Gender and the Divine Pleasures of the Cinema

Abstract

Islamic films are thought to generate ‘positive’ images of moderate Indonesian Muslims for audiences to empathise with. This function of the Islamic film genre is more political in the post-New Order period to counter the negative terrorist stereotypes associated with the global aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The tension between the commercial interests and spiritual aims of the Islamic film genre disassociates it from the sensationalist elements that make other mainstream Indonesian films successful. In other words, Islamic films that have made it into the mainstream are free from sex and violence. It is fair to surmise, however, that the tension is not easily resolved as the boundaries that separate commercial entertainment from spiritual reflection within the Islamic film genre are far from definitive.