Wanita dalam Pasungan: Some girls just don't get it

This movie was made in the late 70's, we were reminded halfway through the Q&A. 'Women in Indonesia then weren't expected to voice out,' Hendrick Gozali, the illustrious Indonesian producer, said. Male figures were not to be challenged. The thought itself was indecent for women.

So goes the thread in the movie 'Wanita dalam Pasungan' (Shackled Woman), a movie from 1980 screened as part of the Indonesian Film Festival. Fitria, a Javanese girl from Jogjakarta, is put under pasungan by her father to lift her insanity. He locks her away for years until a nosy Jakartan reporter discovers her existence and convinces her to tell her story.

The Cinematic Muslim

It's hard for muslims to find a flattering image of themselves in movies. I'm one of them, trust me, I know. The muslim (or Arab - it doesn't matter really) characters inevitably revolve around terrorists, people oppressed by terrorists, people who want to be terrorists, or people who don't want to be associated with terrorists.

There is some variety, but it just seems a little monotonous.

Real roles for reel men

There has to be an end to the wimpy deadbeat male characters we see in movies today. But more importantly, there must have been a start, before which cinema actually portrayed responsible, respectable men.

Have audiences not tire of the many man-childs filling the screen? Shallow with the emotional maturity of 15 year-olds, for whom life seem to revolve around sports, videogames and bongs. The thought that film-makers are only producing characters like these because people are able to identify with them makes me worry too much about our young males that I simply refuse to believe it.