Inul Daratista “The Queen of Mrewul”

Inul has always been so confident that people from Sabang to Merauke favor her nauseous ngebor (gyrating) moves that she keeps on doing them, no matter what. Always citing free artistic expression, she completely ignores the fact that, by fair judgment and normal standards, her dance moves are too nasty for her audience, not to mention for children. Some people called her as “Ratu Ngebor” or “The Gyrating Queen” for her unique and sensual dance.

Inul was born Ainul Rokminah in the East Java industrial town of Gempol, 60 kilometers south of Surabaya. By age 12 she was singing and dancing to rock, then dangdut. For a few thousand rupiah — usually less than US$1 — she’d be up on stage. So were hundreds of other lithe lasses. So far nothing unusual.

But young Ainul was also canny and ambitious, certainly no ephemeral airhead. She changed her name to Inul Daratista (bubbly) hit the road for the “”Big Durian”" (Jakarta) and, shoving Javanese reticence aside, soon scored a TV spot.

Westerners watching the grainy videos were perplexed. By their entertainment standards Inul was grossly overdressed, as sophisticated as slapstick. Erotic? Perhaps, if you’d been on a female-free desert island for the past year. Inul does not accept criticism. Her typical response to rejection is to break down before entertainment journalists, saying that people have misjudged her and repressed her and so on.

Let’s put aside the issue of the anti-pornography bill and the fact that various ethnic- and religious-based groups oppose her (including one from her own hometown). The reality that some city administrations have banned her from performing, and the fact of her decreasing number of appearances, already prove that people are simply sick and tired of her. Nevertheless, Inul always finds a way to blame someone else for her misfortunes.

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