Looking like an article about Ariel

FROM THE bottom of my heart, I wish to apologize to all my dear readers for the chronic tardiness of this column—if anyone is indeed waiting for it, that is. Like everybody else all across Indonesia, I was hit by the pandemic that is Ariel and his angels. As someone who is responsible for this column, I must explain to you two possible ways in which I might be affected by the pandemic:

[1] I was postponing the article in order to observe the development of Ariel’s case, so that I can analyze it thoroughly and present the result of my analysis to you.
[2] I was postponing the article because I was waiting for the rest of the video recordings—rumor has it there are still a score of them lying around somewhere—in order to enjoy them for myself.

Rest assured, the reason behind this delay was the first one.

Having said that, I must admit that a purportedly news program on TvOne, aired on Wednesday night, June 23, 2010, has managed to jolt me out of my couch. On that program, an “expert” (on anatomy or whatever) was analyzing—all the while with a serious look on his face—whether or not the star in the pornographic video was actually Ariel. And how did he do it? Apart from carrying a diagram of human skeleton, on the virtual studio the alleged expert also presented a three-dimensional holographic model of a male figure that looked like Ariel (believe me, that one truly was a mere look-alike), which went on to serve as a point of reference for the discussion to determine whether or not that porn star was Ariel.

How extraordinary. Now that was truly a circus. Why bother going to the expensive Russian or French circus shows? Aside from the model that for some reason looked like a product of the Poser software—which is generally used to create three-dimensional models only for showing off—the technology presented there was more sophisticated than even the technology displayed in CSI. Even Anthony Zuiker, the creator of CSI, admitted that some of the technology shown on the series only existed in concept. I’m worried that had Zuiker seen the use of such show-off forensic technology on a news program, he would writhe in pain in his grave.

Hang on. Anthony Zuiker is still alive, isn’t he? Well then, had he seen the news, Zuiker would perhaps have a fatal heart attack, and then writhe in distress in his grave.

What to do. Here, the media is only a circus; it no longer mediates. However, it is such an old hat to blame merely the media. This kind of media, in any case, is a reflection of the society. You might not agree because you are so used to thinking critically, smartly, etcetera, etcetera. Still the fact remains: this kind of media survives and is fed by the society. Or, if you insist on the notion about the awesome power of the media, perhaps it is the society itself reflects the media. What is worse?


Is the media a reflection of the society?
The bitterest illustration that can be used to describe our society today is the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts, 318 years ago. At the time, people who considered themselves pious were engulfed in a mass panic, and immediately accused others left and right of being witches. Twenty people were sentenced to death without any evidence. Nineteen people were hanged; one person was crushed to death.

How was Salem similar to Indonesia today? Both are typical cases of a frightened and furious society; the root of which is an environment without any sense of security, bereft of trust, due to the incongruity between everyone’s ideal vision of the world and the reality. People thus turn to faith in its most flawed form: the delusion of piety, shielding oneself while peering suspiciously at others.

But what is actually the problem if there are discrepancies between one’s ideal vision of the world and the reality? Isn’t it a hard fact that each oneof us would think differently? The ideal image a person has of the world will certainly be different from the reality, and there will be as many variations as there are people with brains. What of it, then? In more civilized societies, such differences are cushioned, with expected force, through law and its fair enforcement. The problem is, on the scale of zero to ten, the condition of law and its enforcement in Indonesia can be rated... minus ten.

It is also such fear—similar to what existed in Salem—that gives rise to the spirit of protecting one’s safety and pointing the finger at the person sitting next to us. Then there is also the vengeance: reveling in the judgment and punishment given to Ariel et al. And why is that? Perhaps because there is the feeling of moral superiority, or perhaps it is due to certain social and economic resentments, or perhaps even a mere social grudge or envy (who among us isn’t riled by the celebrity “caste”?). We are again reminded of the Salem witch hunt, in which the character of John Proctor in the play The Crucible says: “I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem... and common vengeance writes the law!”

On the surface, our community seems to be obsessed with morality—unfortunately not toward ourselves but instead toward the person next to us. The media simply reaps such patterns of thought, provoking and profiting from the sensations that it has amplified.


Or is the society a reflection of the media?
In his brilliant essay, As Seen on TV, Zygmunt Bauman presents his observation that what the TV mainly does—apart from its task as an entity that mediates—is to blur the boundary between the private and the public. The public becomes private, and the private becomes public. The second process has more dangerous effects. No, it’s not merely a matter of Ariel’s “revealing” his private actions to the public; rather, it is because the invasion of the private into the public territory is the same as turning the individuality as the norm. With the risk of sounding like a New Order propaganda machine, I hereby suggest that the individuality has the potentials of breaking the society apart.

The process in which such a breakage takes place is quite long, but it can be summarized in three parts. The first part, or the first stage, is the rupture of the boundary between the public and the private, coupled with a dose of vanity, or the desire to make an appearance, “my favorite sin,” says the devil in The Devil’s Advocate. This turns the society into fragments that exist in a rat race to achieve personal success, instead of a community with common goal and identity. Traces of such a pattern of thoughts are evident in the mainstream norm of today, as can be sensed in the values promoted by such works as Meraih Mimpi (Achieving Dreams), Menebus Impian (Chasing Dreams), and Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer).  A certain message slips stealthily into these works, saying that the improvement of one’s social status through “inspirational” ideas is more important than the concerns to others, or the need for fairness in the society.

Second, such a rupture does away with the leadership figure, so much so that the individuals in the society are competing to become a role model for others, merely by increasing the numbers of the observers. Another word for this is “celebrity”, or in its past form is the idol, all kinds of idol.

With the absence of a leader, the idol reigns. While a leader shows the way, the idol appears to set an example. While the leader works outside the limelight (in the way of the ideal leader à la Lao-Tzu), the idol demands to be in the spotlight. As a result, the idol must be a perfect human being. Our society is now treading on such a fragile foundation. As soon as a defect is spotted, the whole guiding construction breaks down. Ariel and his angels are the perfect example of the late stage idols; the ones who have become role models and then mauled because they have sinned. Meanwhile, the pompous anatomy expert with his three-dimensional model is an example of the preliminary stage idol: still collecting—and yearning for—followers.

Third, the confusion between the public and the private can also take a dangerous shape. Due to the illusion that personal piety—which is private—can lead to a public ideal, the public is obsessed to invade the private. To put it simply, this is a thought pattern that holds too strong belief in the dogma of The Secret, and follows that dogma this way: If it is true that each individual has such a great impact on the universe, then the universe must be moved to control the private.

In the midst of the chaos, nothing can be optimally done to mediate the millions of different perceptions about the ideal condition. And we thus wallow in fear and fury.

Just like in Salem.


A national-scale Salem
What happens today in Indonesia is a witch hunt à la Salem, with similar panic and anger. The difference is, first of all, such brouhaha happens on a national scale instead of in a small, isolated village in Massachusetts. Secondly, the Indonesian versions of witch hunters live within a complex tangle of interconnections through the media of TV and the internet. In a society where the TV has failed to perform as a healthy mediator, the ones moving the industry forward are members of the same society anyway, and the TV is trapped in the role of amplifying the anxieties and anger.

A friend voices his concerns: “In such a witch-hunting atmosphere, I’m worried that if someone yells out ‘BURN!’, people will actually move and do it.” Indeed, the commotion that we are observing today is like the deafening roar of the Vuvuzela during the recent World Cup. I suspect that this might have a positive aspect. I am certain that my friend’s concern will not come to pass, because the scream of ‘BURN!’ will be swallowed by other noises.

I don’t want to close this writing with a pessimistic note, as if the deathly cycle of panic and anger, accompanied by the TV, will only bring the society to a dark and endless spiral. There is still a possibility to reduce the panic and improve the level of trust. Uphold the law by investigating who distributed the video, and the police should not take posture to stifle the moral panic by holding Ariel.

If even this slight possibility is denied, I don’t know what to do anymore. Perhaps I should just produce my own videos. Who knows, I might be successful. ***