If you haven't seen filmmaker/anthropologist Sam Dunn's "Global Metal", a documentary profiling the heavy metal genre's influence in all corners of the globe, please go see it. If you have, then you'll know the part when Dunn travels to Indonesia to seek out some the country's prominent metal bands and diehard fans. It is mentioned in the film how strict Indonesian culture is regarding popular Western music, particularly music like heavy metal and punk with their themes of defiance and anger. Some of the interviewees, including drummer Lars Ulrich, describe Metallica's first concert (about 3:30 into this clip) in Jakarta, in 1993, where a riot broke out outside the stadium walls. Not wishing to set a good example for the young rioters, the police and military declared open season on batting the shit out of any young person outside the stadium wearing a black shirt. Even if they had a ticket to get in.
While the regime in Indonesia has transitioned from a dictatorship to a mostly democratic government, the citizens of this Southeast Asian island nation still must contend with far-right politicians and religious groups wielding their powerful influence over the country's leaders. In fact, one of the country's states, Aceh, has instituted Islamic law, barring people from such deviant activities as wearing tight pants or being born a homosexual.
So it comes as no surprise that these Aceh assclowns have decided to impose their primeval moral code on Indonesia's greatest threats to decency:
Police in Banda, Aceh arrested 65 people at a punk music concert, most of whom were young adults and teens. The officers shaved the concertgoers heads, took away their piercings and necklaces, threw them in a pool of water for "cleansing", then forced them into a moral and religious brainwashing camp for 10 days. This is like one of those cheesy metal videos where there's a post-apocalyptic world where music is banned and anyone dressing a certain way is arrested until White Snake comes along and rescues all of the locked-up young people. Except it's real. And ain't no mullet-donning rock gods gonna ride in on flying guitars and save these poor kids.
I don't need to get into some rant on why this is wrong. You and I both know it is. But I will point you to the Geddy Images photo that accompanies the article. The two young men in the photo can't be more than teenagers. The looks on their faces of shock, sadness, and embarrassment strikes a chord. These kids - who listened to, and were inspired by music - just had their identity ripped from them.
There's a reason that music causes riots (like in Jakarta in 1993) and gives us pictures like the one you see in the article. Music has a power on people's emotions like nothing else. For these kids, their music defined them. It gave them their sense of style. It told them that they didn't have conform and that there was a special group of people for which they could share their passion. It gave them a chance to escape the desolate conditions in which they live, and the oppressive police state that governs them. It gave them freedom.
For these kids, they are their music.
Remember that the next time you throw on Rihanna.
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