We need more inspirational movies

We need more inspirational movies Akh Muzakki ;   The writer, chairman of East Java’s LP Ma’arif Nahdlatul Ulama, lectures at the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Sunan Ampel in Surabaya

JAKARTA POST, 03 Februari 2013

The national film industry has recently been witnessing a new trend: movies inspired by the life stories of leading national figures. Following on from the success of romance stories, the life stories of leading figures have emerged in the guise of movies like Sang Murabbi (The Mentor), Sang Pencerah (The Enlightener), Sugiya and most recently Habibie dan Ainun. The latter film was adopted from the inspirational life story of the third Indonesian president BJ Habibie, and focused on his romance with his wife, Hasri Ainun. The movie has proved an attraction for many. According to the MD Entertainment, which produced the movie, within three days after the premiere the movie’s audience reached 355,000 and after five days it increased to 706,000. Within just a week, it hit a record of over 1 million viewers.  Being more than just documentaries, inspiration is a key issue in the new prominence of these kinds of movies. By definition, the movies refer to celestial guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind. The movies play a great role for individuals for their personal empowerment, as they stimulate the mind to a high level of feeling or activity. From the perspective of cultural transmission, such an inspiration paves the way for ideas and values to enter the mind. If inspiration works, then a person will try to follow that inspiration strongly.  Why is that so? Inspiration certainly is influential as the end result of a process of emotional and cultural internalization. This is all the more so because people tend to be certain that those who have inspired them serve as role models for their personal betterment.  Such an argument also applies to inspirational, life story movies. To win public acceptance, the transmission of ideas and values adopted in the movie should provide viewers with a level of certainty for their practical lives. This principle arises because those values and ideas are transformed and transmitted to the general public through teachings. People can easily consume and practice the teachings, simply because they can serve as practical instructions or manuals for the audience’s day-to-day lives.  It is interesting to analyze why the inspiration for this movies has come from the life stories of sociocultural and political leaders in the past rather than from current elites.  People are increasingly aware that recent sociopolitical developments in the country are absent from the values and lessons worth learning. Corruption and scandal are plaguing the sociopolitical landscape of contemporary Indonesia.  As a result, people feel there are no role models to inspire them. Given this, the movies adopted from the life stories of past sociocultural and political leaders serve as lessons for current elites to fight for the good of the nation and to avoid selfishness.  Inspiration goes along to revising charisma and film has recently been transformed into a means of reviving charisma. Charisma is not necessarily restricted to senses of cultural-traditional authority, but also to sociopolitical authority.  Apart from making money then, the production of these movies has also lent itself to reviving charisma. The movies are meant to bring more followers of the figures in question closer to the ideology initiated.  The captured audiences of the revered figure are exposed to greater ideological consolidation, so that the spirit of the figure can be further replicated.  Sociologists promote the notion of charismatic authority as power that is legitimized on the basis of leaders’ exceptional personal qualities, represented by both their ideas and practices, which inspire loyalty and obedience from their followers.  Weber specifically relates the notion “charisma” to exceptional powers or qualities of individual personality. These exceptional qualities lead the charismatic individuals to becoming revered and virtually incomparable to ordinary people.  In this spirit of charisma, the ideas, expressions and practices of the charismatic figures as adopted in the movies are expected to remain inspirational in the eyes of their followers and beyond. The reviving of their inspiring teachings is just a logical consequence of their sociocultural and political influences on several parts of our society. Indonesia today may need to produce more inspirational movies. ●