The Construction of Terrorism in International Films.

Abstract

        The objectives of this research were (1) To study the characteristics of the construct of terrorism in international films and (2) To study the factors that affect the construct of terrorism in international films. Qualitative research in the type of textual analysis was used as the research procedure. The films that were used in this study consist of 10 international films with content related to terrorism. All films were broadcasted during 2001-2018. The data was analyzed by using the descriptive method. In searching for the body of knowledge according to both objectives, the researcher used the theory of narrative, film genre, and terrorism as the conceptual framework.

        The summary of the research was:

        1. The characteristics of the construct of terrorism in the international films were 1.1 Characters in the films could be divided into two main groups, which were the leading actors who were mostly government officers and western people, and the villains who were mostly terrorists and radical Muslims; 1.2 The conflicts in the film could be divided into 3 main groups, which were conflicts between western nations and the alliance with Arabic nations and Muslims, conflicts about political ideology and religion, and conflicts between people and the government; 1.3 The scenes in the film could be divided into 2 groups, which were domestic areas and international areas. Most films often showed that the terrorists often acted as a transnational terrorist network. Therefore, the terrorist areas were often in international areas; 1.4 The period/time in the films were constructed to be in two eras, which were the Cold War era and the Modern Terrorism era. Most films often presented terrorism in the Modern Terrorism Era because it is contemporary and its terrorist strategies were various. The terrorists in the Cold War era often worked as a movement whereas the terrorists in the Modern Terrorism era could act alone (Lone Wolf); 1.5 Regarding the point of view of the story, the films in this study were constructed to have 3 main points of view, which were the point of view from the villains, government officers, and a combination. Most films used the combination method, which was the narration through the point of view of the terrorists, government officers, and the public; and 1.6 The ending of the films was divided into 2 groups, which were endings where the terrorists were defeated and endings where the terrorists were not defeated. Most films ended in a way that the terrorists were purged due to the reason that most films often had the opinion that terrorism, regardless of the objectives, is at threat to the peace of the overall public. Therefore, the purge of terrorists was something that the government had to do. 

        2. The factors that affected the construct of terrorism in the international films consisted of 2 main aspects, which were the internal factors of the film industry and the external factors of the film industry. The summary was:

        2.1 The internal factors of the film industry consisted of 2 sub-factors, which were 2.1.1 Film Genre: There were 3 groups of film genres that were constructed in the films in this study, which were suspense, drama, and action. Most films in this study were mainly constructed according to the approach of action films, following by suspense and drama films. The international films often produced action films because, according to marketing reasons, action films can reach a wider film market. However, each film combined various genres together; and 2.1.2 Types of Narration: According to the research results, it was found international films used 2 types of narration to construct the films, which were non-fiction and fiction. Most films were mainly produced from a true story because there is a high volume of terrorism at present and almost all incidents had interesting conflicts that could be constructed into a film. At the same time, the minority of films were constructed from non-fiction. However, they were often linked with real terrorism that occurred in society.

2.2 The external factors of the film industry consisted of 2 sub-factors, which were 2.2.1 Religious Context meaning religious context that affected the construct of the film production. According to the research results, it was found that the international films related with terrorism were produced by two groups of countries. The first group was the films that were produced in the context of Islam, which were constructed by presenting the opinions in an Islamic way and constructing in a way to present that Islam is a religion that loves peace. The films from this group often expressed their empathy to the terrorists who caused trouble because it was believed that Muslims received pressure from people in other religions. This group of films did not express the religion aspect, but often emphasized the construct of narration about the conflict of ideology and politics; and 2.2.2. Political and Social Context: According to the study, the producers according to this context can be categorized into 3 groups, which were 2.2.2.1 The producers in the United States of America and its alliances were the greatest number of producers because film production in this group was more developed than other countries. The films that these countries produced were often related with terrorism from an anti-western culture and anti-capitalism, including the resistance to the United States and its alliances who supported Israel in establishing a country in Palestine; 2.2.2.2 The producers in the Arab nations and Muslims in the social and political context often constructed the United States and its alliances as invaders of Arabs and Muslims who bring decadence to Arabs and Muslims. However, the films from these nations often inserted the viewpoint that violence was not a suitable method to resist the Western nations; and 2.2.2.3 The producers in Asian countries produced the films with different characteristics from other groups because their social and political contexts were different from other countries. The films were often related with domestic terrorism, emphasizing conflicts between the public and the government. At the same time, there was the construct of the truth that terrorism might occur because the public was not satisfied with the government or it might be because the government had created the terrorism itself.