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PROTEST AGAINST RACIAL SUPREMACY IN ROBERTO BENIGNI’S LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL MOVIE: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Getting Bachelor Degree in Department of English Education

By:

SHAFIRA MEGA AMANDA PUTRI SUSILO A320160249

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION SCHOOL OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA 2020

APPROVAL

PROTEST AGAINST RACIAL SUPREMACY IN ROBERTO BENIGNI’S LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL MOVIE: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

PUBLICATION ARTICLE

Submitted by: SHAFIRA MEGA AMANDA PUTRI SUSILO A320160249

Approved by the supervisor to be defended before the Board of Examiners.

Surakarta, 12-12-2020 Supervisor,

(Dr. M. Thoyibi, M.S.) NIK. 410

ACCEPTANCE

PROTEST AGAINST RACIAL SUPREMACY IN ROBERTO BENIGNI’S LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL MOVIE: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

PUBLICATION ARTICLE

Presented by: SHAFIRA MEGA AMANDA PUTRI SUSILO A320160249

Accepted and Approved by Broad of Examiner School of Teacher Training and Education Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta On December 12th , 2020

Board of Examiners

1. Dr. M. Thoyibi, M.S. ( ) (Head Of Examiner) 2. Dr. Phill. Dewi Candraningrum, M.Ed ( ) (Member I of Examiner) 3. Titis Setyabudi, S.S., M.A ( ) (Member II of Examiner)

Dean,

Prof. Dr. Harun Joko Prayitno, M.Hum. NIP 1965042811993031001

TESTIMONY

Herewith, the writer testifies that this publicaticon article there is no plagiarism of the research which has been made before to complete the bachelor degree in the university and as long as the witer knows that there is no work or opinion which ever been published or composed by the other writer or researcher, except those whic the writing referred in the manuscript and mentioned in the bibliography. However, if it proves that there are some untrue statements here, the writer will be fully responsible.

Surakarta, December 12th 2020 The Writer

Shafira Mega Amanda Putri Susilo

iii

PROTEST AGAINST RACIAL SUPREMACY IN ROBERTO BENIGNI’S LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL MOVIE: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. Abstrak “Protest Against Racial Supremacy In Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful Movie: A Sociological Perspective” dipilih sebagai judul penelitian karena untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut racial supremacy yang ada dalm film ini. Life Is Beautiful merupakan salah satu film yang dianalisis oleh para peneliti dalam makalah ini. Film ini ditulis, disutradarai dan dimainkan oleh satu orang yaitu Roberto Benigni sebagai pemeran utamanya. Film ini berasal dari Italia, dimana Life Is Beautiful dibuat pada tahun 1939 dan diterbitkan pada tahun 1997. Life Is Beautiful adalah film yang menceritakan tentang seorang Yahudi Italia, dan berfokus pada Nazi dimana situasi dalam film ini sangat menegangkan. Namun Roberto Benigni menghadirkannya dengan komedi yang membuat film ini menarik dan bagus. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi apa saja indikator dari racial supremacy, untuk menggambarkan bagaimana fenomena racial supremacy itu terdapat didalam film, dan untuk menemukan alasan penulis membahas racial supremacy dalam film ini. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif. Data penelitiannya di ambil dari data primer dan sekunder. Data primer ini diambil dari Life Is Beautiful Movie. Data sekunder diambil dari buku, journal dan situs web yang berkaitan dengan penelitian ini. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini adalah menonton Life Is Beautiful Movie, mencari sumber data yang sesuai dengan penelitian ini. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini yaitu pada zaman dahulu racial supremacy memang benar adanya sering terjadi penindasan seperti yang digambarkan oleh tokoh Guido dalam film. Kita sebagai manusia yang hidup di zaman sekarang harus lebih memiliki sikap toleransi dan menghargai yang tinggi tidak boleh saling membeda-bedakan antara kelas sosial dan agama sehingga hidup menjadi lebih damai. Kata kunci: Life Is Beautiful Movie, Roberto Benigni, Guido, Ras Supremasi Abstract "Protest Against Racial Supremacy In Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful Movie: A Sociological Perspective" was chosen as the research title because it was to find out more about racial supremacy in this film. Life Is Beautiful is one of the films analyzed by the researchers in this paper. This film was written, directed and played by one person, namely Roberto Benigni as the main character. This film originates from Italy, where Life Is Beautiful was made in 1939 and published in 1997. Life Is Beautiful is a film that tells the story of an Italian Jew, and focuses on the Nazis where the situation in this film is very tense. However, Roberto Benigni presents it with a comedy that makes this film interesting and good. The purpose of this study is to identify what are the indicators of racial supremacy, to describe how the racial supremacy phenomenon is contained in the film, and to find the reason the author discusses racial supremacy in this film. This study used qualitative research methods. The research data is taken from primary and secondary data. Primary data is taken from Life Is Beautiful Movie. Secondary data is taken from books, journals and websites related to this 1

research. The data collection technique in this research is watching Life Is Beautiful Movie, looking for data sources that are in accordance with this research. The conclusion of this research is that in ancient times racial supremacy was true that there was frequent oppression as depicted by the character Guido in the film. We as humans who live in this era must have more tolerance and high respect, not to differentiate between social class and religion so that life becomes more peaceful. Keywords: Life Is Beautiful Movie, Roberto Benigni, Guido, Racial Supremacy 1. INTRODUCTION

Life Is Beautiful is a film where the writer, director and main character are the same, Roberto Benigni. In this film, Roberto Benigni plays Guido who has a funny character. Life Is Beautiful comes from Italy in 1997 which tells about Italian Judaism and focuses on the Nazis. This film is actually fun, but Guido's funny personality gives this film a comedic touch. Starting from Guido who loves Dora, a woman from the Aryan nation, he sacrifices for his family and tries to play his role in front of his son so that his child doesn't know that his family is being held captive to the Nazis. Roberto Benigni is the great figure behind the success of the film Life Is Beautiful Movie. He was born on October 27, 1952 in Misericordia, Arezzo, Italy. Roberto Benigni was born from a poor family where he came from a farming family, his life was full of struggles until finally he became famous. Starting from this film has made himself an international actor because this film has received many awards. Besides, this film is also a life journey he has made with his wife. Researchers use racial supremacy as a phenomenon to be discussed in the film Life Is Beautiful. The phenomenon of racism has been widely used by several experts in several fields, both in politics,

anthropology, sociology, and psychology. In this study, researchers used the phenomenon of racism in psychology to use racial supremacy in Life Is Beautiful movie through a sociological approach. The purpose of this study are: First, to explain what racial of supremacy is. Second, to identify what indicators exist in racial of supremacy. Third, to find out the author's Address racial of supremacy in Life Is Beautiful Movie. Racial is an ideology or a person's views in a particular group in which there is prejudice, or a discrimination whether racial, or social class. So that there is an injustice in society. Supremacy that is an ideology or a view that considers the highest class. This class is based on age, social class, race, or even part of a population. Racial supremacy is a view of someone against a group or someone based on the highest class. So when a person or group has a lower class then he or they will get a prejudice or a discrimination in terms of race, social class, or sex of a population of high class or higher status. According from the description that has been explained about racial of supremacy it can be seen that in a social environment often occurs a lot, and can have a bad effect. And we as humans must be able to minimize the occurrence of this or eliminate the existence of differences in social class, nationality, religion. Based on the description above, I proposed to conduct a research entitled “Protest Against Racial Supremacy in Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful Movie: A Sociological Perspective” All of the previous studies above are the problems and theories used by the researchers. Several previous researchers have used a psychological approach, namely 7 researchers using this theory; There are comprises of Khodijah (2009), Mitamartianasari (2011), Meyliana (2010), Adinda (2011), Chen (2015), Celli (2000), Ben-Ghiat (2020). And also there are 3 researchers using criticism; there are comprising; Gordon (2005), Hanskins (2011), and Maurizo (1999). The last 1 person using Marxism; Nugroho (2011). So the differences between this research paper and all of the previous researches above are the issue and theory used by the researcher. In this 3

research, the researcher reveals about racial supremacy, the indicators of racial supremacy, and the reason of the author address racial supremacy in Life Is Beautiful movie. In conducting this study, researchers used several theories about the sociology of literature, which this theory draws from existing theories, namely Rene Wellek, Austin Warren, Swingewood and Diana Laurenson. Apart from the figures there the researchers also read several articles on the sociology of literature as a reference. According to (Swingewood, 1974)) sociology of literature is a theory that discusses the relationship between humans and social environments where the relationship involves all aspects of human life itself. Whereas sociology is "a knowledge that studies human relations with the environment, about social processes that answer a question, about how society might be, and how it works, to why it can take place" (p.11). So overall it can be concluded that the sociology of literature is a literary theory that shows the relationship between literature and the society where a literary work was created. According to Swingewood and Diana Laurenson, there are three perspectives related to literary sociology, namely; First, research that views literature as a social document which is a reflection of the situation at which literature was made. Second, research that reveals literature as a reflection of the author's social situation. Third, research that captures literature as a manifestation of historical events and socio-cultural conditions. To analyze the movie of Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni (1997), researchers used qualitative approach. This approach is considered capable and suitable for this study because researchers take data that does not require statistical data. Researchers conducted this research using previous research which from other researchers discussed racism and sociological perspectives as formal objects. In this research the researcher using texts, image, and audio for the data. Method of collecting data are watching Life Is Beautiful Movie, and reading

some related journal or books to find out the theory, data, and information which are required.

2. METHOD To analyze the movie of Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni (1997), researchers used qualitative approach. This approach is considered capable and suitable for this study because researchers take data that does not require statistical data. The researcher conducted this research using previous research which from other researchers discussed racism and sociological perspectives as formal objects. The primarily data source is Life Is Beautiful Movie itself, while the secondary data sources uses the reference articles and journals to get more information in the course of this research. The data collection techniques in this study were classifying data and verifying the data that has been found from the movie, making notes of important part, capturing image which conduct with this research. The researcher uses 2 method of collecting data; first, watching Life Is Beautiful Movie by Roberto Benigni which conduct with the research. Second, reading the related journal or books to find out the theory, data, and information which are required.

3. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 3.1 Findings 3.1.1 Indicators of Racial Supremacy The indicators of Racial of Supremacy in Life Is Beautiful Movie is about race, social class includes; strata and economy, political aspect the mutual disrespect among religious people namely the Jews who are considered as the lower classes. 1) Race In terms of race, it can be categorized into 2, namely the Aryan and the Jewish.

2) Social class Social class is divided into 2 namely; the Aryan class and the Jewish class. 3.1.2 Depiction of Racial Supremacy in Life Is Beautiful Racial Supremacy in Life Is Beautiful Movie addressed strongly by the author for creating four depictions. They are character, setting, events, and visualization. 1) Character Character categories are divided into 3 namely; Superior, Inferior and Challenges. 2) Setting Setting categories are divided into 2 namely; Aryan race and the Jewish race. 3) Events Events categories are; introductions, marriages, blessings of children, terror, sacrifice, suffering, oppression, murder, victory. 4) Visualization Racial Supremacy, which is performed through visualization, is the wedding party of the Dora and her fiancée, the search for the clothes of the murder victims, and the bones of the victims who were burned. 5) Audio Audio that represents the depiction of racial supremacy, namely Buon Girono Principessa, Grand Hotel Valse, L'uovo di struzzo-danza etiope, Il treno nel buio, Viva Giosue, Arriva II Carro Armato. 3.1.3 The Reasons of addressing Racial Supremacy in Life Is Beautiful. Roberto Benigni is a successful actor and director in portraying and making Life Is Beautiful Movie. The reason for a Reason Roberto addressed racial supremacy in the film is because he wants to remind again that at one time there was an event when some people felt themselves better than others, be it in terms of race or social class, it was called racial supremacy, which is what happened. This 6

occurs in parts of Europe in parts of Germany, Italy, France and so on. And the goal of Roberto Benigni in making this film is to want to tell that shouldn't forget that in the past in the 1990s there was an incident like that. The existing indicators make it even more certain that Roberto Benigni wants to state the existence of racial supremacy that occurred long ago in his films. Through good character depiction, setting, events, visualization, and audio this film is very well accepted by the public, so it is true that this film is a film that has earned a lot of awards.

3.2 Discussion From the findings that researchers have found above, the next discussion can be explained as follows: In this case the approach used is the sociological society which in Life Is Beautiful Movie (1997) by Roberto Benigni was indeed taking the background of World War II about the Holocaust in the film want to explain that ancient times in the country of Italy there really is a comparison or difference between social classes, political aspect, and race. So as to make some of the people, one of them oppressed Jews and regarded as lowly. And what is shown in this film is an act of racial of supremacy or the social class that occurs between Jews and Nazis. Several similar incidents occurred in several years, in the previous 5 years in 1992 the same thing happened regarding holocaust and related to Jewish in various countries. In Denmark there is a film called A day in October which discusses the Danish-Jewish relocation from German- occupied Denmark to neutral Sweden. There is also the film Shining Through which was directed by David Seltzer about a Jewish German Irish woman who was recruited as an OSS agent by the Nazis, this film has a romantic genre and has a little thriller. In 1993 there was a film called The Last Lieutenant which came from Norway. This film tells the story of a retired Norwegian sea captain volunteer for duties after Operation Weserübung and coordinating 7

volunteers not only that against the German occupation of Norway during the war. Not only that, United State also has the film Schindler's List which tells about the existence of the holocaust. This film became the best film in 1993 where there was Oskar Schindler's rescue action against 1200 Jews in Poland against the holocaust. In 1994 there was the film The Ascent from United State Canada directed by Donal Shebib, which tells the story of an adaptation of the memory of an Italian war prisoner of war who challenged his captor, a British national to climb Mount Kenya, in which case he wanted to raise the Italian flag. as a sign of victory. In 1995 in Italy, there was a film called Childhood Enemies, which tells the story of the Italian Civil War in Rome, directed by Luigi Magni. Not only that, in Poland Germany France, there is a film that tells about the holocaust entitled Holy Week which was directed by Andrej Wajda. In the United Kingdom in 1996 there was a film called The Brylcreem Boys which told a story about a world war battle in which there were German and British pilots at the neutral Irish POW camp with the romantic comedy genre. Not only in the United Kingdom in France Germany, there is also the film The ogre, directed by Volker Schlondorff, he tells the story of the French POW recruiting children who will later be handed over to the Nazis but with the lure of them that they will be protected. There is also the film The Ring, directed by Armand MStoianni from the United States, which discusses a young German woman who is separated from her family and then imprisoned by the Nazis, this film is a romantic drama genre. In the same year, namely 1997, there were several films related to the existence of World War II, the Holocaust and Nazi. Not only in Italy, this film happened in several countries such as Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Australia. These films are: Bent (1997) a film from Japan which tells about homosexuals in Nazi Germany, Sean Mathias as its director. In Germany, there is also a film called The Devil's General (TV) (1997), which is a remake of the 1955 film Des Teufels General directed by 8

Frank Castorf. Not only the film The Devil's General, in Germany there is also a film about the Polish-Jewish boy hiding in the ghetto from Nazis, namely The Island on Bird Street (1997) and directed by Soren Kragh- Jacobsen. In the United Kingdom, there is a film called The Land Girld (1997) directed by David Leland and this film has the theme of the women's lady army. France is also a country that has a film about the world war, namely Lucie Aubraca (1997) directed by Claude Berri, in which this film tells about the under German occupation of France. And the last one is Dilm Paradise Road (1997), a film originating from Australia and directed by Bruce Beresford. So the relationship between the film and the context that occurred in the 1990s is that it is true that in various countries, parts of Europe, there is a situation of war between races which considers themselves better than others, and the oppression of the Jews. And here Roberto Benigni as someone who gives voice from various groups of nations and countries where they want equality between races, be it ham, and democracy. In addition, the differences between this research paper and all previous studies above are the problems and theories used by the researchers. Several previous researchers have used a psychological approach, namely 7 researchers using this theory; There are comprises of Khodijah (2009) has inspected the defense instrument of Guido Opening in Roberto Benigni's motion picture entitle Life Is Beautiful (1997). The objective of consider is to analyze the motion picture based on auxiliary components of the motion picture. Mitamartianasari (2011) has explored the Guido Orifice's exertion for being a great father in Roberto Benigni's motion picture entitle Life Is Beautiful (1999). The goals of this think about are to analyze the auxiliary component of the motion picture and analyze Guido Hole person as major character in this motion picture. Meyliana (2010) has inspected the behavior of Guido Hole in Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful (1997) in person mental point of view. The destinations of this think about are to analyze the basic components conducted the motion picture 9

additionally analyze the script of the motion picture. Adinda (2011) has inspected the Guido Orifice's give up in Life Is Wonderful by Roberto Benigni (1997). The objective of this think about is to analyze the movie centers within the major character. Chen (2015) has examined the social psychological attitude illustrated through the principle man or woman Guido Orifice in the Life Is Beautiful movie (1997). The have a look at has goal to look at the social psychological of the film specially in important focuses are: dehumanization and delegitimization. Celli, 2000 has found out the illustration of evil in Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful. The goal of this have a look at is to criticize the psychological aspect primarily based totally in this film. The primary attention is explaining approximately historic veracity and suspension of disbelief. Ben-Ghiat (2020) has investigated the secret histories of the movie entitle Life Is Beautiful (1997). The creator explains on this have a look at if the movie run primarily based totally at the Holocaust tragedy. And also there are 3 researchers using criticism; there are comprising of Gordon (2005) has explored the Holocaust, Life Is Beautiful (1997). Which in this film comes to out to exceptionally vital questions approximately the Holocaust and makes an agent and interpretive film the ultimate disappointment to reply those questions briefly. Hanskins (2011) has too investigated art, profound quality and perspectives of the holocaust within the film Life Is Beautiful (1997). The inquire about is centered on Guido Orifice's do and react in each film plot. and the last one Maurizo (1999)) has deciphered the message of child assurance within the Roberto Benigni film entitled Life Is Beautiful (1997). Guido Opening as the most character tries his best to persuade his child that living beneath the Nazis is really a complicated amusement. And 1 person using Marxism; Nugroho (2011) has examined the separation of race outlined in Roberto Benigni's: Life Is Beautiful (1999). This think about distinguishes briefly how Guido as the character in this motion picture battle to battle the race of segregation. So that no researcher has used the sociological approach in this film. 10

This research will be a complement to previous research so that the research on this film has more studies in various fields.

4. CLOSING After analyzing racial supremacy in Life Is Beautiful Movie the researchers were finally able to draw some conclusions, namely: First, racial supremacy is a phenomenon that actually existed in ancient times and even today. The act of grouping social and religious classes is one of the triggers for racial supremacy that can occur in society, causing deviant behavior. Second, the researcher found several indicators in racial supremacy, namely lower class and high class, religion, and race, which are indicators that exist and are depicted in this film. This depiction is done with good character traits, settings, events, and visualization. Finally, in this study the researcher was able to further reveal the reasons for Roberto Benigni to reveal the racial supremacy phenomenon in his film because he wants to remind again that at one time there was an event when some people felt themselves better than others, be it in terms of race or social class, it was called racial supremacy, which is what happened. An interesting fact in Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful Movie (1997) is that there is a very good story, a story about the Holocaust that is delivered with comedy and a father's struggle to save his family, so that it becomes a very heavy discussion film that can be easily accepted by the audience. So from the existing story, the researcher states that this study is in accordance with the sociology of the author which is part of the sociology of literature.

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Ben-Ghiat. (n.d.). The Secret Histories of Life is Beautiful. Celli, C. (2000). The representation of evil in roberto benigni’s life is beautiful. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 28(2), 74–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/01956050009602825 Chen, J. (2015). Social Psychological Perspective. Academic Radiology, 22(3), 408–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2014.11.002 Gordon, R. S. C. (2005). Real tanks and toy tanks: Playing games with history in Roberto Benigni’s la vita è bella/life is beautiful. Studies in European Cinema, 2(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1386/seci.2.1.31/1 Haskins, C. (2001). Art, morality, and the holocaust: The aesthetic riddle of Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 59(4), 373–384. https://doi.org/10.1111/0021-8529.00039 Khodijah. (2009). DEFENSE MECHANISM OF GUIDO OREFICE IN ROBERTO. Maurizio, V. (1999). “Life Is Beautiful”: Reception, Allegory, and Holocaust Laughter. Academic Radiology, 22(3), 408–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2014.11.002 Meyliana, F., & Faculty, E. (2010). COPING BEHAVIOR OF GUIDO OREFICE IN ROBERTO BENIGNI ’ S LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL ( 1997 ): 1997. Mitamartianasari, D. (2011). Guido Orofice’s Effort. https://onesearch.id/Record/IOS2728.15511 Nugroho, I. A. (2011). DISCRIMINATION OF RACE IN ROBERTO BENIGNI’S: LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (1999) A MARXIST PERSPECTIVE. DISCRIMINATION OF RACE IN ROBERTO BENIGNI’S: LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (1999) A MARXIST PERSPECTIVE. https://onesearch.id/Record/IOS2728.11787 Scharfstein, M., & Gaurf. (2013). Theory of Literature by Wellek and Warren. In Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (Vol. 53, Issue 9, pp. 1689–1699). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004 Swingewood, D. L. and A. (1974). the_Sociology_of_Literature_Diana_Laurenson_and_Alan_Swingew.Pdf .