A bigger agenda?

Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Turkish, Resurrection: Ertuğrul; 2014-19)
Season 1-5, Netflix.

They say it is all planned. Work has been on ever since the sick man of Europe crumbled at the might of the West. When the enemies stabbed their coup de grace into the heart of the pinnacle of their laurels, they knew they had to take matters into their own hands. The fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 heralded the Khalifat movement in India which subsequently saw the development of an Islamic State, Pakistan. But work was not complete, until and unless the glory of their past is resurrected. Leaders came, and leaders went. The world saw them all shrivel up and cosy up to the swaggering fingers of the enemies.

My realisation into this topic was triggered way back 40 years ago. I had just read about Mustafa Kamal Ataturk in my Std 6 history books. Yes, there was a time when the Malaysian Education Ministry actually thought that students need to be exposed to more things than just Islamic history. Discussions with my nerd friends a few years later made me realise that not everyone was happy with Atartuk’s modernisation endeavours and his female empowerment stance. They felt that he and the Young Turks were puckering up to the Non-Believers. Ataturk and the Young Turks could be the Abu Dajjal, the mythical Anti-Christ in the Islamic eschatology. 

This miniseries has taken the Islamic world by storm. It has also been referred to as the 'Islamic Games of Throne' - the halal option to the raunchy storytelling of Tinseltown's 'Games of Throne'. Followers insist that one can get all the fun with their clothes on. In GOT, strategies and deceptions are often planned in compromising positions whilst in the latter, they are done in a poetic language under the tent of the nomadic tribes. It has even a more significant following in Pakistan than in Turkey where it was made. Look around the cyberspace, and you will find only positive reviews. Evaluations coming from Islamic nations are only glowing ones. They are happy that an Islamic country can show Hollywood how to make movies without unnecessary exposure of flesh and commodification of the female body. Women empowerment is present, the Islamic way.

The miniseries, over five seasons and 448 episodes, tells the supposed tale of the father of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman I. Apparently literature on Erdugul, father to Osman I, is scanty and only fills a single page. Still, the screenwriters have taken the liberty to expand their imaginations to come up with this smasher. A nomadic tribal Turkish tribe combats the Crusaders in a saga of sorcery, masculinity, great outdoors, swashbuckling violence, deception, pretty women, love, obedience to tribal mores and the worship of God Almighty. With each episode taking almost an hour to view, one will take eternity completely digest the whole story!

Detractors are mumbling that this offering is Turkey's way of announcing to the world that they mean business. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after elevating himself to the post of President, perhaps has secret ambitions of making himself the de-facto leader of the Muslim (Sunni Muslim) world, akin to the Caliph or Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Erdoğan is forming an allegiance with Pakistan, Malaysia and possibly China to see the fruition of his plan. At the same time, he would like to see Saudi Arabia, whom he accuses of sleeping with the enemy to crumble. Iran, who spurred the imagination of the masses that an Islamic Republic is even possible, simply cannot take the helm for their deviant ideology. Even the Pakistanis are finding more commonalities with their Turkish brothers than the motherland that they have carved away in a frenzy preceding the Partition.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Like Karma Chameleon, you come and go!

Kedi (Turkish, documentary; 2017)
Director: Ceyda Torun

They gaze into the horizon without a care in the world. If a dog wags its tail and jumps around your legs for attention, it is because it thinks you are God. A cat, on the other hand, does not give two hoots to your presence. Cats have perfected the way to strut the posterior in front of your face in defiance in an art form humans call 'catwalk'. The cats do not think of humans as God but instead perceive themselves as the intermediaries to the Gods. Thanks to their ancestors who were placed on a pedestal by Queen Cleopatra and her band of rulers, as well as the unique place conferred to members of the Cat Family in ancient belief systems (Al Uzza with her cat and Durga with her Bengal Tiger), cats wander with a chip on their shoulders. With their eight other lives to spare, they roam haughtily with their snouts high in the air as if breathing on imported air. Like in Boy George's 'Karma Chameleon', they come and go as they please. Unlike other domesticated animals, they managed to convince Man that they need not be leashed.

With their alluring meowing and their fluffy, soft bodies, cats know they can get away with murder, but they only use their charm to cajole the gullible public to depart from some mouthwatering chow.

This Turkish documentary is an exceptional presentation that would melt the hearts of any cat-lover. Using low cameras to follow the path of the stars of the film, the cats, it manages to capture many fantastic close-shots of members of the feline species. It appears that the Turkish community is quite accommodating in having stray cats wander about their streets, cafés, roofs, and even homes. The shows mostly try to outline the daily routines of many street cats while taking many striking photographs of these sly animals. As it is mentioned in this offering, cats offer comfort to anxious and weak souls. It redefines the meaning of our existential presence. They may open our soul to accept life beings as a continuum of the Universe rather than treating animals as second-class lifeforms that do not deserve our respect or a kind of punishment for their doings in their past lives. Maybe their presence on Earth acts as a testing bed for us to place us in the karma cycle when we are done with this present life on Earth.

Cross cultural comedy

Almanya - Welcome to Germany (Willkommen in Deutschland, German, 2011)

This 2011 German award winning supposedly comedy film (not overtly funny - maybe by Deutschland standards) made by people of Turkish descent there. It is shown here as part of the European film festival.
Since the 70s, Turkish workers started working in Germany. This film is told from the viewpoint of a grand daughter of one such immigrant Huseyni Yilmaz.

Huseyni takes everybody for a trip back to Turkey. In midst of all, everybody has issues to handle. The youngest grandson, Cenk, is finding trouble whether he is German or Turkish. The narrator, Canan, a university student, living with her English boyfriend, had missed her periods!
The story of Huseyni's marriage in Turkey, his migration, then his family's, the culture shock, the language barrier etcetera is told in instalments along the way as the clan prepares and go for the holiday.

For a better life?

When Huseyni returns home for the first time, two of his children could not recognise him. After Veli, the eldest son, gets in trouble with the school after playing truant, Huseyni decides to take the family back to Germany.

The migration of the family cause cultural and language difficulties but they got by. There are many pork related jokes, like the immigration officer insists that to be a German citizen, one has to eat pork! Then there is Muhamad's (2nd son) friend telling him that German are canibals - they gather on Sunday to feed on a man hanging on the cross! And they just could not understand why the dogs in Germany had to be walked around on a leash unlike in Turkey where dogs stray around and that is what they are supposed to be doing!
The jokes here are quite sanitized, nothing as crass as Borat!
The movie does not explore deep into all the problems faced by the characters. It deals with it superficially. Anyway, it is supposed to be a light comedy.
The film ends with the grandson, representing Huseyni, giving a speech in presence of Chancellor Merkel in a gathering honoring the migrant workers in German.
It makes think how our migrant workers must be awed by our development and the loneliness the feel after looking at us with our respective families.