Friday, July 11, 2014

The New Entertainment Industry of Indonesia

Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims in the world. But the huge Islamic potential which is doubled by being placed in East Asia and due to the lack of providing any cultural model of Islam, Indonesia could not win a part of the cultural balancing of powers in Asia as well as in Islamic world.
It is obvious that creating or modifying any order either in the internal arena of the country or the international arena requires a change in the balance of power or in other words, controlling the power balance.
Indonesia is one of the potential that can be used as a pressure lever in the weakest prediction and as a new model in the realistic assumption and the prediction appears to be in favor of modern new entertainment industry.  
But before presenting this model, it is necessary to recognize the Indonesian society, as ling as the features and elements of the social, cultural and psychological elements of the Indonesian society are not recognized, we can never propose an appropriate model for the country.
Indonesian society is engaged in a paradox between secular modernism and religious traditionalism. Government, economic enterprises and the Media often behave based on non-religious modernism. For example, the government does not try to provide an appropriate education of Islam to the new generation through the education system. Economic enterprises and service companies usually hire women who have no Islamic appearance. Many Indonesian films contain sexual content which are often made by Indian. However, Islam is considered as the spirit of Indonesia and even the younger generation. The reason for this is that the Indonesian society is strongly traditionalist and the Islamic thought (or religion) is mixed and integrated in the traditions of this country. Integration of a religion with the traditions of the society lead to the increasing influence of that religion and its sustainability. 
So as long as the desire for traditionalism is alive, every thought that are integrated with it will also survives. There is exist a sample like the Indonesian one in Somalia, where Islam is mixed with traditions so that it is impossible to clean and separate the Islamic doctrine from customs which are rooted in the traditions of Somalia.
Thus, the only cultural model can fulfill the cultural demands of the society in Indonesia which has been created and provided considering the parameter of religious traditionalism. But as the recognition of the Indonesian people, especially the younger generation in this country is enough, providing such a model would not be so difficult.
Indonesian people and especially the young generation have been exposed to the undeniable fact “lifestyle changes” in spite of traditionalism, and this means discovering new capacities for having or experiencing modern life in Indonesia. So the people of Indonesia are asking for a cultural model that allows them to experience tradition-modern life with parameters that they have accepted and not all the dimensions of cultural modernism; the criterion such as, adherence to religious worship, the sanctity of virginity before marriage, emphasis on the family unit in the society and freedom of youth in communicating with the opposite sex.
It should also be noted that the silence of Indonesian society against the entertainment industry of the country that opposes religious tradition of Indonesian society does not mean as accepting patterns by the Indonesian people. Indonesian society does not have an aggressive spirit and is not so revolutionary, therefore it becomes silent and does not fight towards patterns that it does not accept.
For example: majority of Indonesian including the young generation of the country have a positive view towards the country's former dictator, Suharto. One who gained power through a coup and committed military aggression and crimes in Timor-Leste. The reason which is often stated about him is that of right economic policies which were adopted at his time. 
As a result, the group which can implement such a cultural model in Indonesia will surely confront accepting public opinion and it provides them the opportunity to obtain apart of the cultural balancing of powers in Islamic world by creating a new cultural model.

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