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Urban Chat: From 'Mad Men' to 'Sons Of Anarchy' ' can't we learn?
âHow can you simultaneously like Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, and Downton Abbey? Theyâre all very different
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'How can you simultaneously like Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, and Downton Abbey? They're all very different.'
'They're the same alright. They're all crazy.'
If you've watched enough television for the past two to three years I bet you'd have ran across an episode or two of the aforementioned shows.
Since summer 2007, Mad Men has been portraying the hedonistic life of successful New York ad men in the 1950s and 1960s.
Unapologetically showing the openly chauvinistic, patriarchal, often racist views of the then-WASP generation, added with eye-candy stars bedecked in accurate vintage fashions, Mad Men has been winning audiences and awards and remains strong into its sixth season.
Premiering a year later was Sons of Anarchy, about war veterans forming a motorcycle group to cover illicit gun trading. Juggling life between being good citizens (running a mechanic shop, properly keeping the books and retaining lawyer) and good ol' gangsters (shooting foes of all colors and connections from Northern California to Northern Ireland), the show has developed a strong fan base and placed it on Time's list of the top-10 shows of 2009.
From across the Atlantic, Downton Abbey arrived two years ago in such classy post-Edwardian style that entranced audience and earned accolades worldwide, reportedly inducing the return of ladylike fashion and formal etiquette classes. The show has also been unapologetically, historically honest in portraying the upstairs-downstairs aristocratic living that, however shrouded in political correctness, was downright unfair to women, poor and minorities ' mixed with scandals of epic proportions.
As I said, they're all crazy. These shows are full with larger-than-life characters, embroiled in such twists and turns of life and, often, world history, yet delivered believably with fine acting andwell-crafted plots that keep the audience on pins and needles. They're dramatic, and they're great.
Which brings me to my ultimate question: Why can't Indonesia produce such good shows? Though Indonesia didn't have private TV channels until the late 1980s or cable until a decade ago, television is nothing new. Aside from cookie-cutter family shows such as Keluarga Dudu (or was it Keluarga Marlia?), laden with government promotion of family planning, which I remember very vaguely from my early childhood, Indonesia has managed to produce the likes of Losmen, Rumah Masa Depan and teen show ACI (Aku Cinta Indonesia); well-written lines, strong acting, intriguing yet realistic plots and subplots and fine camera work.
Even in the early days of private channels, when TV shows started to take a melodramatic cue from imported Mexican telenovelas, our local producers still delivered finely-crafted love-triangle dramas, albeit poorly titled, such as Jangan Ambil Suamiku (Don't Steal My Husband), casting stars from the silver screen such as Mathias Muchus and Meriam Bellina.
Indonesia's journalism and literature departments have long been sprouting great talents, apparent in the proliferation of books and blogs wherever you turn. Most of Indonesian traditions are rooted in storytelling; so many Indonesian creative writers already have good genes on their side. So what happened?
It seems like in the past decade a particularly dark cloud has descended upon our tubes. Every TV show (read sinetron) seems to have been created with the same plot featuring down-on-their-luck pretty protagonists whose lives only include endless screaming, fighting evil schemes and waking up with well-applied makeup and fake eyelashes.
The Dallas and Dynasty ladies might have gone down for breakfast in silk peignoirs and diamond earrings, yet Hollywood had enough sense not to show them in three-color eye shadow. There's no acting, as characters are one-dimensional, delivering dry lines in far-fetched settings. They're also crazy and dramatic, yet they're lame.
In the past couple of years, as religious tone became the rising middle class' trendiest accoutrement, so suddenly the protagonists were veiled and performing prayers'¦ in tears. I'm waiting for a sinetron to blatantly show an atheist as a main villain any day now.
Some industry people tried to blame Nielsen ratings and profit-seeking producers. Fine, so the majority of Indonesian television viewers are still in the lower class and arguably clamor for unreasonable dramas and unreasonably made-up stars to forget their hard life. But how does this explain the fact that for a couple of decades this same majority, living in a less-prosperous Indonesia, accepted well-produced television shows and catapulted them into the top of the Nielsen ratings? As education levels gradually increase and the economy steadily progresses (does anyone remember that now we're a G20 member with US$1 trillion economy?), shouldn't logically there be more room for quality shows? Why are our local televison shows spiraling down the quality drain?
I'd argue that the problem is on the supply side. I think many producers are just lazy and complacent nincompoops ' too happy to be making a quick buck to realize that with well-calculated investments and viewer education they actually can produce great shows for the longer term and a wider audience ' including recapturing the upper middle class that has mostly been hooked on cables now in search of foreign TV shows. That would mean even higher ratings. If that's not equal more money, I don't know what is.
Yes, I'm willing to discuss this with anyone in the industry keen to remedy the situation. But after this, it's time for Law & Order. I wonder when Indonesia will ever produce such consistently fine show as Law & Order, with four spinoffs in 20 seasons? Oh God, now I'm really stressed out.
Lynda Ibrahim is a Jakarta-based writer and consultant, with a penchant for purple, pussycats and pop culture.
