The goona-goona epic is a particular type of native-culture exploitation film set in remote parts of the Far East, Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and the South Pacific.
Background
editIn Hollywood trade magazines "goona-goona" was a descriptive word for films or photos showing women of color with bare breasts, usually in a supposed spirit of ethnographic interest.[1] The use of the term as a film genre derives from the 1932 film Goona-Goona, An Authentic Melodrama of the Island of Bali by Andre Roosevelt and Armand Denis.[2] The term originates from guna-guna, an Indonesian word for witchcraft.[3]
Characteristics
editThe genre made use of orientalist and exoticist themes.[3] Examples included documentaries (often of questionable authenticity) and dramas, both of which rely heavily on travelogue and stock footage scenes (and sometimes fabricated scenes) of semi-nude native peoples performing exotic rituals and customs.
Popularity and decline
editThe semi-pornographic nature of the genre provided scandal for the conservative American general audiences of the 1920s and 1930s, which made it popular.[4]
Additionally, the genre grew during a time when Southeast Asia, particularly Bali, had become a popular destination among the Western public due to its perception as an "Eastern Paradise" compared to war-torn Western Europe.[5] As western audiences began consuming more pornography, and as many colonized nations sought independence in the post-war era, the genre became obsolete.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ Rony, Fatimah Tobing (1996). The Third Eye: Race, Cinema, and Ethnographic Spectacle. Duke University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-8223-9872-1.
- ↑ "Goona-Goona; An Authentic Melodrama of the Isle of Bali (1932) – Overview – TCM.com". www.tcm.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- 1 2 "Goona-Goona: Ritual Love Magic and Music in West Sumatra". aural archipelago. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- 1 2 "Goona Goona: An Authentic Melodrama of the Isle of Bali". silentfilm.org. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ↑ "Legong: Dance of the Virgins". silentfilm.org. Retrieved 2026-01-24.