Mediated Transmissions and the Construction of the Disenfranchised Malaysian Tamil Child in the Film Jagat

Abstract

This article explores the filmic mediated transmissions of Malaysian Tamil working class childhood in the Malaysian Tamil feature film, Jagat (2015) as a significant platform for accessing and understanding the experience of Malaysian Indian children largely underrepresented in general scholarship of the community. We do this mainly through focusing on the perspective of the film’s main child protagonist. Film scenes and images are interpreted through a methodology incorporating the four-pillared Indian ideological concept of mātā, pitā, guru and daivam. We argue that the film highlights how the harsh realities confronting Malaysian Indian working-class families can greatly hinder the influence of parents, elders, role models, and religion in guiding children's development during their formative years. Through its various filmic constructions of a working-class Tamil childhood, Jagat serves to highlight the vicious cycle of social marginalization that takes seed early on. Such comprehensive understanding of the journey of disenfranchised Malaysian Tamil children is crucial for raising awareness and fostering empathy. This broader perspective may help shift the narrative from blame and accusations, which often focus solely on Indian gangsterism as an adult problem.