Pig Feast and Fears over Narratives

The prohibition of a communal viewing (nobar) of the documentary film Pesta Babi reflects a conflict that still frequently occurs between individuals and structures of power. This phenomenon cannot be adequately understood merely as an administrative matter or a permit for gatherings. The ban demonstrates how the state works to regulate public space, determine the boundaries of acceptable discourse, and control the ways in which society accesses certain narratives. The dispersal of the nobar from an anthropological perspective reflects the clash between individual agency and structures of power. On one side, the organisers and viewers exercise their agency, namely the ability to act and produce meaning, to create an alternative space for discussion through the medium of a documentary film. On the other side, state apparatus act as representations of formal structures that have the authority to maintain social order. A structure that demands individual compliance to preserve the social integration deemed stable and orderly. The dispersal of the nobar can also be read as a practice of disciplining bodies and public space. In Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1977), Michel Foucault explains that modern power does not merely appear through direct violence, but also through the regulation of societal behaviour to align with the ‘truth’ produced by authorities. The state does not only prohibit an activity, but also seeks to shape fear, vigilance, and compliance within society. Control is not always carried out through overt repression, but also through the internalisation of a sense of being watched. The prohibition constitutes a form of ‘self-discipline’, namely an impetus for society to limit itself and not exceed the corridors of information deemed safe by the state. Through this lens, the dispersal of the Pesta Babi nobar is not merely the stopping of an event, but also a symbolic message to the public. However, power is never entirely absolute. When structures impose restrictions, society often develops new forms of resistance.