Everybody blames it on (commercial) television

Everybody blames it on (commercial) television

By Antariksawan Jusuf

JAKARTA (JP): The euphoria of Indonesian politics, which sees
demonstrators take to the streets almost every single day,
extends to screened entertainment. Indonesian demonstrators see
an easy prey in television stations, protesting for almost any
possible reason they can find.

In the past, people came with a decent reason to lodge a
complaint, usually some television program they deemed unsuitable
for public viewing. For example, in 1991 they cited the
insensitivity of SCTV in showing the cooking program Wok with
Yan. An episode of the series, broadcast during the Islamic
fasting month, featured the chef cooking pork. Consuming pork is
forbidden by Islam, the religion of about 80 percent of the
country's 205 million population.

Viewers once protested Buah Bibir, aired on RCTI. It was a
talk show which presented live interviews with "unidentified
sources", who tended to be people who violated the standard and
accepted norms of Indonesian society, such as homosexuals, women
who had abortions, men who had extramarital affairs, etc. The
protesters claimed these people did not represent the lives of
average Indonesians, and that the station was presenting these
people as if their actions and lifestyles were socially accepted.

They also protested the screening of Jitu on Indosiar because
it was considered to contain an element of gambling, which is
forbidden both by the state and religion. The show was taken off
the air in January 1997.

But these days, when people are free to express their mind
about nearly every subject, protests are held for seemingly any
possible reason.

The most famous example was SCTV's decision to suspend the
airing of Latin soap opera Esmeralda following a protest by the
Front for Defenders of Islam (FPI) in May. One of the characters
on the serial is called Fatima, who is the aunt of the leading
male character Ricardo Colunga. The group claimed this was a form
of defamation against Islam because Fatima is the name of the
Prophet Muhammad's daughter.

The protesters would not accept that the name is not exclusive
to Islam. It also rejected a proposal by the station to rename
the character or to edit the character out of the shows.

Another group, the Committee to Guard National Films, visited
SCTV early in June. Five of their representatives held a dialog
with station officials, while some 30 others staged a noisy
protest outside the SCTV office. They demanded the station stop
showing imported Indian movies. Many Indian movies feature
corrupt police officers, whose actions lead to clashes with the
public. The Indian movies, the protesters said, were to blame for
inspiring Indonesians to fight against the police.

Traditional Javanese performances on television such as
Ketoprak Humor (RCTI) and Ketoprak Canda (Indosiar) have been
blamed from decimating the "real" traditional ketoprak. The
ketoprak TV shows star high-profile comedy group Srimulat and
Indonesian celebrities.

"Many viewers stay away from traditional staged performances
because they think it is enough to watch them on television,"
said Endang HS, head of ketoprak troupe Siswo Budhoyo of
Tulungagung, East Java, as quoted by Media Indonesia daily.

Such statements are not new. The commercial television
stations which have been on the air since 1989 have long been
considered by some as being partly to blame for the collapse of
Indonesia's film industry. Many movie producers have switched
their focus to more lucrative television series.

A communications expert, Yasraf Amir Piliang of the Bandung
Institute of Technology, said the tendency for groups to protest
against television stations was a good seed toward establishing a
civil society.

"From the point of view of democratization, the voice of the
grassroots is something positive," said Piliang, who is also a
patron of the newly established non-governmental organization
Community of Indonesian Public Television.

In a way, it is also a product of the now-defunct New Order
regime of former president Soeharto, which always set a single
meaning for any public discourse, he said. He cited the example
of the special reports of presidential activities which were
carried by all existing television stations during Soeharto's
rule.

"The reports sent a message to all Indonesians that the
president was a democratic person who listened to the voice of
the people," Piliang said.

But he deplores the way people sometimes express themselves.
"They have to learn two things: to which institution they should
address their protests and ethics."

"I think the change from authoritarian rule to democracy
requires several stages. But the general public does not
recognize a gradual process," he said.