High-tech mass media has idolatrous effect in Indonesia

By Limas Sutanto

MALANG, East Java (JP): The magical influence of popular entertainment figures on their fans is obvious in Indonesia. At the end of June, Astrid Herrera, an actress in a popular telenovela Si Cantik Clara, mesmerized the masses in some big Indonesian cities.

Before Herrera, other popular artists like Corraima "Kasandra" Torres, Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, as well as Andy "The Condor Hero" Lau, were given rousing, almost hysterical, welcomes. What does this phenomenon mean? Is there a lesson in this?

Idol. That's the key word to answer the question. A thorough study would probably prove that commercial public figures are idolized not only by urbanites, but also villagers. Why? Because television, the most efficient way to make an idol, has become a close intimate friend of nearly every Indonesian.

It is human nature to idolize. Throughout history people have required idols. In human psychic development, the process of making idols is a normal event. The process is similar to identification, another normal psychosocial process. Therefore, for someone to interdict another for idolizing an artist or prominent figure is wrong.

But idolization, especially if it is more unconscious than conscious, can be harmful. Seen from psychoanalytical point of view, idolization involves the superego, which, according to Freud, has an authoritative and deterministic influence in controlling human behavior. Thus, if people are shaken up by idolization, their ability to judge the real world will be distorted by an excessive preoccupation with their idols. Moreover, if the idolization is related to a historical state or national leader, the distortional effect can bring about an unrealistic cult of the leader.

Francis Bacon, therefore, criticized the existence of idols and idolization. Idols and idolization are close to the idea of cult and with the act of deification. The Latin word idolum, means gods or goddesses. According to Bacon, people may have idols, but the process of idolization should not distort people's ability to freely judge facts realistically.

In order to eliminate the distortion, Bacon sets out four kinds of idol which should be avoided. The first, idola tribus, is an idol which is created by hasty and general conclusions without an adequate empirical base.

The second, idola specus, is created as a result of prejudice and deification, which have their roots in people's narrow- mindedness.

The third, idola fori, is formed by a person who has no critical opinion of major trends within society. The person loses himself or herself in the embrace of public opinion, drifting with societal trends without an adequate effort to judge anything for themselves.

The fourth, idola theatri, is the most dangerous idol in the modern era. The idol is created by the penetrative influence of "systematic and big scale drama" presented by contemporary mass media. The drama is essentially artificial social engineering, serving as a tool to achieve certain political, economic, social and cultural interests.

The idola theatri gains its full capacity in the wired world, because of the empowerment of high-tech mass communication. Public opinion, attitudes and behavior as a whole can be warped toward the political, economic, social and cultural aims of the owner of mass communication equipment.

The essential lesson is the necessity to build adequate awareness of the idolatrous harm mass media can have. Television is the worst offender because of its powerful effect on every dimension of life. To counter the effect, Indonesian families should learn the differences between the constructive and the destructive effects of the mass media.

Limas Sutanto, a psychiatrist and psychosocial observer, alumnus of the medical schools of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, and Airlangga University, Surabaya.