Filem Box Office dan Ideologi: Satu Kajian Terhadap Filem- Filem Terpilih di Malaysia (Box Office Films and Ideology: A Case Study of Selected Films in Malaysia)

Abstract

Films, like many other mass media, do not operate in a vacuum. In this regard, ?lms can be seen as a medium that is able to structure meaning production in society. Generally, ?lms operate in a capitalist industry with the ultimate goal of making pro?t and at the same time act as a mechanism to maintain the existing social order. As part of the larger media institution in Malaysia, ?lm products indirectly contain selected values and views deemed important in the society. Thus, this article aims at analyzing the themes, plots, meanings and messages in selected box of?ce ?lms in Malaysia that structure the processes of the production of meaning in society. Ideology in general is the concept built within the Marxist tradition which asserts that the dominant group exercises its power of subordination over others with minimal con?ict. The situation does not involve the dominant group using coercion in order to maintain its power over society. Social institutions are instead used as a tool to disseminate dominant values, symbols and concepts that legitimize the existing social order.