Many
of them sound more like telenovelas than soap operas, but whatever you call
them, Turkish television serial melodramas are doing boffo business
internationally. Bulgaria and Greece are important markets, but the popularity
of Turkish television has exploded in the Middle East. Greek filmmaker Nina
Maria Paschalidou documents the progressive influence of Turkey’s primetime
soaps in Kismet (trailer here), which screens
during the American Museum of Natural History’s 2014 Margaret Mead Film Festival.
Only
in the Middle East could a series about a sultan and his harem be considered liberal
and progressive. That would definitely be the awkward case study in Kismet. A far better example is Fatmagul, an extraordinary bold drama
following a woman’s quest to bring her three rapists to justice. In the Islamist
world, that is explosive stuff. Other shows frankly address issues such as
arranged marriages to child brides, spousal abuse, and genital mutilation,
inspiring women to speak out and even seek divorces. Not surprisingly, one misogynistic
bureaucrat in the Emirates’ Department of Religious Affairs launches into quite
a tirade against Turkish television (it goes without saying, but if your
government has some sort of Department of Religion, you probably live in a
theocratic fever-swamp).
Paschalidou
profiles the fans who watch the programming, the cast-members they adore, and
the creative staff (often led by women) who put them together and keep them
going. While the strongest sequences focus on the Middle Eastern market, she
also interviews fans in Bulgaria and Greece (where there is also growing resentment
of Turkish programming, not for ideologically reasons, but simply due to its
Turkishness).
Frankly,
Kismet’s execution will not blow anyone away, but the
premise is fascinating. Paschalidou vividly illustrates her points with film
clips shrewdly selected for their taboo-breaking content and their inherent theatricality.
You are unlikely to see any of these shows picked up by American broadcasters
anytime soon, for a variety of reasons. Still, a program like Fatmagul really ought to be available to
some extent, just for the way it uncompromisingly reflects the violence and
exploitation of women endured by women in the Middle East (and the greater
Islamic world).
