Ban on dubbing

Although the measure could have been expected, considering objections that have been raised by the public in past months, Minister of Information Hartono's order banning the airing of foreign films dubbed into the Indonesian language, Bahasa Indonesia, nevertheless seems to have come as a surprise to many. This is certainly true at least for those who are most directly affected by the measure: the private television station operators and dubbers.

There can be little doubt, however, that similar feelings of surprise and disappointment exist among thousands, and possibly millions, of faithful television viewers as well. It is well- known that telenovellas -- the melodramatic Latin American soap operas that fill mostly the midmorning programs of our television networks -- are among the best loved of many Indonesians, housewives in particular.

As for television networks, their main complaint is that the information minister's order for them to stop airing the dubbed films as of October has come too sudden, thus giving them little time to make proper adjustments.

TPI private television station operations director Ishadi has been quoted by newspapers as saying that as many as 400 foreign film titles have already been dubbed from their respective foreign languages -- mainly Spanish, Indian and Chinese -- into Indonesian, and are waiting to be aired. Dubbers, too, have expressed objections, at least over the timing of the ban, with film dubbing having grown into a considerable business over the past few years.

Hartono's argument for declaring the ban is that, given the impact which television has on most ordinary people, dubbed foreign films could negatively influence our national culture and values. The reasoning, apparently, is not just that dubbing makes films easier to follow for millions of viewers. More importantly, dubbing films into Indonesian makes foreign cultural settings and values more readily accessible to Indonesian viewers.

By making it more accessible, it also makes it easier for Indonesians to identify with the characters portrayed in the films and therefore it is much easier to adopt those foreign values. Hence, perhaps, the ruling that dubbing into the English language will be allowed, or required.

To be fair, it is difficult for us to dispute Hartono's reasoning. State-run television network TVRI alone, with more than 350 stations, is estimated to reach some 165 million people throughout the archipelago. In addition, there are five private television networks, and although their reach is relatively limited compared to TVRI, their programs are highly popular. Among the people of Sentani in faraway Irian Jaya, for example, the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are among the most popular programs. In big cities like Jakarta, one only has to look around to realize that the impact television has is indeed huge.

Meanwhile, on the side of those who are all for dubbing, the main argument is that in this era of globalization, an interchange of cultures and values is unavoidable. Moreover, the argument goes, even our own television serials -- the so-called sinetrons, which are written and produced by our own Indonesian dream merchants -- are thick with foreign tastes and values. So, what harm can there be in substituting Indonesian faces with foreign ones?

The unfortunate fact in all of this is that we have so far never really been able to concur on what actually comprises our national culture. The formulation contained in the 1945 Constitution that it represents "the peaks of our regional cultures" is clearly unsatisfactory. Our constitution, after all, was drafted by statesmen and politicians -- not by artists and cultural analysts.

One thing this whole dubbing episode can teach us is that the time has come that we should start pondering this question in earnest: What actually constitutes our national culture? A clear- cut conception on this subject is necessary if we are to find a proper balance in the global interaction of cultures that is now taking place with increased intensity.