Gender Performativity in Indonesian Film: A Narrative Analysis of the Character Juno in Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (2019)

Berliana Idham Samawi, Lidwina Mutia Sadasri, S.I.P., M.A

2026 | Skripsi | Ilmu Komunikasi

Penelitian ini mengkaji bagaimana performativitas gender dikonstruksikan secara naratif melalui karakter Juno dalam film Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (2019) karya Garin Nugroho. Berbeda dengan penelitian-penelitian sebelumnya yang umumnya menggunakan pendekatan semiotika, Tubuh Indah bukan narasi sebagai fokus utama analisis dengan memadukan teori performativitas gender Judith Butler, morfologi naratif Vladimir Propp, serta teori New Queer Cinema B. Ruby Rich. Menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan paradigma interpretivisme, penelitian ini menganalisis adegan-adegan terpilih dari 79 adegan film berdasarkan lima kriteria performativitas gender Butler, yaitu norma yang dikonstruksi secara sosial, ketiadaan esensi yang tetap, subversi dan resistensi, kekuasaan dan regulasi, serta tindakan sosial yang repetitif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bagaimana perjalanan Juno—dari masa kecil hingga menjadi penari lengger—menggambarkan gender sebagai proses yang cair dan performatif, sekaligus menantang norma biner gender dalam masyarakat Indonesia. Penelitian ini berkontribusi pada pengembangan kajian sinema queer Indonesia dengan menyoroti kerangka budaya lokal Jawa sebagai sumber representasi fleksibelitas gender yang khas dan non-Barat.

Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (2019), directed by Garin Nugroho, portrays Juno, a young Javanese boy whose gender identity develops through the traditional Lengger dance. While previous studies of the film have predominantly employed semiotic approaches, none have systematically investigated how its narrative structure constructs gender performativity. This study addresses that gap by asking: how is gender performativity narratively constructed through the character Juno? The research integrates Judith Butler's gender performativity theory, Vladimir Propp's morphology of the folktale, and B. Ruby Rich's New Queer Cinema theory within a qualitative, interpretivist design. Seven scenes were selected from the film's 79 scenes based on five criteria derived from Butler's theory and examined through narrative analysis. The findings reveal that the film constructs Juno's gender performativity through three interconnected mechanisms: the integration of indigenous Javanese performance structures (Lengger and the warok-gemblak tradition) that historically accommodate gender fluidity, the adaptation of Propp's heroic functions to a queer protagonist whose quest is interior self-recognition, and the deployment of New Queer Cinema aesthetics that embrace ambiguity. Lack of fixed essence emerges as the most dominant Butlerian aspect. This study demonstrates that indigenous cultural frameworks provide culturally specific vocabularies for gender fluidity that resist colonial binary impositions.

Kata Kunci : gender performativity, narrative analysis, Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku, Indonesian queer cinema