Kerasukan (Possesed)

Watch Kerasukan on the nearest Indonesia movie theaters, starts on 25 April 2013.

Jadilah, pada tanggal 8 Desember 2012, di Kemang, dengan dress code ‘a touch of green’, saya datang ke acara 50 tahun ultah Ratih Sang, dan bertemu dengan 50 orang yang namanya sama-sama Ratih, dengan beragam profesi. Ada Ratih Ratno Timoer (putri dari Ratno Timoer, aktor lawas), Ratih Sanggarwati (model Indonesia yang punya gawe), Ratih Purwasih (penyanyi pop tahun ’80-an), dll.

Dulu, ketika saya kecil, saya bertanya pada (alm.) papah saya, kenapa sih nama saya musti ‘Ratih’? Kan orang bule susah menyebutnya. Kalau ke luar negeri (yang Berbahasa Inggris), pasti nama saya ketika disebut bule-bule itu akan terdengar aneh. Dan itu terbukti benar. Saat kuliah saya punya beberapa teman bule, mereka susah menyebut nama saya. Jadi, saya memberi previlege kepada mereka untuk memanggil saya ‘Mala’ (dari nama belakang, Kumala). Kini, saya menyadari dua hal (selain nama ‘Ratih’ sampai sekarang masih susah disebut oleh lidah bule): Pertama, nama ‘Ratih’ amat sangat pasaran. Kedua, orang-orang yang namanya ‘Ratih’ itu ternyata unik-unik! Hehehe.

Prosa:
1. Cerita Cinta Enrico, Ayu Utami
2. 65, Gitanyali
3. Seekor Anjing Mati di Bala Murghab, Linda Christanty
4. Maryam, Okky Madasari
5. Gadis Kretek, Ratih Kumala

Puisi:
1. Secangkir Harapan, Aspar Paturusi
2. Langit Pilihan, Eka Budianta
3. Benih Kayu Dewa Dapur, Hana Fransisca
4. Mahna Hauri, Hasan Aspahani
5. Postkolonial dan Wisata Sejarah, Zeffry Alkatiri

Saya ucapkan selamat kepada Okky Madasari untuk novel Maryam dan Zeffry Alkatiri untuk kumpulan puisi Postkolonial dan Wisata Sejarah yang menjadi pemenang Khatulistiwa Literary Awards 2012. Gadis Kretek (dan saya, tentu saja) senang bisa menjadi bagian dari Khatulistiwa Literary Awards 2012, meskipun “hanya” masuk dalam short-list :) Ini bukanlah puncak dari karya saya. Ini hanyalah awalan.

Remember, remember… 13 of April. Saya akan selalu mengingat tanggal ini, hari ketika CEO yang telah 11 tahun memimpin Trans TV, Wishutama, memutuskan untuk resign.

Saya bukanlah pegawai yang dekat dengannya. Saya amat jarang berbicara dengan beliau, paling-paling bertegur sapa ketika bertemu di lift, atau lobby, atau di lantai 8, atau jika kebetulan Mas Tama mampir ke lantai 7. Mas Tama dikenal sebagai boss yang cukup keras dan tegas, tapi di balik itu, setiap pegawainya tahu kalau dia memimpin dengan hati.

Kenangan paling berkesan buat saya (yang mungkin Mas Tama sendiri tak ingat), adalah ketika menjelang HUT Trans TV ke-9, tiba-tiba Mas Emilka, E.P. saya, memerintahkan saya untuk menemui Mas Tama di ruangannya. Katanya, saya diminta membantu untuk membuat pidato HUT Trans TV. Ketika itu saya bertanya, “Kan Mas Tama punya banyak sekertaris, kenapa enggak sama sekertarisnya?”. Mas Emilka menjawab, “dia ingin sama penulis.” Jadilah, saya membawa laptop, plus perut buncit saya yang ketika itu hamil besar muncul ke ruangan Mas Tama.

Mas Tama melihat perut saya, dan menegur, “Kamu hamil?” Saya mengangguk sambil mengiyakan. Kami lalu berdiskusi tentang pidato ke-9 HUT Trans TV, mencari kata dan menata kalimat yang tepat untuk VT HUT. Di sela itu, tiba-tiba dia bercerita pengalamannya melihat kelahiran anak pertamanya. Dan hati saya mencelos, sebab bagi saya yang ketika itu sebentar lagi melahirkan, ceritanya cukup “menyeramkan”.

Mas Tama, terimakasih engkau telah memimpin kapal ini di tengah ombang-ambing lautan rating/share bernama AGB Nielsen. Saya hanyalah satu dari ribuan karyawanmu, dan betapa saya berharap bisa mengenalmu lebih dekat. 3 tahun terakhir, saya terlambat. Tapi kali lain, jika kesempatan ada, saya takkan melewatkannya begitu saja. Good luck, Mas Tama! Tabik saya selalu untukmu.

As we started out our Two Days Workshop, our mentor, Mr. Aaron R. Thomas said, “TV series is no longer the ugly sister of features film.” This sentence made us laugh. The word ‘ugly sisters’ seems to me a strong word. It contains underestimate on it. The thing is; it’s not wrong either. “Most of young writers,” Mr. Thomas continued his lecture, “prefer to become writer of features film. Becoming TV Series writer is never been their first option, and so was I.” But then he told us story of how he ends-up as a TV Series writer. He started as an Unpaid Intern, up to now he’s a Supervising Producer (which of course he earns good payment).

Aaron R. Thomas is writer for CSI: NY, Numb3rs and Friday Night Lights. His lecture let us to know more about ‘procedural driven plot’, which is not very often use in Indonesian TV Series. Our TV Series, or as we called as sinetron, mostly use ‘character driven plot’ that focus on emotional of the character. This kind of plot, I must say, is Indonesian audiences’ favorite.

As the participants who work for a television, I brought my Indonesian TV Series knowledge to this workshop. And of course, the 1st curiosity will be: CSI: NY is a program that needs to be analyzed, and only smart audience has time to analyze thing. It’s so different from Indonesian sinetron genre, that only need to be watched, and enjoyed emotionally. I thought (and probably about half of the class also), US audiences must be very smart. However, his explanation for me was a bit of surprise. The US audiences like three kinds of story (which represent by three kinds of character); Cops, Docs and Lawyers. “After gets home from a tiring whole day of work, they like to watch people gets justice, the good character always win, it’s entertaining. They don’t need to watch heavy material such as politics, race, religion.” He also explained that the audiences mostly are mothers of five children who try to put their children in to bed. So (he hates to say it, but) that’s why they make visual for a scene to make clear of the audience, even if they don’t hear the dialogue, but they will understand as they watch it while they put their children in to bed.

This situation basically is not far from Indonesian audience. Our audiences mostly are mothers, housekeepers, or women who do many things at one time, that they don’t have time to actually watch the TV. But the unique thing is they keep their TV on, and expect they still can listen the audio of the program and understand the whole story without leaving off whatever they do at that time. So, that’s why our audiences (I hate to say it, but) are listening to TV, not really watching it. One other thing why character driven plot is popular in Indonesia, it’s also referred to most audiences who are mothers, housekeepers and women. Their daily life preppy do the same thing, stay at home and taking care of her family. Basically they don’t have much entertain. That’s why character drive plot is suitable for them. Emotionally they will be entertained as audiences follow the characters.

Those different behaviors of audiences make different treatment of how a TV Series writer writes his script. Either way, we can’t blame the audience for their level of ability to analyze and actually to understand a program.

Now, my 2nd curiosity: Indonesian televisions use AGB Nielsen to rate their TV programs. Basically, it’s the one that drive a TV to survive in the industry. If the rating of a program is high, then the request of advertisement will be high as well. Remember, advertisements are the ones that make a TV continue to air. How do they call it ‘soap opera’ in the first place? Basically a soap company wanted to announce their product. It won’t be interesting if people only listen to the product advertisement. So, they make a program to attract listener of the radio, by creating an opera that break into several parts to announce the soap product.

Back to Nielsen rating, it’s “the thing” afraid by Indonesian broadcaster. Our TV can be very cruel in airing their program. If it doesn’t work (low rated) after one week stripping, it can be cut in the middle of the program without any closing episode. Puff! Just like that, and a TV series’ gone. But, if the demand is high (high rated), then it can be shown for years, stripped every single day up to –not one, not two, but– four hours per airing. Doesn’t make any sense? Well, let me tell you something, the story is getting not make any sense either, but their rating is high and that’s all matter.

I’ve been working on some TV Serials; character driven show, of course. In the beginning we made general plot of the whole season. But in the middle, by request of the audience, the story can change. The ending can change also, for the sake of rating. It’s as crazy as that. Unhealthy and “not smart”? Well, it’s the condition of audience behavior we have to face in Indonesia.

In US, the condition is a little bit different from what I catch based on Mr. Thomas’ explanation. They have rating for each TV program, but in the beginning of the show they have number of target viewer. CSI: NY is target for 20,000,000 audiences. While Dexter is target for 2,000,000 audiences. The two numbers is very different, but the target number is made based on the content of the story and where the TV series will be airing; is it on regular TV? Or pay cable? Dexter with smaller number of target audience is airing on pay cable. The conflict on the show is also heavier than CSI: NY. I assume, if the target audience is fill, then the TV series will be continued to the next season. Each season used to be 13 episodes. However, now they make it as many as 22 episodes. If the show didn’t work, then they will end the series and call it as final season.

I just wish our TVs would make a wise decision before ending up a TV Series. If they don’t want to give the rest episodes as final season, then -for the sake of responsibility to the audience- at least give one episode to make an ending. For me, if this happen, then our TV Series’ still the ugly sister we don’t want anyone to meet.

If you ask me who is the guy that loves book very much, the answer will be Richard Oh. Four years back he owned a tasteful QB Bookstore, which sadly now it’s closed. My husband and I went to his place several times, and he always welcomed us on his working room, which in my opinion is more of like unorganized library. You can find books everywhere and no place to sit in. I imagine Richard was like Scrooge McDuck, swimming on his pool of coins, but instead of coins, it’s pool of books. Now, he opens The Reading Room in Kemang, Jakarta. This place is super cozy with calming choice of color concept, the music, the coffee and Wi-Fi. It also has a screening room with 20 seats on it (filmmakers are going to love this place!), where films can be screened for limited audience. What makes it more special, instead of wall; you’ll find pile of books separate each area of The Reading Room. Most of the books are imported literature. Don’t be surprise if one day you visit The Reading Room and spot your favorite writer working seriously on his computer in a corner. This place is heaven for writer who needs to condition his writing atmosphere. And the good news is; it’s open as early as 9 AM. On the weekend it even opens until 2 AM, while on weekdays it opens until 12 PM. If QB Bookstore was basically a bookstore with a small café on it, The Reading Room is more of a café with tons of books on it. There are more than 5000 books in The Reading Room. Richard’s personal collection is in the 2nd floor, closed in glass cupboards and can only be read there. The book on the cupboard cannot be bought, however if you want, you can buy books outside the cupboard with IDR 50,000-125,000. Visit The Reading Room in Jalan Kemang Timur No. 57A-B, Jakarta.

Hampir sebulan Gadis Kretek terbit, kover novel ini banyak menuai komentar sebab dianggap “provokatif”. Pertanyaan yang paling sering saya dengar adalah, “siapa yang bikin ilustrasi kovernya, Mbak?” Kenalkan, ini Pak Iksaka Banu, ilustrator Gadis Kretek. Dia telah dengan sabar mendengarkan konsep saya atas keseluruhan novel ini. Berkali-kali ilustrasi harus bolak-balik antara saya, Mbak Mirna (editor GPU) dan Pak Iksaka, hingga akhirnya kami sepakat pada hasil akhir yang kini bisa dilihat mewujud dalam fisik novel Gadis Kretek. Sapa ia di link ini: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000166159237

Novel Gadis Kretek akhirnya resmi lahir. Tanggal 9 Maret 2012, di TB Gramedia, Grand Indonesia, jam 15:00-17:00 wib telah diluncurkan. Pada hari ini, juga untuk pertama kalinya saya memegang buku ini secara nyata, sebab memang buku betul-betul fresh from the oven, alias baru keluar dari percetakan pada hari sebelumnya di langsung dikirim ke lokasi launching.

Cukup seru ngobrol bersama Djenar Maesa Ayu dan Mumu Aloha di peluncuran ini. Tetapi jika ada yang berharap akan menemukan perebatan keras ala mempertahankan prinsip ngerokok atau tidak, maka mungkin akan kecewa. Sebab kami cenderung “bergosip” dan berbagi kisah sendiri-sendiri. Djenar menceritakan pengalamannya sebagai perempuan perokok, saya sebagai perempuan bukan perokok yang sok ngomongin rokok kretek, hahaha. Pagi pada Hari H, kami bertiga (saya, Djenar dan Mumu) sempat twitteran, membahas celana jeans andalan yang masih dijemur, dan berharap bisa kering untuk dipakai ketika launching.

Terimakasih buat teman-teman yang datang meskipun ada hujan, macet dan demo di Bundaran HI. Untuk Gramedia Pustaka Utama, juga Mbak Mirna editorku, yang telah dengan terbuka mensuport dan menerbitkan Gadis Kretek. Last but not least untuk Djarum Bakti Budaya yang mendukung peluncuran Gadis Kretek ini. Kalian harus tahu, aku mencintai kalian!

Sumber foto: Detik Hot

Mengejutkan, penuh dengan detail yang kaya sampai kalimat terakhir. Tanpa terasa kita diajak oleh tiga generasi Indonesia mutakhir yang berusaha meluruskan penyelewengan sejarah oleh generasi yang bercerai berai akibat ganasnya revolusi, politik dan kondisi sosial paling kontroversial di negeri ini lewat kretek, cinta, dan kasih tak sampai melalui ludah yang terasa manis. Semanis ludah Roro Mendut. Karya yang indah dan sayang untuk dilewatkan! (John-De Rantau, sutradara)

Gadis Kretek merupakan sebuah masterpiece — novel dengan jiwa besar dari seorang penulis muda yang selalu menghadirkan karya-karya ‘menggigit’. Gadis Kretek merupakan sebuah kajian budaya yang dibuat hidup oleh karakter-karakter yang ‘berani’ serta nuansa kekeluargaan yang meski tak sempurna, namun tetap penuh kehangatan. Bravo, Ratih! (Maggie Tiojakin, penulis)

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Pre-order novel Gadis Kretek dibuka dari tanggal 16 Februari-1 Maret 2012. 20 pembeli pertama akan mendapatkan bonus kumcer Larutan Senja. Untuk keterangan yang lebih detail, sila klik http://www.gramediashop.com/book/detail/9789792281415/Gadis-Kretek