Representation Of Women's Body In The Imperfect Film By Ernest Prakarsa

10.2478/bjlp-2023-00000160

Abstract

Women's films are here to accommodate female audiences by raising the theme of women's  lives as the main story. Since the 1970s until now, women's films have not changed much, the  patriarchal ideology that is rooted in and dominates the political economy market still makes  women passive objects which are interpreted as marginal people in the order of life. One of the  themes raised, for example, talks about the female body as a commodity which is debated,  constructed and represented from all perspectives. The film Imperfect by Ernest Prakasa is here to  try to break the stigma about the female body, where happiness is not judged by a perfect body  shape. This paper looks at the representation of the female body in the film Imperfect through the  characters Rara, Neti, Maria, Endah and Prita are described as disproportionate and not ideal. From  the narrative point of view, this film clearly describes in detail the form of female body  imperfections that cause problems in life. The audience is led to commodify the contents of the  spectacle and then draw it into the reality of their lives. In terms of dialogue, the sentences that  emphasize the imperfect forms of women's bodies are far more than sentences about the importance  of being happy. Even at the end of the film, the main character seems to emphasize his fat body  shape as a form of imperfection. In terms of the attributes used, the authors see that some attributes  are indeed attached to a woman's body image that is not ideal, namely through make-up, shoes,  bags and types of food. The main thing is, the film Imperfect failed to break the stigma about the  female body that has been prevailing so far. The director's efforts to represent happiness through  the shape of a woman's body actually seem to reinforce the stigma that the ideal woman's body is  white and slim.