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Examining Gender, Culture and Power in Malaysian Horror Films

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Examining Gender, Culture and Power in Malaysian Horror Films Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 24 (4): 1431 - 1444 (2016) SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES Journal homepage: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/ The Villainous Pontianak? Examining Gender, Culture and Power in Malaysian Horror Films Lee, Y. B. School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800 Penang, Malaysia ABSTRACT The pontianak is widely recognised as the most dreaded supernatural being in Malay folklore and mythology. Often described as a fearsome mythical creature with vampire-like qualities, she is said to have fangs, possesses ghost-like traits and can only be subdued using a sharp object which is usually a nail struck to the back of her neck. She is also recognised through her high-pitched shrieks, long flowing hair and a fondness for the blood of children. Despite possessing such fearsome and horrifying characteristics, the pontianak peculiarly remains popular among Malaysians as the horror film genre has always been popular among Malaysian and Asian audiences due to its deep roots in religious and superstitious beliefs. Many Asian nations have shared cultural, historical and social characteristics. Cross cultural influences across borders are common in shaping each other’s culture and a number of Malaysian horror films have been influenced by the Noh and Kabuki-influenced ‘shunen’ (revenge) and ‘kaidan’ (ghost mystery) stories. While the horror film is in fact a commercial venture, the genre is also filled with socio-cultural and political contestations. As such, these narratives reflect certain socio-cultural and political anxieties of given moments within the location of the film’s production. This paper therefore examines the pan-Asian cultural influences in the current wave of Malaysian horror. As thepontianak is also always female, this paper then examines how the employment of female monstrosity articulate male fears around female empowerment and suggests a broader challenge to a sense of normality, cultural and religious beliefs. Keywords: Malaysian cinema, pontianak, horror, female monstrosity, power, cinematic villains INTRODUCTION ARTICLE INFO The pontianak has become one of the Article history: Received: 7 September 2015 most recognisable figures in Malaysian Accepted: 23 March 2016 cinema. To date, there are more than E-mail address: [email protected] (Lee, Y. B.) 10 films produced from the 1950s until ISSN: 0128-7702 © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Lee, Y. B. the early 2000s about this iconic and vampire, witch, possessed monster, castrator instantly recognisable mythical creature. and castrating mother, is represented as Notable films about this fearsome mythical abject, a being which threatens the stability creature with vampire-like qualities are of the symbolic order (Creed, 1996). The Pontianak (1957), Sumpah Pontianak monstrous feminine while arousing dread (1958), Pontianak Gua Musang (1964), and horror, problematises the symbolic Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam (2004) and order through the evocation of fear, unease, Pontianak Menjerit (2005). In these films, disquiet and gloom (Creed, 2004). For the the pontianak is always female, have fangs, restoration of order to occur, the abject possesses ghost-like traits, and can only be needs to be rejected before it becomes subdued by striking a nail to the back of her too threatening (Creed, 2004). This paper neck. The pontianak is also known to shriek therefore examines the emergence of in a high-pitched tone, has long flowing pontianak films in Malaysia and their pan- hair, and dons a long white robe. Despite Asian horror film connection. Secondly, possessing such fearsome and horrifying this paper examines Pontianak Harum characteristics, the pontianak peculiarly Sundal Malam as a case study to suggest remains popular among Malaysians as the how the employment of female monstrosity horror film genre has always been popular in Malaysian horror films poses a broader among Malaysian audiences due to its deep challenge to a sense of normality, and roots in religious and superstitious beliefs. cultural and religious beliefs within a The popularity and to a certain extent patriarchal society. This case study also fascination of horror films is also one that examines if the pontianak exists as a transcends both time and space and has villain that needs to be destroyed for the a popular following in Asia. Japan for re-establishment of a sense of normalcy or example, is well known for its J-Horror a protagonist to defend and boost a status films depicting blood and gore while quo under threat. horror films from Thailand are often laden with psychological elements. Horror films DEFINING THE HORROR GENRE belonging to this wave of pan-Asian horror The characteristics that constitute the horror often contain distinctive characteristics but genre are not fixed, as horror is a flexible the one thing that is commonly shared is the genre open to varying interpretations. It gender of its monster/supernatural entity, varies according to the different audiences which is often female. This employment of located within different contexts and female monstrosity in such films however, moments, and is built on a set of familiar does not merely articulate male fears of conventions and at the same time using female empowerment. The monstrous different cultural resources drawn upon female, which can present itself as the by both filmmaker and audience (Tudor, archaic mother, with a monstrous womb, 1989). The horror genre therefore, should 1432 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 24 (4): 1431 - 1444 (2016) The Villainous Pontianak? Examining Gender, Culture and Power in Malaysian Horror Films be understood as a collection of related and political anxieties of the time of its but often very different categories. As an making. It explores fundamental questions overlapping and evolving set of conceptual about the nature of human existence and categories, the horror genre is in a constant the contemporary sense of the world by state of flux rather than being a distinct and intensely conveying synchronic associations unified set of films with shared conventions and ideological and social messages of a (Cherry, 2009). The simplest definition of a certain historical moment (Prince, 2004). horror film is a film that intends to horrify As the horror film is meant to draw negative and thrill a captive audience (Creed, 2005; emotions from the audience, it was once Davis & Natale, 2010). This statement in seen as a low form of culture (Prince, itself is a paradox; it is contradictory as it 2004), as an ‘outsider’, ‘forbidden fruit’, contains two very opposing emotions. The ‘distasteful’, ‘tainted’, and ‘cultural other’, paradox of the horror film lies in its alluring existing at the margins of the mainstream appeal of horrifying audiences. While the with a taboo status (Cherry, 2009). Despite term ‘horror’ itself denotes feelings of fear, its marginal status, the horror genre has shock, disgust, and abjection, when put persisted since the inception of cinema. to screen, horror films can cross cultural, Audience perception of the horror genre religious, and class boundaries by drawing has evolved since the days of early cinema. on and appealing to a range of audiences Horror has been a durable genre that has from different classes, localities and beliefs. evolved from one generation to the next. As one of the most lucrative genres in the The turnaround of horror from a genre cinema industry, the ability of the horror existing on the fringes to a driving force genre to continue drawing audiences to in the mainstream locates it as possibly experience new frights and horrifying sights the most sustainable genre in cinematic through morbid preoccupations with fear, history. In order to continually scare its death and monsters leads to the question audience, the boundaries of the genre that has fascinated and bewildered critics have been completely shifted over time to and academics alike: How do audiences constantly revitalise, evolve, transform, continue to be attracted to something that and hybridise into an extremely diverse causes fear and disgust? set of sub-genres and new forms to offer This phenomenon of horror film’s thematic variations to its audience (Cherry, remarkable popularity and its continued 2009). The durability of the horror genre can acceptance by audiences has made the therefore, be explained through its ability to horror film one of the most provocative and relate to the audience’s perception of fear in controversial genres in cinema (Hutchings, line with shifting times. 2008). The horror film emerges from being seen as a form of low culture to a form that often reflects the social, cultural, Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 24 (4): 1431 - 1444 (2016) 1433 Lee, Y. B. THE MALAYSIAN PONTIANAK AND fish and is easily recognisable by her green THE FILEM SERAM robe, long fingernails, and long jet-black In one of the most contemporary discussions hair. Cutting her nails and hair and stuffing it about the pontianak in folklore and popular into a hole may subdue her. In doing so, she culture, Ng (2009) attributes the pontianak becomes a woman and is capable of being as possessing similar qualities to the Western a wife and mother. While Skeat states that vampire, as a hybrid creature that blends the pontianak should theoretically be termed Eastern and Western characteristics of a as the langsuyar, this female vampire, vampire. The cinematic representations of however has been commonly referred to the pontianak have blurred the boundaries as the pontianak in societal folklores and between traditional belief and popular popular culture. The pontianak should also culture. This is because the pontianak not be mistaken for a certain place by the has become a recalibration of Malay and name of Pontianak located in the province Western folklore and popular culture, as she of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. In fact, there was created with fangs, ghost-like traits, and is a myth that states how the place got its is subdued using a sharp object (striking a name as the early settlers at Pontianak were nail at the back of the neck).
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