Producing Power: Dennis Hume Wrong’s Perspective on Gender in Contemporary Indonesian Cinema

Abstract

This article seeks to uncover some of the ramifications of Dennis Hume Wrong's perspective on power in contemporary Indonesian cinema. The cinema is considered as a discursive medium that comprises a series of relationships between the characters, according to this idea of power and gender relations. The targeted films are Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens (2021), Generasi 90an: Melankolia (2020), dan Imperfect (2019). The three films were made as a screen adaptation of a literary plot in the drama-romance genre. The findings demonstrate that the power relations in the films are legitimized by two consequences: intended and unintended power. Intended power is legitimized by force, manipulation, persuasion, and authority. Meanwhile, the unintended power is legitimized via a process in which power domination is implicitly assumed because everyone is aware of their position. Through these power relations, gender is conceived as a fluid and unstable notion in contemporary Indonesian cinema. The male and female binary is constructed by the flexibility and hybridity of gender identity, which dictates how they should act, feel, and function in society. Women already have an equal bargaining position with men, particularly in the workplace, yet the stereotype of femininity persists due to Indonesian society's belief in ideal gender rather than the modern mainstream of feminism's practice of new stereotypes.