HARMONIC EGALITARIANISM IN TOBA PALM WINE STANDS AND STUDIOS

The 2018 production Preman Parlente—the “Stylish Street Tough”—boasts a screenplay by playwright Agus Nur, the comedy of Butet Kartaredjasa and Cak Lontong, and the backing of the Djarum Foundation, the cultural arm of Indonesia’s largest clove cigarette manufacturer. This high-powered Javanese collaboration is all the more surprising considering that the action is set in the cultural domain of the Batak ethnic groups, who have long felt marginalized in what they often perceive as a Java-centric Indonesia. Essentialization is still partially at work here—the character of the preman, or gangster, is associated with the North Sumatran city of