The "Little Obama" Movie
07/06/2010
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President Obama, as most readers probably know, spent several years of his youth living in Indonesia. Well, there is a new Indonesian-produced movie about that period of Obama’s life.

It’s entitled "Obama Anak Mentang", which means ”Little Obama”.

According to the Voice of America:

A new movie titled Little Obama (Obama Anak Mentang), chronicling the time President Barack Obama lived in Indonesia as a boy, has opened in Jakarta. The director says the film shows a young Barack Obama becoming the leader he is today.

Here are some activities that took place at the movie's premiere:

At the premier [sic] of the movie Little Obama in Jakarta, children from the school President Obama attended when he lived in Indonesia as a child, sang and danced. Invited guests also had their pictures taken with a look-alike of the adult president.

So in the movie, who portrayed Obama?

The part of young Barry Obama was played by 12-year-old American Hasan Faruq Ali, who had never acted in a movie before. Like President Obama, he is the son of a mixed-race couple and moved from the United States to Indonesia as a toddler.

One of the guests at the premiere was an Indonesian analyst with a few things to say:

The guest list for the premier [sic] included many supporters of President Obama, including political analyst Wimar Witoelar. He hopes the film will strengthen the cultural connection between the United States and Indonesia. "Say it was shown in America that Obama was in Indonesia, that Indonesia is an acceptable country to live in," Witoelar says, "for Indonesians it shows that this American president is one of us, so it is a very useful movie.”

What does Witoelar mean by "for Indonesians it shows that this American president is one of us"? In what sense?

And how about this?

The movie, however, did present a few concerns. Before its release, a scene showing the young Barry Obama, who is a Christian, praying like a Muslim was dropped because producers deemed it too political.

If you go to the link of the article below, you can see a photo from the movie (of young Obama and mother Stanley Ann) and a short video about the movie, with some excerpts.

”Little Obama’ Movie Opens in Indonesia

Brian Padden, Voice of America, July 2nd, 2010

Interesting, isn't it, how both Kenya and Indonesia want a piece of the action from the Obama Administration? Yet Obama doesn't seem to identify with the country of which he is president.

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