ID :
195703
Tue, 07/19/2011 - 06:37
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/195703
The shortlink copeid
HORROR MOVIES HIGHEST GROSSERS IN MALAY FILM INDUSTRY
KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s local film industry has seen a revival in recent years, with a number of films, especially horror, breaking the box-office.
At the time of writing this article, a local film had already surpassed RM10 million (US$3.321 million) in box-office collection.
Looking back at the list of local box-office movies, one cannot deny that a majority of them are horror films. In 2007, 'Jangan Pandang Belakang' (Don't Look Back" was the highest grosser in the year, a record previously held by 1994 drama film 'Sembilu'. This started a revolution in the local movie industry prompting production houses to come out with either horror or horror-comedy
movies.
"Why are the ghosts in many Malay movies females?" posed the writer's companion while watching a Malay horror movie not long back.
MALAY SUPERSTITION
The answer to this question lies with the Malay beliefs and superstitions,
according to social science lecturer Shafiee Abdullah.
"We are brought up with tales and legends of ghouls and evil spirits. Most of the times, these entities are women who are dead. Of course there are male ghosts like 'toyol' and orang minyak, but the Malay community is used to 'pontianak', 'polong', 'penanggalan' and other ghosts who belong to the female gender," he said.
For example, Malays believe that women who die during child birth may return as pontianak, while those who practise black magic are transformed into polong and penanggalan, among others, Shafiee added.
"Look at media reports on hysteria incidences in schools. Most of the incidences involve girls. Many of Malay folklores have dead women returning as ghosts for revenge or after their resting place is disturbed. Probably, many among the society regard female ghosts as more scary.
"Hence film makers, not only in Malaysia but in other countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and even Korea and Japan think that female ghosts have a greater impact on the audience. This in turn creates handsome returns in terms of movie collections," he said when asked about the subject.
Shafiee further said the makeup for a female ghost, complete with long hair and gruesome face, can be easily done and tends to be more scarier than for the male ghost.
EVIL SPIRITS
The Malay community believes in the 'saka' or evil spirits, entertainment industry manager Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid said.
"In the distant past, it was believed that people possessed evil spirits known as 'saka' for protection. The Malay community believes that the saka can only be passed on to the next generation if the willing recipient is a woman or an effeminate male (feminine man) as depicted in the movie Waris Jari Hantu.
Maybe women are viewed as the weaker sex and prone to disturbances caused by the supernatural. That is why mostly bomohs (witch doctor) are portrayed in the movies by men. There are some women bomohs around, but their numbers are much less," he added.
To this Shafiee adds: "It is understood that in the olden days, medical facilities and healthcare workers were not as readily available as now. People at that time had to rely on the bidan kampung (village midwife) to help deliver babies. Most of the babies were delivered at night and the bidan needed to be strong to handle cases.
"Some of these bidan were believed to have had the assistance of saka. Sometimes the village midwife had to respond to emergencies at night, hence they also relied on the saka for protection. They believed that these evil spirits will protect them from possible dangers, particularly at night."
CHANGING IMAGES OF GIRLS
What the movie-goers have to say.
James Chong, a workshop owner in Rawang, said: "Because everyone is used to seeing cute and beautiful images of girls, when we see them in totally opposite form like creepy or scary, we get more scared and all the film makers want to scare us with their films.”
"Women are perceived as innocent and good and when this role is reversed in a scary movie, it's surprising and catches you off guard because women aren't generally seen as an embodiment of evil in the society," he added.
Women appear more threatening because they are unpredictable, said another movie-goer who wished to be named as Siti.
"In my opinion it is easier for females to look scary. The make-up artists have an easier job making a woman look scary when playing the role of a ghost," she said.
At the time of writing this article, a local film had already surpassed RM10 million (US$3.321 million) in box-office collection.
Looking back at the list of local box-office movies, one cannot deny that a majority of them are horror films. In 2007, 'Jangan Pandang Belakang' (Don't Look Back" was the highest grosser in the year, a record previously held by 1994 drama film 'Sembilu'. This started a revolution in the local movie industry prompting production houses to come out with either horror or horror-comedy
movies.
"Why are the ghosts in many Malay movies females?" posed the writer's companion while watching a Malay horror movie not long back.
MALAY SUPERSTITION
The answer to this question lies with the Malay beliefs and superstitions,
according to social science lecturer Shafiee Abdullah.
"We are brought up with tales and legends of ghouls and evil spirits. Most of the times, these entities are women who are dead. Of course there are male ghosts like 'toyol' and orang minyak, but the Malay community is used to 'pontianak', 'polong', 'penanggalan' and other ghosts who belong to the female gender," he said.
For example, Malays believe that women who die during child birth may return as pontianak, while those who practise black magic are transformed into polong and penanggalan, among others, Shafiee added.
"Look at media reports on hysteria incidences in schools. Most of the incidences involve girls. Many of Malay folklores have dead women returning as ghosts for revenge or after their resting place is disturbed. Probably, many among the society regard female ghosts as more scary.
"Hence film makers, not only in Malaysia but in other countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and even Korea and Japan think that female ghosts have a greater impact on the audience. This in turn creates handsome returns in terms of movie collections," he said when asked about the subject.
Shafiee further said the makeup for a female ghost, complete with long hair and gruesome face, can be easily done and tends to be more scarier than for the male ghost.
EVIL SPIRITS
The Malay community believes in the 'saka' or evil spirits, entertainment industry manager Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid said.
"In the distant past, it was believed that people possessed evil spirits known as 'saka' for protection. The Malay community believes that the saka can only be passed on to the next generation if the willing recipient is a woman or an effeminate male (feminine man) as depicted in the movie Waris Jari Hantu.
Maybe women are viewed as the weaker sex and prone to disturbances caused by the supernatural. That is why mostly bomohs (witch doctor) are portrayed in the movies by men. There are some women bomohs around, but their numbers are much less," he added.
To this Shafiee adds: "It is understood that in the olden days, medical facilities and healthcare workers were not as readily available as now. People at that time had to rely on the bidan kampung (village midwife) to help deliver babies. Most of the babies were delivered at night and the bidan needed to be strong to handle cases.
"Some of these bidan were believed to have had the assistance of saka. Sometimes the village midwife had to respond to emergencies at night, hence they also relied on the saka for protection. They believed that these evil spirits will protect them from possible dangers, particularly at night."
CHANGING IMAGES OF GIRLS
What the movie-goers have to say.
James Chong, a workshop owner in Rawang, said: "Because everyone is used to seeing cute and beautiful images of girls, when we see them in totally opposite form like creepy or scary, we get more scared and all the film makers want to scare us with their films.”
"Women are perceived as innocent and good and when this role is reversed in a scary movie, it's surprising and catches you off guard because women aren't generally seen as an embodiment of evil in the society," he added.
Women appear more threatening because they are unpredictable, said another movie-goer who wished to be named as Siti.
"In my opinion it is easier for females to look scary. The make-up artists have an easier job making a woman look scary when playing the role of a ghost," she said.
