Tales of the Waria
Directed by Kathy Huang. 2011. 56 minutes.
In Indonesian with English subtitles
Study areas: LGBT, Contemporary Issues, Gender Norms
Tales of the Waria explores the stories of Indonesian nationals Suharni, Mami Ria, Tiara, and Firman, four waria, or men who live as women believing they were born with the souls, feelings, and instincts of a woman. According to the documentary, waria is derived from the words wanita (woman) and pria (man). Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population, and director Kathy Huang says that her first inclination was to explore how the waria negotiated the role of Islam in their lives. But her interview subjects were not interested in that topic. Instead, they desired a film exposé that would explore how to find lasting love. Huang first discovered the waria via a news story in 2005 about the waria supermodel pageant, which opens the film. A few years later, a news story revealed that President Obama had spent some time as a child growing up in Jakarta, in the care of a waria, which prompted Kathy to want to learn more. After taking some Indonesian language classes and seeking the counsel of a well-known anthropologist known for his work with the queer community in Indonesia, she traveled to the town of Makassar, the primary setting for the film.
While it is easy to situate the film and make comparisons to transgender narratives within the U.S., watching the film challenges viewers to understand the waria in their own context. The gaze of this filmmaker shows the waria existing in an environment where they are much respected, as waria traditionally were entrusted to care for kings. Additionally, the film explores the idea of gender confirmation surgery (or gender reassignment surgery/GRS), which waria, who are Muslims, do not pursue because of their faith. Tales of the Waria contains many teachable moments throughout the film; most notably, it manages to interrogate our rigid assumptions of masculinity and femininity that often place some of us beyond comfortable means of classification and are, therefore, unknowable. The film encourages the audience to suspend the desire to name and/or classify, because these stories are not and should not be assumed to be representative of all waria. The classification itself, the film argues, is something not equivalent with Western categories like transgender, male, or female. Throughout the film, we hear some of the participants and their desires to be a real man or to be viewed as a real woman, which begs the question, how we come to rely upon rigid definitions of masculinity and femininity in the first place?
The film is part biography and part documentary: it at once traces the stories of the four subjects and raises our awareness of the globalized world we live in. At its heart is a story about love, religion, and self-discovery. Although each profile is different, we witness the struggles as well as the happiness of what it means to waria, or rather, what it means to just be.
Mami Ria, a senior, well-respected waria, discusses her childhood, realizing very early that she did not “know how to be a boy.” As a result, she dropped out of school in the third grade because she was told to dress like a boy and was uncomfortable doing so. She eventually traveled to Makassar, where she felt she had a better chance of being accepted. As she explains in the film, it wasn't until she saw another waria in Makassar that she came into her own and discovered, “that [she] wasn’t alone and there were others just like [her].” Mami Ria’s story becomes even more intriguing when we discover her relationship with a married man. She met her husband while giving him a haircut, and from there, a romance developed. At first, they hid their relationship from his wife, but later we learn that the wife is extremely welcoming. Once again the film challenges us to question our preconceived notions of who and what constitute a family.
Suharni’s story is steeped in the love of her boyfriend, in wanting to please and support him. And while some may view this storyline as the antithesis to feminism (at least, Western feminism), Suharni enjoys her life. We discover that she is HIV positive, and we see how her faith not only helps her live with the diagnosis and maintain her dignity, but also provides her with a sense of calm and awareness given the stigma of the disease. As she states, “HIV/AIDS is the most feared disease in Indonesia.”
Firman’s story also provides an interesting portrayal of the struggles of feeling “different” in a world where difference is often not celebrated. We are introduced to Firman in the early scenes as he is engaged in prayer asking that God, “grant him his wish” to change him into “a real man.” The value of the film provides many teachable moments, and this moment is no exception. The normalizing discourses that adhere to fixed categories of identity such as male, female, and masculine and feminine are too often reinforced through the media, schooling, family, and via religion. Who gets counted, who gets to speak for and on behalf of those deemed different or abnormal? Whose experiences matter? At this point in the film, Firman has abandoned life as a waria. Now married with kids, he recounts his past life: his first sexual encounter with a man and the subsequent troubles he encountered with his family, who rejected his past life. Later on in the film, though, we begin to see his struggles of living for others, rather than living for himself, through his repressed desires to be with men and to live as a waria.
Tiara’s first appears at the height of the Miss Waria Indonesia Contest. She is a performer in addition to living as a waria. Her childhood has consisted of “simple wishes – to laugh, have fun, be happy.” She explains that her family pressured her to not become a waria, forcing her to live a lie and hide her true self. At home, she recalls her muted and submissive behavior, which remains until she is able to escape the confines of her family’s expectations. We witness Tiara living for herself and refusing to change.
The film is an engaging exploration of life, love, being, and living. And although life is complicated, this film provides insight into four human beings, their journeys that show the evolution of life, happiness, sadness, and the conviction of their truth(s). The diversity of the waria, how they identify themselves, and how live their lives are all addressed in Tales of the Waria, which is ultimately a film about recognizing self-determination and acknowledging everyone’s right to be who they are.
As stated earlier, there are several teachable moments throughout the film, and this would be an exceptional addition to the curriculum in a women's/gender studies course in college, as it gives a nuanced and personal portrayal of gender issues from a global perspective. Unfortunately, the subject matter, although presented with dignity, might make it a bit controversial for use in high school classrooms, except for those in more progressive communities. That's a shame, as issues of religion, gender, and just – well – being are universal, and this perspective is one that deserves to be heard.
Leslie Morrow is the current director of the LGBT Resource Center at UIUC. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Miami University of Ohio. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at UIUC. She is invested in social justice, building coalitions, and intersectional works both on- and off-campus. She serves on a variety of committees at the U of I, many of which are devoted to social justice. She is also involved nationally as a member of the National Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, the American Educational Research Association, and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Tales of the Waria is distrubuted in the U.S. by New Day Films.
Last Updated: March 8, 2016
