MEANING VISUALIZATION THROUGH SEMIOTIC THEORY ON A MALAY FILM DOH

Abstract

This study examines the process of meaning formation in the Malay film Doh (2023) by utilizing Roland Barthes' Semiotic Theory. Films are not merely entertainment; they also negotiate and perpetuate dominant ideas, emotional narratives, and social identities. This paper employs a descriptive qualitative methodology to decode selected visual and linguistic signifiers, including the brown diary, Hacks mint candy packaging, and bird imagery. It demonstrates that seemingly straightforward items are permeated with profound ideological significance. The results indicate that visual components, such as color, gesture, and object location, are not neutral; rather, they serve to normalize traditional family hierarchies, filial obligation, and the conflict between modern desires and ancestral obligations. The diary symbolizes inherited emotional effort, while the red-colored packaging emphasizes the ideological bond of family obligation. In a paradoxical twist, the flocks of birds, which symbolize liberation, underscore the significance of loyalty and return. This investigation exposes the extent to which Doh reinforces traditional values and conventional gender roles within a myth-making process by operating behind the façade of intimate family stories. The research underscores the critical importance of semiotic analysis in understanding the subtle ways in which visual media influences and sustains broader socio-cultural concepts through the identification of these multiple meanings.