កំប្លែងព្រំម៉ាញ, ប៉ះកូនសិស្សមិនចាញ់គ្រូទេ

 

by School of Vice:

Not to throw a dampener on things, but a small critique on popular aspects of Khmer culture as found in mediums like the traditional 'Ayai' here.

It's said that Khmer jokes are invariably about sex while Vietnamese jokes are all about tactics. Now while there is such a thing as 'national character', art as a popular educational tool due to its mass appeal and entertainment reach should shed itself of references to sex or explicit sexual innuendo that are made during delivery or performance to amuse the crowds and keep audiences entertained?

It's doubtful that the Khmer ancestors who were the original developers and forerunners of these traditional entertainment platforms had had to resort to using such jokes to enliven their arts or 'spice up' the mastery of their show. This use or exploitation of sex in such popular cultural mediums may have been as a result of later corruption and degradation by performers who found it to their commercial advantage to use sex in their shows to maximise their hold on the audience.

How is this so, one may ask? Well, for one thing there is nothing inscribed in stone or depicted in carvings to suggest otherwise i.e., that the early Khmers actually needed sexual innuendos to present their skills or shows to their audience. And, before anyone says: what about the naked apsaras on the gallery walls of Angkor Wat? Well, they are not meant to be erotic or sexual in the sense we now understand them! Perhaps, the most obvious clue to our insistence that there was no need for such references to sex in that respect can be seen to lie in the holistic integrity of the artform itself which is almost universally genteel in spirit and movement or rhythm; serene and tranquil in melody and verses, refined in poetry, all of which can be said to define the Khmer soul or 'Khmerness' whereas modern-day sexual jokes and references are somewhat base or coarse in taste or uncouth in demeanour and are thus at odds with that wholesome integrity mentioned.

All instances of Khmer classical art embody this refinement or restraint in expression or spirit and such emphasis on refinement and restraint or modesty in art is inevitably mirrored in and transposed to life and behaviour that can appear to untrained or unaccustomed eyes [including those of the country’s foreign educated elite] as laborious and repressive, hence, the charge of 'gender repression', for example.

Despite all this corruption and transgression in culture or in popular pandering to sexual obsession - if that be the case - many foreigners still perceive the country to be deeply 'conservative' in this regard, citing what they perceive as sexual-cultural repression in general as posing a "risk" or "dangerous" threat to human health and psychology!

In time Khmer people and future generations will hopefully learn to appreciate the beauty, dignity and integrity of their Khmer ancestors; of the priceless heritage they have imparted to them and the uniqueness of their national character, something to be preserved and defend with pride and passion regardless of the age they find themselves in and, be discriminative of external influences rather than viewing and embracing these with unthinking blind faith.

The Western world today, in particular, may be materially affluent, but it remains regrettably spiritually impoverished.

 

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