What does going to the movies and watching a national sporting event have in common? Both involve sitting and looking in the same general direction, we guess, but Indonesia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports thought that slim similarity warranted Indonesians rising and singing their national anthems at the cinemas.
In an official letter signed by Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, dated Jan 30, the ministry urged cinemas in the country to play the country’s anthem, Indonesia Raya, during the previews before every screening from now on in order to “increase nationalism and fulfill the creation of a young generation who are proud and love the nation.”
beredar surat dari Kemenpora, yang mengimbau menyanyikan lagu Kebangsaan Indonesia Rata sebelum pemutaran film. pic.twitter.com/wcHrZWsqi4
— Ngobrolin Sinema (@NgobrolSinema) January 31, 2019
But it appears forced nationalism is so New Order, because, almost as soon as the letter went viral online, a wave of resistance against the idea arose that forced the ministry to scrap it today.
“The letter appealing for Indonesia Raya to be sung before movies start at the cinema has been pulled. It was done after several reconsiderations and also because of high resistance and chaos it caused. We apologize,” Youth and Sports Ministry Secretary Gatot S Dewa Broto wrote in a statement today, as picked up by CNN Indonesia.
Rising up to sing the national anthem at the cinema has actually been done before patriotic movies in the past, such as 2013’s Soekarno, a biopic about Indonesia’s founding father. To be fair, Indonesia Raya before Soekarno doesn’t seem out of place at all, but we struggle to think of a valid reason for the national anthem to be played before, say, the Avengers.
Oh well, more minutes for over-produced real estate adverts to be played during the previews, we suppose.
