Most 'sinetron' are inferior productions

Most 'sinetron' are inferior productions

JAKARTA (JP): Simple and shallow screenplays, pretty faces in
sexy dresses, handsome heroes, a touch of romance, a blend of
comedy and violence here and there. Welcome to the world of
Indonesian sinetron (television miniseries).

Notorious for its awful miscasting, illogical stories and
rambling plots, the locally produced TV melodramas, slapstick
comedies and bad-tasted Hollywood-style actions have
unfortunately dominated Indonesian television.

There is the action-thriller Gelang Besi (The Iron Bracelet)
and Jackline in which beautiful heroines delight the bloodthirsty
audience with their violent actions. Or there is the tacky
horror-comedy Si Manis Jembatan Ancol (Sweet Lady of Ancol
Bridge), Tuyul dan Mbak Yul and Jin dan Jun. The themes of love
and betrayal dominate Selendang Sutra Biru (A Blue Silk Shawl),
Kupu Kupu Kertas (Paper Butterflies) and Istri Pilihan (The
Chosen Wife).

With approximately 3,000 sinetron production titles this year,
it would have been easy to sort out the best at the annual
Festival Sinetron Indonesia (FSI).

In fact, FSI's selection committee members found it hard to
select productions that met the standards.

Wina Armada, a committee member, said that most miniseries are
low-rated productions and lack variation of themes.

"They lack understanding about the difference between making
movies and TV productions. They abandon techniques, neglect plots
and disregard reality," he said.

Zoraya Perucha, Corporate Communications Manager of ANteve and
a member of this year's FSI judging panel, lamented the lack of
professionalism.

She said most production houses only have a few skilled human
resources to handle the production and promotion of television
productions.

"There is a lack of talent, especially among scriptwriters, to
generate fresh, unique concepts and creative ideas to boost the
television industry and set the trends. More importantly, there
is an infiltration of moviemakers (who have moved to television)
and their attitudes have drastically changed the face of the TV
industry," she said.

The movie directors and artists violate television standards
and guidelines, she said.

"They do not think television, they think movies. With movies,
you shoot for three months, and then the actors go on holiday for
one month until another contract comes along. This just does not
work in television," she said.

Sinetron episodes have to be run at a given time, she
explained. Television stations cannot wait. She said actors
sometimes arrived late on set, while on other occasions people
from production houses had to deliver the video cassettes late.

"There are at least 13 episodes to any sinetron televised. For
example, we have to broadcast an episode at 7.30 p.m on
Wednesday, but the video cassette itself comes to our desk at 5
p.m the same day," she said.

Ratings

Unless producers, artists and all parties involved in the
sinetron industry improve their professionalism, it would be hard
to expect quality work. "We encourage production houses to create
high quality yet sale-oriented works since most of all private
televisions have to rely on advertisers and ratings," said
Zoraya.

ANteve, for instance, declines to air shows that will not get
the desired ratings, she said. As sinetron depends wholly on the
body conducting the rating, Survey Research Indonesia (SRI),
ratings are extremely important in determining their future.

It takes only five to six episodes or as long as three months
for ratings to determine the "good-bad" status of a miniseries.

Zoraya said it was difficult to define quality.

"Quality from whose point of view? What is good quality to us,
might not be liked in the eyes of other people," she said.

Raam Punjabi, founder of PT Tripar Multivision Plus, which has
a 90 percent hold on TV time allotted for sinetron, said
ratings are like tickets that get sinetron, and ultimately the
production house, better seats in a cinema hall, although there
is no proper method of recording ratings.

"Whatever we get, we take it at face value yet we cannot run
away from ratings. We have to be confident that our product will
fetch the desired ratings. If ratings are not there, it'll wipe
out the programs," Raam said.

Director Teguh Karya believes, however, that the rating system
contributes nothing to the development of television productions.
It is a fact that television films might get lower ratings than
the low quality sinetron.

Teguh Karya is one of a few fine Indonesian directors who are
still able to work outside the grasp of television
commercialization.

Teguh Karya, Slamet Rahardjo and Garin Nugroho in
collaboration with Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia (TPI), John
Hopkins University, and the National Family Planning Board, are
trying to uphold cinematic standards in their television
productions.

Teguh Karya's Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah (The Marriage of Siti
Zubaedah) Garin Nugroho's Angin Rumput Savana (Wind in the
Savanna Grass) and Oh Ibu dan Ayah Selamat Pagi (Good Morning Mom
and Dad) by Slamet Rahardjo are just some examples of high
standard productions in terms of cinematic stories and
techniques.

Although these works are loaded with measures from the
government -- that is to increase people's awareness of the high
mortality rate among women in childbirth -- the three directors
have smartly packaged their creations as art forms rather than
propaganda television dramas.

"I work in television film because I feel it conveys the
message without bringing people to the cinema. They can get it
right at home," explained Teguh whose Perkawinan Siti Zubaedah
earned several FSI nominations this year.

As filmmakers, Teguh said, they have to convey messages,
something they have not done for a long time.

"Being an Indonesian, I know what Indonesians want. Why give
them something foolish to watch, when I can give them what they
should understand and learn from, with a touch of entertainment
to make it something people would want to watch and enjoy?"

Teguh said that currently there are just too many imitations
infiltrating the film and television industry. "We have the
Indonesian Tarzan, the local version of 007 agent, but no
original characters that can be identified with Indonesian people
and their culture. That is what I want to achieve in my
creations," he said.

According to Garin, most Indonesian sinetron deal with
subjects that are alien to the majority of Indonesians who live
in rural areas.

"Many local sinetron makers center on the lifestyles of urban
people and concentrate mostly on indoor scenes -- either in
luxury houses, hotels, or offices. Do they know that Indonesia
has abundant places with wonderful scenery?"

In Angin Rumput Savana, Garin exploited the beauty of Sumba's
panorama and the rich culture of the Sumbanese society which
faces a dilemma in fusing tradition and modernization.

Ishadi S.K., TPI's operation director said its collaboration
with the three filmmakers, was aimed at encouraging other
television stations to produce high quality works. "We really
miss good television productions."

Peachy television dramas are now rarely seen on local
television. For local TV stations, running television dramas
means risking their chance of getting high ratings and
advertisers -- which also means losing money.

"But as long as we can convince the advertisers that we have a
good program ... then there is no problem for us to run first
rate productions," Ishadi conceded.

Such enthusiasm might bring a new hope for television
audiences who are eager to watch quality sinetron. (raw/02)