OUR WORLD of comedy might have been released from the New Order imprisonment. Humor as the “light of democracy” can actually take off now.[1] Serious humor, according to the teaching of Arwah Setiawan,[2] should actually be able to speak freely in the mass media in ways that are even more critical than those of the earlier comedians such as Srimulat, Warkop DKI, Bagito, Patrio, or the wittily charismatic Benyamin S.[3]
Of course, mass media have their limits. Although it is able to break through, say, the television, as the most alluring form of mass media, the Indonesian comedy still finds it difficult to extricate itself from all the trappings that restrict the huge potentials of humor as a means for social criticism. The television had turned into an industry in its own right. The TV comedy programs have failed to avoid a peculiar situation in which they must stay as a form of entertainment and money makers, but at the same time they dare not develop because the production wheels move much too fast, giving virtually no time for the workers and actors in the comedy shows to think creatively. Unfortunately, there are only a few creative and daring comedians.
Pity how it all looks so insipid; especially if we consider the absurd position of the audience as seen by managers of TV stations. The audience is seen as a passive group, but at the same time there is the fear that the audience might turn aggressive. ‘Passive’, because the audience constitutes nothing more than numbers in the rating statistics offered by AC Nielsen, which they say is no longer accurate anyway. Here, it is believed that it is impossible for the audience to be smart, logical, accepting to witty humor, and that the audience is nothing more than TV zombies. ‘The fear that the audience might turn aggressive’ is there, too, because the TV’s lack of courage to develop itself is actually caused by their ignorance regarding its own audience—it is naturally difficult to understand a mob of zombies, and what is alien is always fearsome. Some of the zombies have become stronger as a group that is increasingly sensitive in accepting self-criticism that is delivered through humor or comedy shows.
Are we ready for self-criticism, though? And before we accept it, are we humorous enough in observing our mundane daily lives that can sometimes be so stifling? Without our having to delve further into it, it is clear that humor is beneficial for our body and soul. If we can no longer rely on the humor delivered by the mass media, then perhaps we need to turn to the day-to-day living; aspects of life that we see, say, and hear, which turn out to be even funnier. We can manage our sense of humor further, not only in daily conversations (as humor in a “secure and controlled” forum—following the New Order parlance, which enables us easily to forget subversive threats, racial slurs, and even religious verdicts that can be worrying and turn the funny into the fearsome), but also as we observe such daily activities in our space of living, which in the Focus of our Karbonjournal.org today is the city space.
Today, we dare to present you selected essays written specially for the focus of “Humor in the city space.” This Focus has also been designed to welcome lovingly the OK. Video: Comedy – 4th Jakarta International Video Festival 2009, held by ruangrupa, the contemporary art organization that publishes this journal. To ensure our harmony further, the Focus is launched next to the opening of the biannual video festival, on August 1, 2009. The OK. Video: Comedy Festival itself is being held at the Indonesian National Gallery, Jakarta, from July 29 – August 9, 2009.
The essays that you are going to read here have thankfully managed to meet the demand that they not only discuss funny things, but also do it in a comical way. Perhaps not all of them will make you rolling on the floor laughing as people have different sense of humor anyway; but presumably they are enough to make you blush.
The essays are also varied in their themes. The first two essays discuss our world of television. Veven Sp. Wardhana, a TV observer who always very diligently watches TV and makes notes, elucidates about how the entire contents of the TV shows are actually very funny. It is enough for you to watch TV to find a myriad of absurdities, starting from horror films that have turned into something called religious cinema, the outlandish gossip shows, a variety of weird terms, to the absurd telenovela and the surreptitious ghost ads that are invariably found out.
The subsequent essay is more specific, i.e. about the production of TV comedy shows. We have managed to publish a letter of protest written by a self-confessed media hooker, M. Isfanani Haidar Ilyas, for his superior, an Executive Producer in a well-known TV station (excuse us for not mentioning the name of the station here). In a gloomy, angry, and rather naughty letter, Isfanani reveals to us many things: the ways that TV stations use to create bad quality comedy shows and the phenomenon of TV comedy that he views as shallow and having a penchant for imitation. With a note of desperation that somehow still manages to incite wry laughter, he wonders why oh why this is all happening. Bit by bit, he tries to unearth the root causes, still with his characteristic speculations that will bring you to his concluding remarks with a smile.
Out of the production room and the TV, our next essays explore the streets of Yogyakarta and Jakarta. The first essay is from Nuraini Juliastuti, in which she wonders about the habit of wearing thick jackets under the piercing Yogyakarta sun. Starting with her own personal experience, her friend’s experience, on to her response toward motorbike riders with jackets and full protective gears, Nuraini brings us to question the things that most of us take for granted.
Evi Mariani Sofian wrote the subsequent essay, discussing about love and misery on the streets of Jakarta. She describes a variety of ironic things happening on the mean streets of Jakarta, and a range of touching stories that somehow take place, which she says are truly “heart-warming.” Evi does not only look at the ironical side of daily living, which can be extremely bitter and intriguing at the same time, but she also offers some positive energy in observing life. Perhaps it is such positive energy that we need to use as we face the inhuman streets of Jakarta.
Laughing at the mundane aspects of life needs to be done wisely. It has been said that such behaviors originate from the attitude of being sensitive, so that we can be critical while maintaining our empathy. Farid Rakun, in the last essay of this Focus, dissects a blog for that reason. The blog presents pictures of counterfeit products found in our daily life. Farid wonders, “Does this blog truly wish to share jokes, or merely to ridicule?” How can something funny on the street stay funny on the blog, while it is not viewed by the same set of eyes? Where is the boundary where the joke turns to derision? Is this all simple naiveté, or is it also exploitative in nature? Farid does not stop posing questions until he eventually discovers a number of possibilities, which might perhaps be best read directly by you, our dear reader.
Before concluding this introduction that now runs the risk of becoming too long, I thank all writers that have made it possible for us to end in a happy note the four-month time period it took to organize this Focus. I must reiterate that the online nature of the journal makes it possible for us to keep adding new essays for the published Focus. I hope you will be interested in joining us and submitting your essays, therefore enriching the Focus further with essays that talk about complex issues with a tongue in cheek, so much so that the late Arwah Setiawan could smile up above (or down below), perhaps while nodding happily, reminding us that “humor is serious.” Let us not forget Horace Walpole, too, “This world is a comedy to those who think, and a tragedy to those who feel.”[4]
Jakarta, August 1, 2009
Ardi Yunanto
Editor in chief, Karbonjournal.org
ARDI YUNANTO was born in Jakarta, November 21, 1980. After graduating from the Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Malang, in 2003, he returned to Jakarta, the city where he grew up. In 2004, he joined ruangrupa and since 2007 has been serving as the editor-in-chief for Karbonjournal.org. Besides writing highly unproductively about the city and art, he also works as a researcher for several art and culture projects, as a book editor, and graphic designer, all the while trying to set aside some time to write short stories.
