Exemplary Malaysian Christians forgive LaLaRaya music video for imitating “Last Supper” iconography

 

PLAYING with fire is an idiom that describes doing something dangerous or risky that will likely result in negative consequences.

This seems to be case surrounding the pyrotechnic-invoking music video for festive ditty LaLa Raya by local pop group, Agy.

The satire-driven narrative of the video cautions against the faithful losing sight of the true meaning of Raya, obsessing instead over materialistic pursuits.

This preachy aspect of the clip has already attracted some negative responses on YouTube but what seems to have upset some people is that the video contains imagery borrowed from a famous painting.

Which painting might that be? Leonardo Da Vinci’s world-famous The Last Supper. Yes, that’s right.

Disrespect to Christians

This was precisely the lament made by historian and author with a nationalistic stance, Helmi Effendy, who was left shaking his head at this perceived insensitivity of local artistes such as Agy who are seemingly hell-bent on shooting themselves in the foot with such stunts.

Editor’s Note: Efforts to embed Helmi Effendy’s Facebook post is futile as his post is no longer available in Malaysia given Meta has complied with a legal request from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to restrict this content.

The self-described “theistic evolutionist” described at some length on his FB page just why this was a no-go zone.

First and foremost, Muslims should not dabble in Christian iconography – satire or otherwise. Secondly, it shows a lack of respect for “our Christian friends here in Malaysia”.

The co-founder of The Patriots educational and publishing platforms gives a historical and theological perspective to Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece by expounding its deep religious significance to Christians worldwide.

“This post is not about agreeing with their beliefs but about manners and wisdom. If we don’t want our religion to be mocked, then we should also not play with the symbols of other people’s religions,” counselled the writer who is oft accused of having rightist views.

“Creativity is free but when touching other people’s religious symbols, we’ve to be sensitive. There’s no need to borrow sacred symbols from other religions to look ‘artsy’ or controversial. We may have different beliefs but manners belong to everyone.”

Apologetic stance

Prior to Helmi’s post been taken down, it had garnered 7K likes, 3.8K comments and 2.7K shares, denoting that this music video has – intentionally or otherwise – sparked a controversy with 3R connotations.

For starters, the post drew praise from some Christian commenters who applauded the author’s considered and respectful tone to this issue.

Others of the same faith took the opportunity to show forgiveness for those responsible for the music video underlining that some did indeed take offence to the content.

As one Catholic faithful pointed out, this would be the right thing to do during the Lent season (which is a time for fasting and penance).

Some went further and argued that Christinas will always “turn the other cheek” when their religion is insulted or denigrated. It was better for the laws of the land to take its course. Anything else is for the individual to answer to the Almighty.

Some concerned Muslim commenters urged Christians to take legal action against this artiste to avoid future repetitions and also would serve as a valuable lesson to all. However, a few argued that such a reaction was unnecessary as “a higher power will take care of it”.

Do not support such groups who are only interested in chasing fame, forgetting all else along the way. One commenter stressed that as a Muslim, he would not support any artistic endeavour that made fun of other religions.

The great thing about this post was that it seemed to unite Malaysians from different backgrounds during a time of fractured communal relations.

Firstly, there were Muslims who did not take kindly to pop groups perceived to be showing a lack of respect for the religious iconography of others.

Secondly, it was great to see that many Christians NOT take umbrage at this music video and simply urged others to take “a chill pill”.

In the proper spirit of Ramadhan and Lent, there were many messages of goodwill. Perhaps in its own roundabout way, Agy’s LalaRaya music vid has helped brought Malaysians closer together.

-focus malaysia