Alffy Rev’s Wonderland Indonesia: Another Same Narrative
because we Indonesians love celebrations and exhibitions
When I wrote this, Alffy Rev’s Wonderland Indonesia has been in #1 trending for music on YouTube. It’s a good achievement for us Indonesians when a piece of work that combines both traditional and modern elements has won over the controversy and “clarification” contents. I honestly feel so relieved when I found out that this content is more trending than that Halilintar guy who also created Independence-Day content. That means, even though we have different privileges, it’s the quality of content that speaks for our true selves.
But what quality that we should share with the world? The fact that we are a diverse community? The fact that our culture and heritage are awesome? Some good traits we have as proud Indonesians? In my opinion, they are true, but this is the one that makes them complete: how we perceive reality and relate them with what Indonesians have.
Alffy probably tries to respond to that with this piece of artwork. The visual is very much appealing. The graphics (CGI?) are so smooth and magical. That hanging continent looks cool and very wonderland-ly. Then comes the girls, the dancers, and children with traditional attires. Alffy tended to give more spotlight to them, rather than himself, and it’s a wise choice. Show-offing the traditional attires, which is very different from one tribe to another, is more interesting for foreign audiences rather than a personality. The music featured in this video is a remix from folk songs in Indonesia, with (heavy-strings) orchestral arrangement and some folk music motives and EDM touches. Honestly, I expect richer sounds in orchestral sides by utilizing brass and winds (god, why Indonesians are so heavy on strings while the horn choir sounds more heavenly?) and using traditional rhythm performed by electronic sounds like a good five-spice for this music. But this expectation is veeerrry subjective to me, so well, it’s okay.
But what I want to highlight more in this post is the concept. Most of Alffy’s works are celebratory. Think like a colorful, colossal, rich-looked procession of Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra. Indonesians like it very much and it somehow has become a staple troupe when we create content about Indonesia. Of course, we are proud of ourselves! But with the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic and so many problems in its nooks and crannies… is it still relevant?
One of the most prized qualities of Indonesian youth is their activism. Yes, we are more sensitive, critical, and outspoken than the older generation a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶m̶o̶n̶s̶t̶r̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶l̶o̶l̶. We can ask ourselves, how do we use our rich culture and heritage to speak about our current condition? Unfortunately, by offering this concept, Alffy seemed to avoid the sensitive topics and use this wonderland more like a distraction. Yes, things are difficult here, but let’s just watch this anyway so you can have fun for a while — something like that. And it’s not something new for him, so I can say that this video is not entirely different than his previous work. I wish he makes positive content about how we face the situation; how we can still celebrate Independence Day with our culture, even though we are forced to stay at home.
Even this colossal concept is not something new for Indonesian audiences. Indomie commercials use the troupe a lot. Celebration of 100 years anniversary of Hari Kebangkitan Nasional (apa ya bahasa inggrisnya? ntar dulu deh) during SBY era is so much like Alffy’s concept. We like carnivals during August, which were often held in even small cities. Our society loves celebration so much. We love pasar malams. Our officials love to cut the ribbon to make a public place official.
Because of that, he needs a new narrative. He can take a new perspective: the family, for example. Because of a pandemic, we need to work from home, but on the other side, we are more connected with our family. Our desire to have a gathering (especially if your family is in a different city, island, or even country) is greater than before. Imagine when you watch your cousin dance Balinese and you watch it in Zoom, then let’s make it magical by having ropes, flows, or any effect to show your connection here with your cousin there. Or make some graphics or effects to show that we, Indonesians, should have the same visions to face this pandemic. In my opinion, using the colossal troupe is somehow outdated, especially if we use this to appeal to foreign audiences. Their react videos are, well, mostly positive. But it’s something than before; it is not changing at all and can be tedious if we keep using it.
Or we can try a new perspective when it comes to something cultural and patriotic: big and intimate at the same time. I recommend you to watch Beijing 2008 Olympics theme song: Beijing Huanying Ni (Beijing Welcomes You). Of course, they put some footage of their proud buildings, installments, culture, and customs like calligraphy. But the artist featured there are conditioned like they are just in normal daily lives or a tourist visiting a place, rather than choreographed in a dance. The lyrics are very humble; I remember one of the lines is “my house is open for everybody” — more or less. You are welcomed to compete — in the Olympics context — but you are also welcomed for anything you want to enjoy here. We Indonesians also have “ramah tamah” and “gotong royong”, another folk quality in the social aspect. I think it’s a good chance when our netizens are perceived as the barbaric and overproud gang.
Our culture is supposed to be a tool for sharing ideas, not only as something to be brag about and as a covering for our weakness. Indonesia already has reputation for its culture. The react videos for Wonderland Indonesia are legit proof a̶n̶d̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶u̶b̶s̶c̶r̶i̶b̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶e̶n̶g̶a̶g̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶I̶n̶d̶o̶n̶e̶s̶i̶a̶. How we relate the past and present context is more significant than making an exhibition inside YouTube content. That’s why Weird Genius is more memorable than Alffy, I think. Maybe Alffy loves to make and organize this show, but at some point, he will need a new narrative.
