The Balinese culture
Andy Macedo
Culture, Gender, Film
Professor Hammons
9/11/13
The Balinese Culture Throughout history, there have been many cultures and ethnic groups that have shown only the good of their people and culture to the outside world in order to gain a positive representation. The Balinese are a people whom I believe, over the years, lost their true culture or ethnographic representation due to modernization and material needs such as money. After reading Howe’s article about the Kuta bomb and watching the National Geographic film on the Balinese, it is simple to recognize the real misrepresentations the Balinese have tried to give the outside world. Peaceful, loving, spiritually developed, family devoted, are all descriptions that the National Geographic documentary portrayed the Balinese in their film. But these characteristics of Bali seem to be only scratching the surface of the island’s true identity according to Howe and his article. Howe states that these claims of a beautiful culture are myths, only telling a partial truth. In the film, the representation of the peaceful villages embraced by divine rice patty fields that resemble steps of the gods gives the viewer a positive outlook on what goes on in everyday life. For example, the film states that every married man must join the local ward or army, and work for the common good. However Howe has a different way of explaining the men throughout Bali. He states the truth is that the Balinese are often in dispute with their relatives and neighbors, sometimes violently. At times they beat their wives and gamble money away on cockfights. This is a major difference in representation from the film to Howe’s article. The film also gives the impression of the economy of Bali as thriving and modern, centered on tourism. In Howe’s article, he states that Bali’s economy is close to suffering, and that tourism has brought the Balinese to forget the most fundamental aspects of their religion, which may or may
Culture, Gender, Film
Professor Hammons
9/11/13
The Balinese Culture Throughout history, there have been many cultures and ethnic groups that have shown only the good of their people and culture to the outside world in order to gain a positive representation. The Balinese are a people whom I believe, over the years, lost their true culture or ethnographic representation due to modernization and material needs such as money. After reading Howe’s article about the Kuta bomb and watching the National Geographic film on the Balinese, it is simple to recognize the real misrepresentations the Balinese have tried to give the outside world. Peaceful, loving, spiritually developed, family devoted, are all descriptions that the National Geographic documentary portrayed the Balinese in their film. But these characteristics of Bali seem to be only scratching the surface of the island’s true identity according to Howe and his article. Howe states that these claims of a beautiful culture are myths, only telling a partial truth. In the film, the representation of the peaceful villages embraced by divine rice patty fields that resemble steps of the gods gives the viewer a positive outlook on what goes on in everyday life. For example, the film states that every married man must join the local ward or army, and work for the common good. However Howe has a different way of explaining the men throughout Bali. He states the truth is that the Balinese are often in dispute with their relatives and neighbors, sometimes violently. At times they beat their wives and gamble money away on cockfights. This is a major difference in representation from the film to Howe’s article. The film also gives the impression of the economy of Bali as thriving and modern, centered on tourism. In Howe’s article, he states that Bali’s economy is close to suffering, and that tourism has brought the Balinese to forget the most fundamental aspects of their religion, which may or may