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WE Need to SCREAM! |
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| Leslie Bates-BüyüktürkoĞlu | leslie@unicvisions.com | |
Ever since the McCarthy era nearly shut down Hollywood with its witch-hunting tactics to round up “communists,” there has been disagreement about whether entertainment should be used to promote the artist’s political opinion or whether artists should even HAVE a political opinion. The dirt of politics is seen as denigrating the art.
Today, the day that HR 106 passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I must adamantly say that not only should entertainment be used to promote political opinion, it MUST be used. After regular news and information media, entertainment is probably the best way to convey a position and influence the public. Popular entertainment reaches millions of people in the shortest amount of time.
And it seems that we, the Turkish and Turkish-American community, have been more than negligent by not doing so, but also more than victimized by others using the entertainment industry as a means to reap political gain over Turks and Turkey.
Historically, theatre, dance and music were the best way to get one’s political message across, using dramatic and musical devices to camouflage the obvious into a story or piece that could arguably be quite innocent.
Through the use of comedy, satire and drama, theatre has provided an outlet for closet dissidents throughout history. Musical mood and melodic statements have provided a way for the not-so-articulate to express their emotions and political stance to the world. And as we most recently saw in our own community with Seda Aybay’s dance production “Nar,” dance can provide both the drama and the musical mood to send our message to the world beyond paper.
Today, entertainment has moved beyond theatre, music and dance, and now includes television and film, along with other electronic and experimental performance media.
Now, here’s the real irritating part of this whole article:
Anti-Turkish sentiment has not been merely shown in these entertainment industry platforms, it has been sold, lock, stock and barrel, as a morally mandatory premise!
In the music industry – and by very popular and talented musicians to boot – System of a Down, a group of local Armenians, has gone beyond performing blatantly inflammatory and graphic songs to actually helping to produce a movie about themselves and their beliefs regarding events that occurred even before their grandparents could conceive of ever having grandchildren. “Screamers” got an immense amount of media attention just because of their appearance in the film, and every time they appeared on the news or a talk show for the movie, they spoke about the Armenian issue.
On television, the last two years have been a disaster. Two of the most popular shows on television portrayed Turks and Turkey not just in a negative light, but were out and out fabrications. I suppose one could say, “Yes, but that’s tv – entertainment isn’t real!” However, where the portrayal is so politically improper as to show Turkey as having an Islamist government, this goes beyond the excuse, “that’s tv.”
“The West Wing” opened on that fateful episode with a morning news flash that a Turkish woman, “Karly Farquar,” was to be executed for having had sex with her fiancé. This execution was to be carried out according the Islamic law! The most blatant lie is that a woman named Karly Farquar would be Turkish, but the more important issues are that 1. Turkey does not have capital punishment, and 2. Islamic law is NOT the law of the land – both very important distinctions.
Then on “24,” Jack Bower was tasked to unearth an Islamic group related to Al Qaide based in Ankara! And the terrorist’s name was Tomas! What? Yes, we all know that there are Islamists living and operating in Turkey, but the program made it seem as if they are openly waltzing around like free men.
And of course, there’s film. We all know about “Midnight Express” which very conveniently aired yet again last week. No one has heard Billy Hayes denounce the portrayal of Turks in the movie other than Turks! The video that Alinur Velidedeoglu made at Cannes was watched mostly by . . . us!
Other minor slurs have occurred, including “Ararat,” Atom Egoyan’s recounting of stories told to him by his family. I’m sure that he is personally very sure of the veracity of these stories. After all, no one can ever accuse their father of exaggerating the truth – not me. Egoyan is a very talented filmmaker and he has rightfully used that talent to express his views for the world. And the Armenian community stepped up and paid for it!
Most recently, the Turkish-American community got into an uproar over the rumored “40 Days of Musa Dagh” remake, which it was also rumored that Sylvester Stallone was going to produce and star in. Much as I suspected, that project has not gone very quickly, if at all. But the rumor of the project was enough to make the news and get attention for an unfortunate and again controversial part of Ottoman history.
The list of documentaries on the subject is endless, including “Armenian Genocide” which again we all wrote nasty letters to PBS about for nothing.
All of these examples have one thing in common: They work very well to express the filmmakers’ views and impressions – even though they are dead wrong – of Turks and Turkey, including Turkish history.
So, now let’s look at the internationally acclaimed films and other entertainment media produced by Turks or anyone that have put forth the Turkish view of ANY issue, including Islam, the events of World War I, or modern Turkish culture.
Ummmm….
Well there’s . . . . No, that really doesn’t . . . .
“Valley of the Wolves: Iraq!” Hmm. Maybe a good film, but unfortunately, that doesn’t show Turks in a very good light. It only shows Americans in a very BAD light. And not many outside of the Turkish community ever saw it.
The only thing that comes even close, and unfortunately has not been aired, is Marty Callaghan’s “Armenian Revolt.” He very aptly sent a copy to every member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, urging them to watch it before the vote. I doubt that they did. And again, this documentary is not popular entertainment that everyone will sit down to watch. The same holds true for “Desperate Hours.” This is again a wonderful documentary, but people who watch documentaries tend to know the subject anyway.
Another example of entertainment that didn’t reach enough people was the Istanbul Ballet’s “Agir Roman,” about the various cultures living in Istanbul. It only had two nights in Los Angeles, but made the Los Angeles Times and all other publications for an estimated 5 million people! Imagine what it could have done with more time and backing.
So, where are our international quality films? Yes, there’s “Broken Angel” to premier in January! That covers the modern Turkish culture issue – and it’s a great start, if I do say so myself. See the trailer at Broken Angel Trailer .
But what about films on the other issues? What about films showing that Armenians, Turks and Kurds actually can get along – and do!? What about TV programs that depict the Turkish-American community as a valuable asset rather than Islamists and hoodlums?
There aren’t any! And it isn’t that there aren’t filmmakers out there more than willing to put their lives on the line (yes, it is sometimes risky making a statement) to get the message out there.
What is missing is the commitment of the Turkish business community to these endeavors.
In Turkey, films are made with “sponsorships.” In other words, a company pays money to have its product appear in the film, or in the titles, or at the premier. It expects nothing in return beyond having the company name associated with the star or the movie in the newspapers.
In the United States, we offer a return on the money. In other words, it’s an investment where not only is the company’s name associated with the film in the press, the company or individual has an ownership of the film as well.
In spite of this more advantageous position, as an example, “Broken Angel” has taken nearly three years to get made. And we are still looking for sponsors and investors to make our deadline.
The Turkish business community must step up.
If you, either individually or your company, as a filmmaker or entertainment aficionado, feel that you should make your voice heard, that you are tired of sitting silently by while the world acts against you, then you can contact me or Turks in Entertainment for information about projects just waiting to be made.
WE need to SCREAM! And scream loudest! Not just on paper, but on the big screen!
Bu Makale ile ilgili yorumlar:
Tugce
* F,Ozgun..Nereden cikariyorsun 'kimse Turkleri sevmiyor'Ben bir cok ulkeyi dolastim ve dunyanin her yerinden insanlarla tanistim hic kimseden Duymadim,Tabii var sevmeyen ,seven,vs,Promlem sende bence,Senin kimlik promlemin var,Hem madem kendini TUrk olarak gormuyorsun ne isin var Turklerle? Senin gibi cok Iran li var dengesiz,Ne olduklarina daha karar verememisler,Sinirlari acmaya gerek yok,Zaten Iran dan geliyorlar Gay ler,Tr yi istila etmisler,ipini sapina koparan her yerden,
Turk Turkoglu
* How happy to see we have not lost the frontiers in America yet...If only such people existed in Europe and especially in Germany. Thank you very much for your dear contribution and greetings from Azerbaijan.
halit şıltak
* hello ben kumpirciyim çok iyi anlarım lütfen bana bir iş bulun
EMRE !
* sayin búyúktúrkoglu yazilarinizi túrkce yazarsaniz túrkcenin daha cok kullanilan dil olmasina katki verirsiniz geregini bilgilerinize saygilarimla
Vedat Asllay
* Dear Leslie. your article has a very sad truth in it. Yes we have a very bad image in the movie industry. And it is extremely difficult to penetrate this industry. Having said that we need friends like Armenians and Greeks?. how sad and difficult it is. however, how about having jewsish friends in the industry, do we have it? Or can we have it? what we have to do it to get it?
adnan aktaş
* meraba ben istanbuldan adnan 39 yaşındayım bekarım benımle bır omur boyu yaşaayacak durus ve samımı bayanlardan cevap sms aktassan25@hotmail.com
bay_tonguz@hotmail.com
* merhabalar.ben türkiyeden ömer 23 yaşındayım.benımle evlenecek bir ömür boyu yaşayacak dürüst samimi bayanlaradan sms veya mail beklıyorum. bay_tonguz@hotmail.com 0543 670 24 10 0535 831 85 72
F. Ozgun
* To Semih; Dear Semih I live in California now. Before to cam to here I used to live in many european countries. I have turkish citizenship but I’m not turk. When people ask me what is your nationality I say I don’t know , im from Turkey but I’m not turk. IM NOT TURK BECAUSE I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH TATAR MONGOLIC BARBARIAN RACE. Yes I agree with you that at the end of Ottoman empire many muslim-europeans had suffered. I have mixed blood of bosniac, albanian, laz and arab. In euorpe and in USA ( and I think in many countires too) beeing muslim bosniac , or laz or kurd is better than turk. Nobody likes turks in this world, nobody..Can you people answer to me why??? Somebody can say because we are strong, somebody can say because of our geografic position….NO.NO.NO….. Because of our past history and today…Not only turks had Empire. For sample russians had empire to but they never forced theirs muslims to become christians or reverse.They where liberal with all native nations . Remember Arabic khalifat. Turks Sultans always killed and descriminated ethnic small nations of ottoman empire That’s why today turks are hated by all europens. Do you know that greeks, bolgarians, romanians, serbs and many others are using word turk to insult each other. Remember that epizod from ‘My fat greek wedding’ movie. You can say well they (greeks) don’t like us, they are christian we are muslim. I agree but why farsi iranians are doing same way? From where this comes?? Again from turks past history. Ok now about Turkish Republic. Why Armenians, Greeks, Jews are minorities and have some little rights but for sample Laz people doesn’t have. Why jew is jew in Turkey and young jew boy can learn jewish in their school when laz is turk and must learn turkish only? THIS IS DISCRIMINATION!!!!! Attaturks policies is not good any more.! We need big change…… First ..No Turkey… Must Be ANATOLIA.!!!! Second.. No Red Flag ..Must be Simbolic Peace sign on white. Third.. No more marks about religion. Mosqes and churches must be separated and must not be controlled or financed by govermant. Fourth. Freedom of Speech, No place for Nationalizm, no attaturks policies anymore.. Fift .. ALL ETHNICS MINORITIES MUST HAVE RIGHTS TO OPEN SCHOOLS ON THIERS LANGUAGE ,MUST HAVE RIGHTS TO OPEN MOSQES, CHURCHES! Sixt..Army must be like in USA ..contractors ONLY! Sevent.. Open borders with all naibours.. Eight..Human rights must be in same level like in EU. After this reforms we will have good country. And all mistakes of past will be forgiven and forgotten by all peace loving nations. At the end I wont to say that personally I belive and I know that Armenian Genocide is happened. But it happened at ottoman Era. Attaturk in 1919-1920 invited some intellectual armenians back to country . Some of them came back (Hagop Dilacar -modern turkish language opener for sample). But mostly they prefered to live in other countries where theirs life could be more secure at that time
UFO PRESENTS THE TRUE STORY...MUST BE MADE MOVIE......
* http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/aktuel/?t=02.12.2007&c=5&i=85200
Semih
* Turks participating on a discussion board with several thousand members were recently asked to share their family stories of exile. Many, if not most Turks, are the descendants of refugees from Circassia, the Balkans, from the east, from the south, from every land outside of Anatolia in which there once were Muslims living within the Ottoman Empire. The homogenous populations of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, etc. did not form spontaneously. Those populations are homogenous due to brutal expulsions of muslims, regardless of ethnicity, from those lands. Yet, out of the several thousand forum members, only two responded. Either Turks don't want to share their stories or they are not aware of them. However, it often seems the latter is the case. The generation that forged the Modern Republic of Turkey did not dwell on the past with their children, so their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, for the most part, don't know about the hardships, the struggle, the heroism and the absolutely sysiphean feate accomplished by those who formed the Modern Republic of Turkey. We need to learn our stories, and we need to tell them in documentaries, in books, in lectures, in plays, in movies, on TV. Our stories are no less dramatic or interesting than any other. However, this is something in which all Turks must participate in whatever capacity they can, either with stories, financial or other support. Our stories cannot be told by one or two, they must be told by all of us. P.S. Marty Callaghan's Blood and Oil is also an excellent film.
Kurtler ve Ermeniler Hollywood'da
* K. Iraklı Kürtler ve Ermeniler, sinema filmleriyle, uluslararası propaganda atağına başlıyor. Kuzey Iraklı Kürtler ve Ermeniler, yapımcılığını Hollywood prodüksüyon şirketlerinin üstleneceği bir dizi sinema filmiyle, uluslararası propaganda atağına başlamaya hazırlanıyor. Hollywood yapımı çok büyük bütçeli filmlerle propaganda başlatma hazırlıklarında son aşamaya gelen , Kuzey Irak Kürtleri ile Ermeniler show dünyasının gücünden yararlanmak için bütün kozlarını ortaya koydular. Hollywood yapımı sinema filmlerinde , Kuzey Irak Kürtleri de bağımsız bir Kürt devletinin kurulması için propaganda yapacak . Ermeniler ise sözde Ermeni Soykırım iddialarını vurgulayacak. ABD’de yayın yapan internet portalı Turkishny.com’ın haberine göre, Ermeni ve Kürtler’in konuyla ilgili hazırlıklarında son aşamaya gelindi. KÜRTLER HOLLYWOOD FİLMLERİ İÇİN KESENİN AĞZINI AÇTI Kuzey Irak Yönetimi , Hoolywood’da sinema yoluyla başlatacağı tanıtım atağında, Kürtlerin Saddam döneminde başta Halepçe katliamı olmak üzere yaşadığı çeşitli olayları konu ala filmlerle , uluslararası kamuoyunda Kürtlere sempati duyulmasını sağlanacak. Yaklaşık 30 kadar Hollywood yapımcısını şu ana kadar Kuzey Irak’a davet eden Kürt özerk yönetimi , Hollywood filmleri için kesenin ağzını da açmış durumda. Milyonlarca dolarlık bütçelerle yola çıkan yapımcılar, Ömer Şerif, Antonio Banderas başta olmak üzere birçok ünlü sinema yıldızıyla geçtiğimiz aylarda görüşerek, Kürt lider Molla Mustafa Barzani'nin hayatının anlatılan ‘ Peşmerge’ filminin çekimi için kolları sıvamış, Kürt asıllı Mısırlı yönetmen Ali Bedirhan , Peşmerge filminde oynaması için ünlü aktör Antonio Banderas’ı ikna etmek için yoğun bir çaba başlatmıştı. AMAÇ HOLLYWOOD FİLMLERİYLE DÜNYADA KÜRT SEMPATİSİ YARATMAK Bazı Amerikalı yapımcılar, Kuzey Irak’taki Kürt yönetiminin uyguladığı uzun vadeli bir taktikle, dünyada bir Kürt sempatisi yaratma hazırlığında olduğunu belirterek. ‘ Show dünyasını en iyi şekilde kullanarak propaganda yapmak istiyorlar. Kuzey Irak’lı Kürtler bu konuda yoğun bir çaba içerisine girdiler. Kürtlerin çıkarları doğrultusunda Hollywood’u en iyi şekilde kullanacaklar.‘ diye konuştular. ASIL HEDEF BAĞIMSIZ BİR KÜRT DEVLETİ İÇİN KAMUOYU YARATMAK Hollywood’da çekilecek filmlerde, Kürtlerin bir taşla bir kaç kuş vurma hazırlığında olduğunu belirten Amerikalı yapımcılar’ Bu uzun vadeli bir beyin yıkama yöntemidir. Belli stratejiler hedeflenerek düşünülmüştür, Hollywood yapımı bir kaç iyi sinema filminde Kürt propagandası yapılması Türkiye’yi önümüzdeki yıllarda çok zor duruma düşürebilir ‘ şeklinde konuştular. Kuzey Irak yönetiminin aslıda yapmak istediğinin ileride kurulması düşündükleri bağımsız bir devlete uluslararası bir kamuoyu yaratmak olduğunu vurgulayan Hollywood kaynakları Türkiye’nin yıllardır dünyanın en etkili propaganda aracı olan Show Business’i ihmal ettiğini vurgulayarak’ Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ve Türkler, Alan Parker’ın yönettiği sinema filmi Midnight Ekspres bıraktığı kötü izleri silmek için hala uğraşıyor. Etkili bir sinema filmi en büyük silahtır, Türkiye henüz bir Atatürk projesini bile hayata geçiremedi. Yılların vurdum duymazlığı sürüyor, ancak bu kez bunun bedeli Türkiye için çok ağır olabilir.‘ şeklinde konuştular. HOLLYWOOD FİLMLERİNDE KÜRTLER HEP KAHRAMAN OLARAK GÖSTERİLECEK Irak gibi kan gölü ve savaşın tüm şiddeti ile sürdüğü bir ülkeye yaklaşık 30 kadar Hollywood yapımcısını getirmenin çok başarılı bir iş olduğunu vurgulayan yapımcılar, ‘ Artık, Hollywood’da Vietnam filmleri gibi bir dizi , Irak filmleride yapılacaktır. Hollywood’da bu filmlerde de Kürtler hep Amerikan askerlerine yardım etmiş acı çekmiş, barışcıl bir bölgenin halkı olarak gösterilecektir, duygu sömürüsü yapılacaktır, Kürtler birer kahraman olarak tanıtılıp, bölgelerinde yarattıkları huzur ve istikrar vurgulanacak, ve filmlerde hep Kürtlerin artık hep bir şeyleri hakettikleri vurgulanacaktı r. ‘Peşmerge ‘ filminin çekilmesinin ardından, bir çok Hollywood yapımı film bir biri ardına vizyona girecek. Hollywood yapımı filmlerde, Kuzey Irak’lı kürtlerin Amerikan halkına verdiği destek birer kahramanlık öyküsü haline getirilerek, Amerikan halkının Kürktlere olan sempatisi arttırılacak. Saddam Hüseyin döneminden başlayarak, Halepçe katliamında bölgede yaşayan Kürt halkının çektiği acıların konu edildiği Hollywood filmlerinde de Kürtlerin çektiği acılar ve verdikleri mücadele ile bağımsız bir devleti hak ettikleri vurgulanarak, sinema yoluyla ‘ Bağımsız bir Kürt Devleti ‘ propagandası yapılacak.’ diye konuştular. ERMENİ LOBİSİNDEN HOLYWOOD’A 100 MİLYON DOLAR Ermeni lobisi, sözde Ermeni soykırım iddialarına uluslararası destek sağlmak amacıyla 100 milyon dolar nakit parayı Hollywood yapım şirketlerine aktararak, kendi tezlerinin savundukları bir kaç sinema filminin yapımı için hazırlıklarını tamamlamak üzere, Hollywood’un bulunduğu Kaliforniya’da Ermenilerin yoğun olarak yaşamasının avantajını en iyi şekilde kullanmaya hazırlanan Ermeni Lobisi, Hollywood yapım şirketlerinde çalışan binlerce Ermeni kökenli Amerikalı’nın da desteğiyle, büyük bütçeli ve ünlü aktör ve aktrislerin de yer aldığı sinema filmleriyle sözde Ermeni soykırımı iddialarını daha geniş kitlelere taşımaya çalışıp uluslararası kamuoyunun desteğini almaya çalışacak. Hollywood kaynaklarından elde edilen bilgiye göre, sinema proje kapsamında Hollywood yapımcılarına 100 milyon Dolar nakit bir para aktarılacak. Hollywood kaynakları’ Bu para Hollywood için oldukça büyük bir meblağ, 100 milyon Dolar nakit 250 - 300 milyon dolarlık bir proje demektir, bu bütçelerle yola çıkan Ermeniler’in birden fazla sinema filmi çekme hazırlığında, yapımcılarda para kazanır, Ermeniler’de en iyi şekilde sözde Ermeni soykırımı propagandası yaparak amaçlarına ulaşırlar . ‘ diye konuştular. MUSA DAĞINDA KIRK GÜN YENİDEN ÇEKİLİYOR Sözde Ermeni soykırımı iddialarını destekleyen en önemli edebi eserlerden biri olarak kabul edilen, 1930’larda yayınlanan , Franz Nobel’in ‘Musa Dağında Kırk Gün‘ adlı romanının , sinemaya yeniden uyarlanması için yapılan hazırlıklar ise artık son aşamasında. Avusturyalı bir Yahudi olan Franz Werfel’in 1929'da Suriye’nin başkenti Şam'a yaptığı bir gezi sırasında, bölgedeki Ermenilerle konuşarak yazmaya başladığı roman. 1933'te Viyana’da yayımlanmıştı. Kitap satış rekorları kırararak 18 ayrı dilde yayımlanmıştı. 1983 High Investments Films tarafından sinemaya uyarlanılan romanın filmi ise tutulmamıştı. Sylvestor Stalonne ile birlikte hareket eden ABD’deki Ermeni lobisi filmi yeniden Holyywood’da daha geniş bir bütçeyle çekmek istemiş, Stallone’da bu filmle ödül alacağını iddia etmişti. Kaynaklar, filmde tutucu bir Hristiyan olarak bilinen oyuncu Mel Gibson ile başrol oynaması için antlaşmanın an meselesi olduğunu belirterek, Mel Gibson’ın Ermenilere duyduğu sempati nedeniyle bu teklife çok sıcak baktığını belirttiler.
Leslie
* Musho, yes you are right about Turkey being a melting pot, much like the United States. Which should make everyone stop and think -- Who really was responsible? You and I will never know -- we're not that old. And why should I apologize for something that I didn't do. And I really resent having my tax dollars spent on something that will achieve nothing. Let's spend it to stop real genocides occurring right now, not making a statement about something that no one can change. Big waste of time and money.
Musho
* Is everything ok inside of your head? Not drunk? or Koke used this morning? ))
Musho
* To Noah. Please be more clear so i can answer to your question. Who is that devil?
noah
* muso how com you armenians worshipping devil????
Musho from Glendale, CA
* Instead of scream you could apologize, remove from your penal code article 301 and close mouths of all nationalists. By the way did you know that 35-45 % of population of Turkey are not ethnic turks? Thats not armenians found out...EU researchers concluded it.
yukselo OKTAY
*
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