Representasi Perempuan Dalam Film Dokumenter Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee, and Jessica Wongso

Abstrak

This research aims to reveal the representation of women in the documentary Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee, and Jessica Wongso. This production of Netflix revisits the controversial “Cyanide Coffee” case that once shocked the Indonesian public, placing Jessica Wongso as the main suspect in the death of her friend, Mirna Salihin. As a product of popular culture, this documentary doesn’t only re-presents a criminal case, but also reflects social values, including how women are prortayed in media narratives. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach within a constructivist paradigm, using Roland Barthes’ two order signification analysis that includes denotationa and connotation to examine the character of Jessica Wongso from both visual and verbal aspects. Results show that Jessica Wongso, who is the the main subject, is represented in a complex manner. On one hand, she is depicted as a strong, rastional, and composed woman, which challenges the stereotype of women as emotional and irrational beings. On the other hand, the media narrative in the documentary constructs a negative portrayal of Jessica by highlighting her expressions, body language, and communication style as unusual, and associating them with being manipulative and dangerous. Through visual and symbolic narratives, as well as interviews with key figures, the documentary reproduces symbolic violence and gender bias rooted in patriarchal culture. Jessica is portrayed as deviating from traditional feminine norms, making her an easy target for negative labelling. This study affirms that the representation of women in media, particularly in criminal cases, is often biased and shaped by sociocultural constructions that suppress women’s space for expression.