Latah: A Culture Specific Elaboration on
the Startle Reflex
1996
Anthropologist: Ronald C. Simons
Filmmaker: Gunter Pfaff
The film is a study of how Malay villagers culturally construct the hyper-startle syndrome, which is an extreme reaction to a sudden noise or other surprise. Simmons suggests, at the end of the film and in print, that people who have extreme reactions to such unexpected events as gunfire are found in many different populations. This is then presumably biological, part of the normal human variability potential, and not tied t any particular group. But different cultures elaborate this startle pattern in different ways. Thus, latah is a fine example of the biocultural model. (Heider 1997: 77).
Setup Questions
1. Who is latah?
2. What insight do the personal histories give?
3. What are the differences between Simon’s narration and the villager’s statements? (Think about this in terms of research methodology and in terms of information obtained).
4. What is the folk theory of latah? Can you catch any logical inconsistencies?
5. Could anyone become latah?
6. Do latahs want to be latah?
7. What is semangat? How do villagers use the concept of semangat in their thinking about latah?
8. Is it strange that these Malay villagers go around poking each other in the ribs?
9. Why don’t men become latah?
Entire Film Questions
10 You could discuss latah behavior in cold clinical terms, but think also about what seems to be the emotional tone of both latahs and their audiences.
11. How do you think latah people feel about being latah?
12. Why would homosexual men accept the role of latah?
13. What is
the significance of the data from the Ainu in northern
14. What is precisely Simmon’s biocultural their about latah?