Yasmin Ahmad’s visual marijuana
TV3 has named an award after her in recognition of new talent. But are her movies really that good?
I know some of you really like the fact that it is about a Malay girl and a Chinese dude and fantasize about it. I do it as well, fantasizing about interracial inter…err… relationships. The thing is, though the preset of the whole story seems like a great idea, yet the movie itself, the scenes and plot feel fake.
Zaidel Baharuddin, Free Malaysia Today
Now before we go on, let me be very clear because it seems that some of you cannot seem to tell the difference. This article is about Yasmin Ahmad’s movies and not Yasmin as an individual. I am pretty sure she is a lovely lady with a kind heart and God bless her soul. I have heard many good stories about her, so spare me new ones, I believe you already.
We are here to talk about her films which many adore. So in the spirit of me being me, I am here to question that adoration which may in turn evoke some sense of insecurity in some. So yes, this is my disclaimer, so whatever you may claim later, I shall reserve the right to diss it.
It started when I watched the recent “Anugerah Skrin 2011” hosted by TV3. Apart from the lousy emcees who managed to turn the whole event into one amazingly awkward night, I noticed that TV3 had a special award called “Anugerah Yasmin Ahmad” which was awarded to budding new talents.
Not that there is anything wrong with that and indeed TV3 did give a good reason for it, but it got me wondering, are her movies that good? Because when I go to places where indie filmmakers and urban artsie-fartsie crowds congregate (urbanscapes sort) they seem to adore her movies quite a lot, especially Sepet. But here is the thing, to me Sepet really wasn’t that good nor was Gubra. They seem simplistic and fake.
I know some of you really like the fact that it is about a Malay girl and a Chinese dude and fantasize about it. I do it as well, fantasizing about interracial inter…err… relationships. The thing is, though the preset of the whole story seems like a great idea, yet the movie itself, the scenes and plot feel fake.
Visual marijuana
The scene is in Malaysia, a kampung nonetheless and we being the subject of what the movie is trying to potray should be able to relate to it. Growing up in a multiracial society and mingling with people of all colours and creed, I should be able to relate to the experiences in the movie or at least connect with the overall description at least. But I cannot help but feel the plastic atmosphere that surrounds the whole narrative.
I felt like I was watching a propaganda movie but unlike North Korea, this one is filled with untold yearnings and dreams of a director who is altering the reality to fit her defenition of how things should be, it is like our reality is being overdosed with sugar, spice and everything nice.
But isn’t that what movies are all about, directors creating and realising the ideas and images they have inside their minds? That is true.
However in the case of these two movies (Sepet and Gubra) rather than creating a whole new universe I get the feeling that the fantasy is being imposed upon me, rather that being built around me.
Let me give you an example, a movie that I would describe as a fantasy being built around me would be something like Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland or Inglorious Basterds, we easily accept that this is the reality in which the director chooses to tell his story.
On the other hand a movie where fantasy is being imposed upon the viewer would be your typical Bollywood films or something like Sivaji the Boss. Basically what most Bollywood movies do is to feed you with feel good fantasies on surroundings that otherwise would seem rather bleak and harsh, a visual marijuana one could say.
