Representation of Malay People in Film - A Study on Film by P. Ramlee, Bujang Lapok

Abstract

In studying history, film can be the “best” source as it is/was produced in an era. The world that the standard or mainstream film constructs is so familiar that we rarely think about how it is put together. That, of course, is the point. Films want to make us think they are reality. Yet the reality we see on the screen is neither inevitable nor somehow natural to the camera, but a vision creatively constructed out of bits and pieces of images taken from the surface of a world. Therefore, this paper discussed on the portrayals of Malay people in film. Film by P. Ramlee, a renowned film director and actor, Bujang Lapok was chosen in this study. Film is still not really accepted by Malaysian as a source of history but given a status of P. Ramlee as greatest artiste ever born in this country, it is worthwhile to do research on P. Ramlee’s films and its relation to social history of Malaysia especially Malay people.