Cigarette as a Tool for Representing Masculinity in Indonesian Left-Wing Films

Abstract

This article discusses the representation of masculinity in Indonesian left-wing films, which were made before and after the 1998 reform. Left-wing films are those which tell about the politics in 1965 and focus on the controversial Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Some of the left-wing films position the PKI and its sympathizers as the masterminds behind a coup d’etat occurred in 1965, but there are also those which place communist figures and sympathizers as victims of the savagery of others. This research studies three films, namely Pengkhianatan G30 S PKI, Sang Penari, and Jagal-Act of Killing. The method used in this research is a relationship analysis that based on power relations concept. The research finds that cigarettes are used as a representation of masculinity of classical figures in Indonesian left-wing films. In all of these films, cigarettes become a stigmatizing tool for others. In the film Pengkhianatan G 30 S / PKI, cigarette is used to represent the masculinity of PKI’s leading figures, especially DN Aidit. In the film Sang Penari, a central figure named Bakar is described as a communist provocator who cannot cease wanting cigarette as well. on the contrary, the Jagal, portrays Anwar Congo, chairman of mass organization Pancasila Youth which claimed to slaughter more than a thousand communists in Medan, in a negative way. Congo is stigmatized by cigarettes that always billowed in his mouth.

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