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| Ombak Rindu and the Counter-revolution of Contemporary <b>...</b> Posted: 23 Apr 2012 01:00 PM PDT
At contemporary times where fictional Katniss Everdeen's determined resolve to protect her family at all costs triggered a revolution that overturned Panem, real-life women of Saudi Arabia are fighting for the right to drive without male escorts, and Slutwalk has become a global phenomenon, one has to wonder why Malay women remain passive in today's gender movement. Maya Karin's statement only served to prove the horrible fact that Malaysia is experiencing a spiralling gender counter-revolution. Maya Karin's shallow assertion was not only insensitive but it also smacked of shocking and perversed ignorance that echoed the sentiments of many like-minded individuals in Malaysia. Those who were quick to come to her defence insisted that Maya Karin had no choice but to promote her film. What option did she have as someone who was completely invested in the production? I beg to differ. Maya Karin had every opportunity to talk about her role as Izzah, the beaten and down-troddened wife of handsome but brutal rapist Hariz, with depth. She had the power and privilege to start a serious and engaging discussion about playing a woman who is trapped in an abusive relationship, with limited options – a woman who is obviously suffering from a severe combination of Stockholm Syndrome and Battered Woman Syndrome. Maya Karin is no backwater child. She is an educated woman from the upper-middle class. Playing Izzah should have given her some insight, not inspiration. Which is why it was so disappointing to witness her flippancy that instantly turned her into a rape-apologist. She came across absolutely and utterly remorseless with her defence, dismissing the rape of Izzah as purely fantasy. That Ombak Rindu, "…is all about entertainment." In one swift motion, Maya Karin has debased women's agency and rights. She has devolutionised every effort initiated by women's organisations in this country to combat sexual violence. Death by a thousand papercuts. From the statement itself, it appeared that Maya Karin clearly neglected to research her role as Izzah and the source material for Ombak Rindu more thoroughly. Juana Jaafar's recent scathing review on the film had attracted one unlikely commenter – Fauziah Ashari, who authored the original novel itself. While Maya Karin dismisses Ombak Rindu as "purely fictional and fantasy", Fauziah Ashari made the chilling revelation that it was, in fact, based on true events. So much for fiction and fantasy. It's no exaggerration to elucidate that sexual violence in Malaysia is a daily phenomenon. Describing rape as something purely fictional or mere fantasy not only devalues the experience of real-life rape survivors, but it only serves to diminish the role of the aggressor in the crime. This discussion is not about exercising heavy censorships on rape scenes in films and books. I am against censorship. How the subject of rape is tackled on screen is the problem. It is the context behind Ombak Rindu that is the real issue here. It represents a culture that endorses rape as a romantic act. Rape culture is a pathology embedded deep within the Malay society. In her comment to Juana Jaafar, Fauziah Ashari disclosed that the filmmakers had taken away all of her creative power and rights over the story. As I've never read the novel itself, I am unabled to comment on the author's goal and intention in writing the story. What I found interesting, however, was the way rape culture was reinforced and stylised by the filmmakers. The fact that both director and producer were male is an important significance. What's amazing was that thousands of Malaysian female went into the cinema to cry and sigh "How romantic!" Ombak Rindu was. Recent discussions revealed that there is an increase in perversed obsession with "contractual marriage", "forced union" and "marital rape" among young female Malay readers. More astonishing is that these are marketed in a highly palatable and consumable form – a twisted form of love and romance hideously veiled by misconstrued religion and faith. Women as victims are encouraged to be silent as a show of martyrdom, solehah and love. Need we be constantly reminded that rape is a violent act? Marketing rape as a form of misguided love is not only dangerous but also potent. Malaysia is a country where 40% of domestic abuses and rape crimes go unreported. Convicted rapists have been known to walk away either with light sentences or unpunished. It's been acknowledged that even some members of police and media at crime scenes have treated victims of sexual homicide with little respect. I myself have heard from a police officer's account of how one male reporter made a callous remark about the breasts size of a female rape-cum-homicide victim at one crime scene back in Kuala Lumpur while photographing her. Back in med-school, I have witnessed a fellow Malaysian classmate who disrespected the remains of a woman during dissection by photographing himself flipping the middle-finger at her vagina. Both incidences speak volume of the systematic and entrenched misogyny in practice in Malaysia.
There is no such thing as love in rape. Rape is a symptom of psychological disorder – a desperate act unleashed by a weak and insecure man who has serious psychological difficulties that impair him from reciprocating relationships to other people (Groth, 1979). Rapists commonly operate on power and rage, not lust or desire as widely believed. As a matter of fact, rapists often have difficulties in recognising love or compassion, or even experiencing remorse because they simply are incapable to do so. This is why rape should never be promoted as an expression of love or sex. It is not even sex – it is merely a vicious weapon for initiating a heinous sexual savagery and abuse of power. In fact, rape is a moral injury to all women – its purpose is to establish that women are 'for' men: to be used, dominated, treated as objects (Hampton, 1999). One has to wonder why do Malaysian women eagerly consume these stories at a frenetic pace. Why won't these women see any issues with Ombak Rindu's plot at all? Is it because they are delusional about the meaning of love? Is it because they inherrently believe that, somehow, the power of love and inner beauty alone can magically transform a man from bad to good? Is it because the female audience simply could not see beyond Hariz the Rapist's handsome mug? The Man Who Raped is now forever established as the romantic and unconventional anti-hero of Malay silver screen. Maya Karin may see Izzah as an inspiration, but I hope to God she will never be mine. A woman who chooses to be passive, helpless and submissive to a man who violates her and conditions her to believe that rape is love is no role model for myself. Reference:
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