Rock on Nani!
I've had the pleasure of knowing Fatimah Abu Bakar (one of my old mentors back in the journo days) and her four outspoken, vivacious, dynamic daughters.
And when slowly (but surely) they started getting involved with showbiz - I wasn't surprised. Their mom was an award-winning actress back in the day... it might've been genetics as well.
Well when Nani (Sharifah Amani to the world) was awarded Best Actress at the recent Filem Festival Malaysia, I was like YEAH! Rock on! Someone different, someone who's not from the typical "schema" types, a fresh, spirited young actress (and a down-to-earth cool selamba chick to boot!).
I thought her spontaneanity was refreshing, honest. And really it was well deserved, and her win symbolized acknowledgement of movies that have received a lot of flak because it didn't fit the fantasy world of insipid love-tragedies and ethnocentricism.
And then the bigots from the "I Love Akmal Abdullah" camp started their attack. How sad, unpredictable and yet strangely amusing in its simple, narrow-minded shallowness.
The two main issues that have gotten their panties in a twist really made me laugh out loud when I read the news the next few days - and sad because there were leaders of the nation who resorted to nit-picking to propagate THEIR personal judgements to the public as the RIGHT way to think.
Issue 1 - The "If I speak in Malay I'll sound stupid so I'll speak English"
Oh no! Akmal and his crew of bigots must've gotten a hard-on the minute she said that! Mana boleh speeking! Itu kan bahasa penjajah, bahasa budaya Barat yang telah menjejaskan kesucian orang muda kita!
And then misinterpreting the statement to be one that degrades the Malay race was totally out of context. I mean, any idiot could've seen through that sentence. Look, she was brought up in an English-speaking environment, her Malay is probably karat and in that moment she would have problems articulating all the thoughts in her head in that short timespace given.
Issue 2 - The "If films like (Gubra) mencemarkan masyarakat, then I hope more films like this will be made!"
You rock girl! Someone HAD to say it in a VERY public place because Akmal's bigotry was happily aired with no control on the main propaganda network. It's fair. But of course, they're not happy about it because only THEIR bigoted views are correct.
Look, you're pissed because it's not some half-assed love story that keeps the masses sedated and not-thinking.
If you don't like - don't watch lah. We don't rave and complain and whine about how WRONG and UNREALISTIC stupid movies like Main Main Cinta, Cinta Fotokopi, Kuliah Cinta, etc, ad nauseam, are.
Bah. Nani I hope you're not affected by this crap. Keep on the good work, don't ever let them shut you up. And Yasmin rock on!!!!!
3:30 PM
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