalism safeguards democracy when it does not.\"<\/p>\n
This was theater actor Butet Kartaredjasa describing the
\ncurrent state of his other profession as a freelance journalist
\nduring a recent monolog performance.<\/p>\n
Journalism is often summed up as a profession of putting facts
\ninto print. The intention may be to expose and not to influence,
\nbut history has shown that expressing truth often hits some raw
\nnerves.<\/p>\n
It took a small theater arena and Butet to elicit substance
\nfrom the tale Lidah Pingsan (A Numb Tongue), and send a message
\nthat contemporary journalism in Indonesia is about use of
\nmanipulated facts.<\/p>\n
Lidah Pingsan was written by Agus Noor and Indra Tranggono,
\nboth seasoned writers with stories published in newspapers like
\nKompas, Republika and Media Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Butet alone flawlessly acted all the four roles in the story
\nand establish reciprocal interaction with the audience on the
\nnights of Nov. 14 and Nov. 15.<\/p>\n
He wove into the play a delightful exchange of cynical asides
\nwithout altering the central message.<\/p>\n
Most in the audience left the Utan Kayu Theater with a sense
\nof pride at having witnessed a two-hour revolution in unclogging
\nindividual verbal skills.<\/p>\n
Peppered with Javanese linguistic insinuations hinting at the
\nstrained state of current affairs -- the monetary crisis, forest
\nfires and drought -- Butet's monolog was accompanied by brother
\nDjaduk Ferianto's bongo-beating incantation.<\/p>\n
Djaduk is more established in his profession as a musician. He
\nwon the 1995 Indonesian Sinetron Festival award for best musical
\narrangement in a drama, and also works with several notable
\nchoreographers, theater producers, TV and film directors. Djaduk
\ncoarranged the musical show Dua Warna televised on RCTI, recently
\nnominated for the 1997 Asian Television Awards.<\/p>\n
If it was Butet's delivery that voiced frustrations at the lot
\nof Indonesian journalists, it was Djaduk's orchestration of music
\nthat dramatized it.<\/p>\n
The monolog begins with the story of a belligerent journalist
\nwho feels there is no use in penning his writings about the truth
\nbecause they would never get published.<\/p>\n
Instead, he does the next best thing. He stumbles across the
\ntruth, writing \"dark poetry\" for news.<\/p>\n
\"I know it will never get published, but it serves the
\npurpose of being an honest-to-goodness, present-day journalist: a
\ncynic,\" he says.<\/p>\n
The journalist then diverts the attention of the audience from
\nhimself, telling them of a 30-year-old incident in the fictitious
\nvillage of Menangan that has never been fully resolved.<\/p>\n
It involved an innocent kid who was accused by the village
\nchief of causing riots. The boy, upon hearing that he would be
\njailed or receive worse punishment, ran away and was never heard
\nfrom again.<\/p>\n
Truth is the village chief himself masterminded the riot and
\nconveniently pointed the finger at the boy.<\/p>\n
The boy's father, Mardiko, bemoans the loss of him in the most
\nbefitting manner. He faithfully sits outside the house of the
\nvillage chief, screaming and calling out for his son every day
\nfor the 30 years.<\/p>\n
The village chief, much as he would like to ignore the
\ndisplay, spends sleepless nights and endless days trying to talk
\nsense into Mardiko.<\/p>\n
Most of the time he gets his security guard, Mien, to beat
\nMardiko, but to no avail. The old man continues screaming \"Pak
\nLurah, Pak Lurah\" (Mr Village chief, Mr Village Chief) day in,
\nday out.<\/p>\n
Due to leakage of important government documents, the
\njournalist eventually finds out the truth.<\/p>\n
The facts stir his journalistic spirit to write about the
\ntruth, but he is unaware the village chief is a 90 percent
\nshareholder in the newspaper.<\/p>\n
Dialogs<\/p>\n
Born in Yogyakarta, Butet uses the Javanese language to
\nestablish a closeness with his listeners.<\/p>\n
When Butet caught a man in the audience asking the meaning of
\na certain Javanese phrase, he quickly gave him the meaning, and
\nretorted with \"there is some good if you know that Indonesia is
\ndominated by the Javanese\".<\/p>\n
Other than the well-scripted play, it was his hard-hitting
\nJavanese humor that conveyed the message.<\/p>\n
He cynically said Western reporters have a lot to learn from
\nIndonesian reporters, screaming: \"We are so modest, so polite and
\ndisciplined because we indulge in so many of these niceties,\"
\nfollowed by the clincher: \"We have no time to write at all.\"<\/p>\n
When acting out the role of the village chief, he says a
\nvillage chief entering the 21st century should be bothered more
\nwith the fact that the rupiah was ditempelengi (being slapped) by
\nthe dollar than with a man who has been burning his skin to a
\ncrisp waiting in the sun for the last 30 years.<\/p>\n
Another scene has him acting as the aged Mardiko slumped over
\nhis seat, telling audiences that he understands perfectly why
\npeople in the village did not want him to \"quit the fight\".<\/p>\n
He said he knew those people missed true heroes because they
\nhad been fooled \"by people they had considered heroes\".<\/p>\n
He added that he was not keen at \"having a road or a street
\nnamed after him\".<\/p>\n
In another scene, the journalist tells people that he did not
\ntrust words anymore since he was not able to differentiate
\nbetween fact and fiction.<\/p>\n
\"There is a man roasting in the sun for 30 years who I have to
\nconsider fiction, and then there is the true story of a nation
\nhaving their lungs roasted by forest fires, even as a leader
\nconvinces his people that 'everything is under control',\" he
\nsays.<\/p>\n
The definitive ending comes with Butet, as the beaten
\njournalist, clutching his throat, gagging over the tragic silence
\nafter being told by the village chief that he was majority
\nshareholder in the newspaper.<\/p>\n
Butet's monolog was one of many efforts by Indonesian artists
\ntrying to reinvent the concept of journalism: To have the facts
\nprinted, and have it done without truth-mangling alterations
\nbeing made.<\/p>\n
\"Imagine being a coolie of the ink only to be upgraded to
\nbeing a coolie of the diskette,\" he said.<\/p>",
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