IN late 2019, film-making maestro Martin Scorsese got into a controversy for saying Marvel movies are “not cinema“.

Understandably, that statement upset many parties. People poured their heart and soul into making these movies, including underpaid computer-generated imagery (CGI) artists.

Saying these movies are not cinema means questioning the worth of their work.

Also, back then, Marvel fatigue hadn’t quite set in yet, so saying someone’s favourite movie(s) is not cinema is akin to calling their taste “second class”. Nobody likes that.

That’s why some of the reactions towards Scorsese’s remark took the form of a “how dare you” outrage.

Oddly enough, this outpour of “how dare yous” reminds me of the dilemmas of dealing with populists like Kedah caretaker menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Noor.

Criticisms of his brusque and lowbrow style have bounced off, with a lot of his supporters claiming the how-dare-you moral high ground.

Like Marvel at its peak, Sanusi has a claim of representing the taste of the “people” too. Hence, any rejection of his style can be re-construed as a rejection of the “people”, something Sanusi and Perikatan Nasional (PN) smartly played to their advantage.

The unity government was placed on the back foot because if it attacked Sanusi, it would look like they were the snobs attacking the masses; the same criticism Scorsese faced until Marvel Cinematic Universe imploded.

But populists aren’t just a mirror reflecting the “will” or “taste” of the people. There is no default “flavour” of the people out there for a populist to pick up and enact.

Here’s where Scorsese’s point about cinema is illuminating. He defines cinema as “the unifying vision of an individual artist“. Put differently, Scorsese thinks there is nothing “democratic” about cinema.

Populists like Sanusi are closer to Scorsese than Marvel because unlike the deluge of generic superhero movies out there, populists are very distinct.

One may confuse a boring centrist, vaguely social democratic party with another but you will never confuse one successful populist with another.

That’s because despite sharing a strong anti-liberal animus, even the right-wing populists are a diverse lot.

Donald Trump is a shameless playboy salesman who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Recep Tayyip Erdogan juggles piety and pugilism. Rodrigo Duterte is like a foul-mouthed mayor in the old Westerns, whereas Narendra Modi is both a militant and a monk.

Just like Scorsese or Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, populists connect with their audience with their own aesthetics and vision. It makes sense that showmanship is what unites Trump, Duterte and Sanusi. They knew their crowd came to be entertained.

Sanusi clearly has his own style. If he doesn’t have an identity and is, instead, this chameleonic entity that tries to copy or “fit in”, then he would look more like the many cringe-worthy middle-class folk who ventured into politics.

Those are performances without vision.

Sanusi’s appeal is best encapsulated in a quote he made in a Keluar Sekejap episode: “hangpa cerdik jangan ingat orang lain bodoh” (you smart alecks don’t think we are stupid).

He manifests as this anti-elite champion who embraces his crassness as a way to show he never abandoned his rural poor origins.

At the same time, he comes across as passionate and knowledgeable about developments in Kedah that he can hold his own against the condescending but not as-smart-as-they-think urban elites.

His command of details differentiates him from the “anti-science” Trump.

Trump is from New York and is desperate to shed any signs of urbane finesse to connect with the Midwestern voters; Sanusi is eager to overturn this stereotype that a rural champion must be technocratically illiterate (hence the “we are not stupid” rhetoric).

He is someone who will push back against the literati who think being “a social science graduate from a local university“ is not an “impressive” credential.

The unique branding of Sanusi also means any effort to moderate his style would offend his fan base. After all, no one would want to watch a Christopher Nolan movie if it is compromised by studio interference.

That is why the PAS leadership gave Sanusi free rein until he finally got into trouble.

And even then, he’s called the “panglima perang” (war general) of PN for the state elections. Like Nolan, non-compromising has become Sanusi’s brand.

The populist’s resemblance with an auteur while claiming mass appeal reveals populism’s paradoxical relationship with democracy.

The populists may claim they are the vessel to carry the people’s wishes, but their rise is also fuelled by an anti-democratic ethos.

Like artists, they are determined to push the boundaries, no matter the cost. Populists are divisive for a reason.

Like what we expect when we go to watch a Scorsese or Bong Joon-ho movie, watching a populist is about watching his/her unique vision. And most populists have a vision way before they are popular.

Modi’s Islamophobia, Sanusi’s hardline Islamism, Trump’s lies, all have antecedents, be it on a personal level or within the parties they inhabit.

That also means if they aren’t apologetic about their problematic beliefs, progressives shouldn’t be apologetic for pushing back either. – August 13, 2023.

* A Forensic Science-Asian Studies hybrid, Nicholas Chan is interested in how authority is shaped, exercised, and more importantly, resisted in Southeast Asia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.