Luckiest Man On Earth

Throughout my life, I had a fascination for white skin that seemed to appear out of nowhere. As a child, blue eyes, blonde haired caucasian actors were the ones that caught my attention. I soon realized that this attraction towards white people had become a form of ‘idolization’ in my country. As I age, I realize that this obsession with light skin is supported by theories of colonialism and cultural imperialism through movies. As a result, caucasians are treated as celebrities in local areas, up to a point where it is normal to see locals asking for a picture with white tourists.

This obsession leads to people wanting to have lighter skin, and even trying to marry white people. There is the saying “improving your lineage”, which is where Indonesians believe that marrying a caucasian would allow them to have better looking children. This perspective of needing to improve the next generation makes me wonder how bad my race is being depicted, seeing as I need to ‘fix’ my race by marrying a caucasian.

Luckiest Man On Earth is inspired by an Indonesian man who married a tourist who was in his area the day she was travelling. Indonesian media immediately showcased his life as a success story, worthy of attention from audiences. There are even tips on how to get a caucasian spouse all around indonesian media, and more than a few people tried it out for themselves.

Advancements in technology and government subsidies in tourism, as well as the rise of internet use increases our exposure to light skin, blue eyes and blonde haired people. Whether it is from film posters, TV commercials, to tourists traps.

However, I realize that the obsession we have with white people are mainly concerned with beauty standards, as cultures between us are very different. As a result, we need to tolerate the local’s moral beliefs to accommodate tourists, turning Indonesia into a international scale tourist destination, with western standards.

In this movie, I am attempting to capture a phenomenon that has stuck with indonesians for so long, not to critique this cultural perspective, but instead as a reflection, of what our nation is headed to and how we perceive our own identity.