Few days ago I was invited by a friend who worked in a national leading party in Indonesia to watch a free movie, it was entitled “Gie”, the movie was about the struggle of a young student activist who live at the era of 60s, where the old order regime which led by the first president of Indonesia, Soekarno was still in its power. The name of the young activist was Soe Hok Gie, with his friends he struggled to overthrow the power of the old regime and the Indonesian Communist Party, because at that time the government and army was dominated by the Indonesian Communist Party, and the government was so corrupted, and when the old regime was overthrown, and the new order come, there were a lots of his friends involved in the new government, he was so disappointed with his friends, because he argued that the intellectual must posses in the outside of power, so they can always control and criticize the power, he was so strong in keeping his commitment, and also he’s fond of hiking to the mountain, and lastly he died at the young age 27, at the top of mountain Semeru in east Java, his death was caused by the poisonous gases at the top of the mountain, there are some quotes in his diary (the movie was based on his diary), he wrote in his diary that : “it’s better to be estranged than being surrendered to the hypocrisy of life” , and “it’s better for me to be an Oak tree who can fight against the wind bravely, than just being a bamboo tree”.
But unfortunately, the person who acted as Gie in that movie was Nicholas Saputra ( he’s a popular actor in Indonesia), ofcourse people know Nico better than knowing Gie, Nico is popular actor, multi talent, with his glamour life, and on the otherside Gie was a young student activist who cared to the life of the marginal people, and he struggled at the grassroot level, so what’s a paradox!, this phenomenon implied that how can the popularity defeated the history? Yeah anyway this is the crazy age...!
But anyway, the movie shall be appreciated, because, at least the figure of Gie was introduced to the popular society and known by them even though he was represented by the western face of Nicholas Saputra.
My room.
6.59 PM
25 July 2005.
