I apologize.

As we are still basking in the generous spirit of Ied, what other words would be more appropriate than those two? Apart from the appropriate moment, another reason for me to apologize is because for the first time ever, this column was written without any significant observation about our world of television, during the fasting month of Ramadan. This was because by the time we passed the first ten days of Ramadan, I become convinced that our television stations had run out of Ramadan ideas.

But, wait.

Shouldn’t the television stations try their best as they compete with one another to create the most interesting programs possible during this special, beneficial, and blessed time of year? Well, that, dear reader, is precisely the problem. Apparently the competition is going nowhere. From one year to the next, everything stays the same. It seems that the television stations really understand how to defy the call of improving oneself from one Ramadan to the next.



Repeated pattern
Yes, I know, that subtitle is a clear case of redundancy. A pattern is certainly repetitive. It’s okay to be redundant once in a while, though. It was deliberate, anyway, as I want to make the emphasis on how from one year to the next Ramadan programs invariably consist of: [a] eternally infantile comedy shows; [b] programs and figures harboring the desire to look pious—but stopping at exactly that—the look—and therefore are rife with religious trappings; and, naturally, [c] commerciality, damned commerciality.

In terms of the two last points I just mentioned, well, what to do. One can discuss point [b] not only during the Ramadan. It seems that it has become a standard temptation for people to become obsessed by symbols, and that the media further strengthen this obsession. Many have often discussed about this. As for point [c], let us just mull over the fact that Ramadan shares the same fate with Christmas. The shrewd capitalists cleverly lure their potential clients to give as much alms as possible to them.

The interesting thing here is precisely the deluge of comedy shows. It is as if as soon as Ramadan comes their way, the staff at the program division in the television stations thinks that they have a cure-all: provide the audience with comedy shows as much as possible, and that’s the end of the story. There is something intriguing here: Wherefore art thou, o comedy shows throughout Ramadan? Does the Indonesian audience turn so gloomy and depressive during the fasting month, so much so that they need to be continuously entertained? Well, perhaps. I am offering two possible reasons here.



The psychological, sociological, and any other ‘ical’ reasons
In his “Catatan Pinggir” column (“Daging”or “Flesh”, Tempo magazine, 25/39, August 16, 2010) Goenawan Mohamad reminds us that the meaning of fasting often eludes us today; it is as if fasting is a mere practice of restricting the body. This notion is not entirely wrong. Fasting is indeed a form of restriction, an effort to control the body, but it is also an exercise in dealing with temptations. At this point, there is a rupture in the delicate partition: to deal with temptation is not the same as to curb temptations; just as controlling your anger is different from concealing it.

What can we do—the mode of living consumptively has accustomed us to living with temptations and we thus tend to think that temptations are the norm. With such logic, the act of dealing with temptations is no longer based on the awareness of not doing things in excess or not being greedy; instead, it acquires a rather negative sense. To deal with temptations means to arrest one’s habit, and when the time comes for us to end the fasting period, or on the Ied day at the end of the fasting month, it becomes a “pay-off” eventof sorts, a time for revenge, when excesses and greed again find an outlet.

At the same time, the meaning attributed to the Ied holiday as “the day of victory” does not necessarily make things better. I believe that the “victory” we gain on the Ied day has a humbler meaning, i.e. a celebration...

With the logic of curbing temptations, what do we end up having? What we have in our mind would be this: “It is our victory against Ramadan!” And precisely on the Day of Victory, the dam broke majestically.

It is during these two periods—the Ramadan fasting month and the Ied day itself—that the repetitive pattern of the television programs applies. During “the time of pain” of Ramadan, it is as if the audience has this yearning to be constantly entertained—creating all the more reason for celebrating when Ied day comes. The underlying logic might be different, but the contents stay the same. I suppose the difference is only in the expression.

So, do the television stations simply cater for the needs of the audience? You can say that if you will. The problem is, they’re not even good at it. The comedy shows do not show any signs of progress; they even display more crass jokes. As sense of humor actually reveals one’s intellectual level, this is even more worrying. The logic of a cure-all recipe (the same reasoning that underlies the blocking of porn sites “to cure the nation”) makes the television stations lazy; they do not feel like innovating as long as the audience seems to be okay about their programs. Well, who would want to protest at that wee hours of the morning, when the eyes are still so heavy and the mind dull?

The symptoms are obvious in that there are only two good programs—and these programs have been going on for the last few years—during the Ramadan: Tafsir Al-Mishbah on MetroTV, for those of you who would like to learn seriously about the teachings of Islam, and the drama series Para Pencari Tuhan (Seekers of God), for those of you who would like to enjoy wry and subtle humor. What have we come to when among hundreds of programs, there are only two that are of a good quality and able to maintain it?

Oh, all right. It’s time for me to restrain myself and not become too cynical. There is nothing wrong with celebrations, really. Prophet Mohammad did encourage his followers to not stay still, but instead become involved in the festivity, as members of their respective communities.

It suddenly comes to my mind, though, that perhaps it was precisely during the time when TVRI (the National Television of the Republic of Indonesia) was the only television station that the celebration was quieter and low-key. The comedy show (usually a combination between Warkop and Bagito—the two comic-trios that were very popular in the eighties and the nineties, respectively) was aired onthe special time of the day when family members were supposed to be gathering. What about during the fasting month? As far as I could remember, the programsduring the Ramadan were not really different from those of the other time of year, except for the fact that they took on a stronger religious tinge.

And perhaps this was where the second reason started to show its ugly head.



Practical reasons
Just imagine what a television marketer would think when he or she takes note of the kind of entertainment the audience enjoy watching during the Ied holiday. The program marketer would think, “Hmm, why do we have comedy shows only on the Ied holiday? Why don’t we have it throughout the Ramadan fasting month?” Using the psychological and sociological reasons above as the base for the argument, one would be certain that those programs would sell like hot, moist cakes.

* * *

The construction of reality that the media is building might fool us, or cover up, mask, or embellish the reality. One should, however, keep this in mind: the curtain is ever so sheer, no matter how extravagant. The media’s general practices and productions precisely enable the shrewd ones among us to expose the ulcers of the society, ones that had been previously so well covered.

The curtain was lifted a bit during last Ramadan as the fiasco with Malaysia fired up the media (and people). I don’t know what kind of bitterness (and toward whom) that people and the media had been harboring, but the embers suddenly became a fire, and calls for war were heard. The people who were almost bored with life yelled out: “War!” The media further amplified it, “Right! Let’s go to war!” At that point, the debate of whether or not infotainment is a part of journalism was no longer important, as even what we called journalism was no better than infotainment.

At the end of the day, the television programs are merely the reflections of the society, who in the case of the fasting month tribulations refuses to try to deal with temptations. The television is the perfect manifestation of the wild, hidden desire to be greedy and extravagant. You don’t agree? Well, just for this time, by Jove, accept the fact.

And for the inconvenience caused as I present these facts, I am sorry. We are, after all, still basking in the generous spirit of Ied.***