COUNTERING THE BACKLASH: READING ISLAM IN ISLAMIC MOVIES, FROM AYAT AYAT CINTA TO 99 CAHAYA DI LANGIT EROPA
Abstract
The boom of Islamic movies in Indonesia in the post new order has the mission to construct Islam and its values to the audience. The 9/11 incidents and the threat of terrorism affected to the negative image of Islam. Islamic movies in portraying Islam brought the spirit to challenge its stereotype. In the beginning periods of the emergence of Islamic movies, represented by the phenomenal Islamic movies, Ayat Ayat Cinta, Islam was depicted as tolerance, respect to others, especially from values, which was identical to west. This movie was success in performing the harmony of Islamic and western values in its narration and visual aesthetic. The difference image of Islam was represented in Islamic movies produced recently. In 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa, which was also success in attracting amount of audience, Islam has an ambition to conquer the west. This movie attempted to position the greatness of Islam compared to the west. Instead of promoting the victory of Islam over the west, this movie showed the inferiority of Islam towards the domination of west. This paper will compare the construction of Islam in the face of the west in Ayat-Ayat Cinta and 99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa. By analyzing the narrative and visual strategy, this paper will explore the difference in aesthetic between two films in portraying Islam.