Representation of Reality and Social Construction in the Film Mengejar Untung

Abstract

Film is not merely a medium of entertainment but also a cultural medium through which social reality is represented, interpreted, and constructed. This study analyzes the representation of reality and social construction in the short film Mengejar Untung (2008), directed by Ringgo Agus Rahman. The film portrays Syarkawi, a scavenger who lives with his child under economically limited circumstances.

This study employs a descriptive qualitative method through film-text analysis, focusing on scenes, dialogue, characters, settings, properties, and audio-visual elements. Stuart Hall’s theory of representation is used to examine how the film produces and assigns meaning to social reality, while Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s theory of the social construction of reality is employed to analyze how reality is formed through habits, interactions, and social relationships. Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotic theory is used as a supporting approach to interpret cinematic signs.

The findings indicate that Mengejar Untung does not merely reflect poverty as an economic condition but constructs its meaning through narrative and cinematic language. Social reality is represented through scavenging work, economic limitations, the relationship between father and child, and the meanings attached to money. At the same time, poverty is presented from a humanistic perspective through humor, affection, hope, and strategies of survival. Social construction is manifested through work routines, family relationships, and everyday interactions that shape the characters’ understanding of their social circumstances. The film therefore functions as a space for the production of meaning, demonstrating that social reality on screen is not an objective reflection but a representation constructed through narrative, visual, and cinematic choices.