Garin Nugroho’s Letter to an Angel: Challenging the New Order's Idealisation Concept of Indonesian Families

During the New Order regime in Indonesia (1966–1998), the government promoted a conservative and traditional view of the family, which was seen as the foundation of society and a symbol of national unity. The concept of family was based on an idealised nuclear family structure, consisting of a husband as the breadwinner, a wife as the caregiver, and children as the primary responsibility of both parents. This concept was heavily influenced by Javanese culture, as the dominant ethnic group in Indonesia’s political system. Letter to an Angel (1994) was produced by acclaimed director Garin Nugroho during the last decade of the regime. This chapter argues that the film presents a controversial narrative at that time by challenging the regime's idealisation of the Indonesian family and critiquing dominant ideas about how the New Order shaped the model of the Indonesian family based on the Javanese culture. This chapter also explains that despite emphasising the family's importance, the film undermines the dominant position of the father in the family. It promotes the importance of the role of the mother, while marginalising the role of the father, in representations which form a significant shift from the New Order’s mainstream construction of family.