The Meaning of Film with the Theme of Interfaith Marriage in Multicultural and Multi-Religious Indonesian Students

Interfaith marriage is an increasingly heated issue in Indonesia, along with the increasingly massive practice carried out by couples of different religions, ranging from ordinary people to presidential staff, and causing pros and cons among the public. Most recently, a Christian man who wanted to marry his Muslim lover filed a lawsuit for review of the Marriage Law with the Constitutional Court, especially Article 2 paragraphs 1 and 2, and Article 8 letter f, which generally regulates the validity and prohibition of marriage. Interfaith marriage, which became a social issue, later became an interesting theme adopted by the scriptwriters and directors for the film. There are at least five film titles with the theme of interfaith marriages that have been displayed in Indonesian cinemas since 1999. Filmgoers who are predominantly teenagers and adults, of course, have different meanings for the narratives of the films they watch; this can be influenced by various aspects, especially cultural and religious backgrounds. The meaning of the film “Cinta Tapi Beda” will be given by a student audience that represents the dominant age of cinemagoers in Indonesia. This is qualitative research with a constructivist paradigm. The method of selecting the source uses the criterion sampling technique, where the criteria for the source have been determined in advance. The data collection method used in this study was through in-depth interviews using semi-structured interview guidelines. The data analysis method uses Stuart Hall’s encoding-decoding theory by classifying meaning into dominant, negotiating, and oppositional. The results showed that one in four audiences was in a position of dominant hegemony, one was in a negotiating position, and the other two were in an opposition position.