The Exploration of Semiotics in Film to Convey Moral Massage in Bintang Jatuh Short Fiction

Abstract

Andre Bazin once said in his book that human has a tendency to preserve a life in a form of statuary or in any kind of forms. The invention by Auguste and Lumiere of the moving picture is a point where moving picture is regarded as the perfect form of expression and representation of life, not only it captures the reality as a whole, but also gives the creator space to manipulate. Moving pictures grows and develops into cinema and not merely just a preservation of life, rather it is an expression of the reality in a form of art as new medium of communication. 
 
 The civilization that we live now is almost impossible to imagine without the contribution of the internet that created many platforms that allows us to share parts of our life. Big platforms like Instagram and YouTube creates a worldwide sensation such as 'influencer' in which a person who has the power to affects their audience mainly for marketing purpose. The level of the influence mostly determined by the numbers of the followers. In some cases, parents are tempted to share their children activity in social media to showcase their children. However, in some occasion children are unwillingly to share their private life. This action could lead to child exploitation even abusing the children for the sake of fame and fortune.
 
 Bintang Jatuh is a short fiction that reflects the society's behavior towards social media more specifically the sensation created by influencers which is known as 'selebgram' in Indonesia. Besides, becoming an influencer does not have an age restriction, hence everyone can be an influencer. Child influencer, which sparks a lot of criticism on the style of parenting todays. Many accuse the parents of exploiting their own children by gaining profits from sharing their children's photo and video online. The case goes deeper than just sharing photos or videos, public questioning the effectiveness of parental control to protect their children's privacy online.