207) Turks in Western Media - TURKS IN AMERICAN AND WESTERN CINEMA -TURKS IN AMERICAN TELEVISION

1) TURKS IN THE GENERAL AMERICAN MEDIA
2) TURKS IN AMERICAN AND WESTERN CINEMA
3) TURKS IN AMERICAN TELEVISION

Why are Turks so disliked in the West?
Could it have anything to do with there being nary a positive thing being said about Turkey in the Western media (with the possible exception of the "travel section")? . .

Whenever there is the rare positive possibility regarding Turks, the Orthodox folks begin their nutty campaigns to undermine the effort.... such as when Greek-Americans sabotaged a major movie planned on the life of Ataturk. ("Greek-Americans and Armenian-Americans ... fear that such a portrayal might lead to a warming of popular feeling toward Turkey" -- The New York Times.) When one enters Oriental rug stores, many owned by Armenians, you will rarely find any carpet labeled "Turkish." The droves of settled Greeks in America who have gone into the restaurant business have let every preparation of Turkish/Greek origin be known as Greek... such as "baklava," a Turkish word. (which most likely indicates its Turkish origin.)

Turk-haters have conspired to feed off on the negative image of Turkey everywhere. NBC-TV, for example, purposely devalued the representation of Turkish athletes in their coverage of the Olympics. America's non-commercial Public Broadcasting System (PBS), which should ideally be above external influences, is a champion of the Armenian cause.

It's not the purpose of this web site to deeply get into the unfairness of Western media when it comes to the representation of Turks and Turkey. However, it is important to understand how negatively Turks are still viewed today, and the deep-rooted reasons why Americans and other Westerners automatically accept the anti-Turkish "side" of stories that the Orthodox folks spin. As Pauline Kael said in her examination of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS... "Who wants to defend Turks?"

Even to this day, examples of ignorance regarding the portrayal of Turks in the American media are not difficult to find. Here is how New Yorker magazine cartoonist S. Gross depicted the Turkish representative at the United Nations, as recently as 1996.

Dear New Yorker:

In S. Gross cartoon (Oct. 21/28 issue at page 18), You can t say the U.N. isn t trying, the Turkish delegate is depicted in supposedly traditional garb, wearing a fez and cloak. Outside of tourist shops, the fez has not been worn in Turkey since the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Prior to that, it had been the official headgear of the once-proud Ottoman Empire. As the Ottoman Empire decayed in the late 19th century, many considered the fez an embarrassment, culminating in it being outlawed by Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's first President. Nevertheless, the fez remains somewhat in vogue in former Ottoman lands in North Africa. In addition, the cloak the delegate apparently wears is also not traditionally Turkish, but more consistent with North Africa.

Sincerely, David Saltzman

November 5, 1996, The Turkish Times

AN OVERVIEW

I don't know the author... but in this apparent academic paper, the following excerpts beautifully describe the roots of Turk-Treatment in the Western media.

The relationship between West ("Occident") and East ("Orient") is another example of a relationship of power and domination....

Hence, the representation of Turkish people in western literature and cinema is not different from Middle Eastern stereotype. First of all they are attributed negative physical characteristics such as ugliness, dirtiness and moral characteristics so that they are always lustful, fanatical, irrational, cruel, scheming, unreliable, defeated. Their only reason for existence is to pose challenge to the western hero. For this reason, if they have any energy it only provides problems to the hero since the characteristics of this energy are evil. Their countries are passive background to the stories in which all the important and good things are done by Western heroes like James Bond. If they have a problem they are not able to solve it, because a western hero is necessary to solve the problem or at least to show them the way to the solution. [96] In Western literature we can easily find various examples in which Turks are presented in association with negative connotations such as cruelty, religious fanaticism, espionage, dirtiness, drug addiction etc. For example, Simon Shephard writes about the image of the Turk during the Renaissance period as follows:

Turks, Tartars, even Persians constituted the infidel powers which neighboured and threatened European Christiandom. The word "Turk" was mainly used in two ways, as a generic name for an Islamic State with its own characteristic institutions of Government and military; and as a description of behaviour or character- the Turks 'being of nature cruel and heartless'(...) The idea of cruelty was probably produced by the Turks' distant foreigness combined with an absence from their lives of comprehensible Christian ethics, but more importantly by their military threat. [97]

This trend in Early English Stage covers Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlane the Great (1590) and the Jew of Malta (1592), Thomas Kyd's the Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda (1599), Fulke Greville's the Tragedy of Mustapha (1609), John Mason's the Turk (1610), Robert Daborne's Christian turn'd Turke (1612), Thomas Goffe's the Raging Turke or Bajazet the Second (1631), Ladowick Carlell's the Famous Tragedy of Osmand the Great Turk (1657), Nevile Payne's the Siege of Constantinople (1675), Elkonah Settle's Ibrahim the Illustrious Bassa (1677), and Mary Pix's Ibrahim the Thirteenth Emperor of the Turks (1696) [98]

In these plays, one of the important Turkish stereotypes is a Turkish tyrant who seperates two lovers by falling in love with the girl (a naive Turkish beauty) who he has kept in his possession through force. But because of the faithfulness to her lover who is a Christian Westerner, she is either rewarded by God with a happy reunion, or she chooses death instead of the Turkish Pasha's love. [99] While she analyses the general characteristics of Elizabethan plays Rana Kabbani writes that "Shakespeare whitewashes Othello by making him a servant of the Venetian State, a soldier fighting for a Christian power, and most importantly, a killer of Turks..." [100] At the 19th century, due to the cencorship of British Victorian society, eroticism was transferred either into the world of underground pornography or to "exotic" lands such as Ottoman Territories. Indeed, some European writers chose Eastern settings and characters to satisfy their reader's sexual interests. Kamil Aydin writes as follows :

In fiction, the Lustful Turk (first published in 1828) is an outstanding example of a convention that consists largely of a series of letters written by its heroine, Emily Barlow, to her friend Sylvia Carey. When the heroine sails from England for India in June 1814 , their ship is attacked by Turks and afterwards they are taken to the sumptuous harem. In this epistolary novel, readers quickly encounter bizzare sexual scenes and stories associated with the lechereous and cruel character of the Turkish Dey.All the erotic fantasies are narrated through Emily as she talks to the other enslaved girls in the harem, eg. one of the captives in the harem is a Greek girl named , Adrianti, who tells the tragic story of how her father and brother were slaughtered before her eyes by the Turks. [101]

Similarly Lord Byron employed a Ottoman territory for a horror story and started to write a story about a vampire taking Izmir as the setting. [102] In his Turkish Tales, Leile, Zuleika and Gulnare are presented as beautiful, hopeless victims of a Turkish governor. [103] At the decline era of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish image took another form "which is sometimes demeaning, sometimes critically mocking and caricaturised by Victorian figures such as Bayle St. John, Thackeray, C.Dickens and so on." [104] In his Rowing Englishmen, Charles Dickens writes that, "Oh no! We should have been off anywhere but in Turkey." [105]

This tradition has not changed in the 20th century. For instance, Paul Bowles claims that "if a nation [Turks] wishes, however mistakenly to westernise itself, first let it give up hashish." [106] Ernest Hemingway clearly states his uneasiness with Istanbul since it is very dirty and he adds that "[minarets] look like dirty, white candles sticking up for no apparent reason." [107]

Films have also produced and disseminated particular negative images of Turks. For example, in Lawrence Of Arabia (David Lean) the moviemakers present Turks as corrupt, evil, barbarian, ugly, sodomite peoples by using the point of view of a British army officer. Similarly, in Pascali's Island (James Dearden) Ben Kingsley plays an ugly, bold, bisexual Turkish spy who becomes tragically involved with Charles Dancer's tricksy archaeologist and Helen Mirren's Austrian painter in the middle. Due to his fanatical jealousy and denunciation, the lovers (English archaeologist and Austrian painter) are killed by the cruel, ugly, fat, bribee Turkish Pasha of the island. In Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray,1954), the name of one of the bank robbers is Turkey. [108]

In this context, we need to add that stereotypes about western people are regarded as structurally central in relation with the stereotypes of Turks because stereotypes of Turks are partially defined in terms of or in opposition to western people. [109] For this reason, the dirty, lustful Turk attains at least some of its meaning and force from its opposition to the clean, rational, honest etc. characteristics of western people. [110]

Anti-Turkish horror propaganda has quite a tradition: Around 1576, Jacopo Ligozzi created a cruel miniature entitled Mufti -11 Papa Delli Turchi (a mufti depicted as the pope of Turkey) with a mostro, thus insinuating that Turkish religious leaders were masters of "monsters"

Anti-Turkish propaganda and discrimination is not only one of the oldest examples of psychological warfare, its duration surpasses by far even the leyenda negra which swept Spain, reaching a new peak in recent years due to concerted action by Erivan and Athens.

It is: a cocktail of inferiority complex, envy and ignorance; the fame of the Turkish soldier, fantasies of Turkish love life and history of Turkish civilisation. All that created an atmosphere which had already culminated half a millennium ago in pictures like that of the Mufti, (The "pope" of the Turks") and his tool, a mostro ( monster) - the Turkish nation. An answer is long overdue.

Source: Eric Feigl, A MYTH OF ERROR (Not "Terror"!)

During the years of the Armenian "Genocide," editorial cartoons in the Western press never failed to depict the Turks as having committed atrocities... in keeping with the slanted bias of the Western press.

A Few Turcophobic Odds and Ends

The second definition in American English dictionaries of "Turk" connotes "savage," "tyrannical," and/or "cruel."

Say that in Aleppo once, Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk, Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, I took by the throat the circumcised dog And smote him â€“ thus!

"Othello," William Shakespeare

The Italians have an exclamative that expresses fright (at times comical fright): mamma, li turchi! -- Mamma, the Turks (are here, or on the way). Not very nice, is it? And the word "Turk" here means a generic "Muslim," which makes it worse; the phrase originates from the fears stirred everywhere in Italy by centuries of Arab raids, with local inhabitants killed or kidnapped, their women raped, thir houses and churches plundered and destroyed. (Source unknown)

A Rare FAVORABLE Depiction of a Turk!

This page is far from comprehensive... it's hard enough putting this site together without making a serious study of how Turks are represented in the Western media. (Besides, that is not the purpose of this site, as mentioned.) This is why there are only a few examples, encountered arbitrarily, for the most part. Believe me, if I were to put my mind to providing a series of negative or ignorant Turkish portrayals in America's media, past and present, there would be no end to this page.

Instead, I wanted to focus on the very rare portrayal of a Turk in the American media who came across as a "hero."

Let me take you back to the days of the 1970s, where images like this other "hero" of the time were presented:

I believe this fellow was known as the Winchester Man... kind of a take on the Marlboro Man (although he was a bit of a pretty boy to come across as the rugged, macho type, don't you think?) That's Farrah Fawcett at left, by the way, before she made it big.

Many years ago, cigarette smokers were looked upon as "cool"... these days, smokers are the outcasts of American society.

Well, there was another "cool" smoker in those days.

MEET THE TURK!

Yes, "The Turk." Camel cigarettes (one of the few American products that has the word "Turkish" in their packaging... referring to the Turkish tobacco) embarked on its MEET THE TURK campaign. "The Turk" was cast in a "James Bond" sort of role, involved in all kinds of exciting adventures and prancing about in a world of sophisticated glamour. Beautiful women would always be by his side (although I don't remember if he ever had as many at once as the Winchester man, above)... in one of the few depictions of the Turkish male as a worthy lover (I wish I made notes years back... but I came across several books written by Western travelers â€” one was from the 19th Century â€” amazed at what great lovers Turks can be. Probably the "Lustfulness"... which of course is meant in a derogatorily lecherous sense... of the "Lustful Turk" stereotype does point to some enviable truth, in terms of virility).

At any rate, the Turk from Camel's "Meet the Turk" campaign was the rare example of a Turk in American media who had a really favorable image. In fact, I can think of no other examples where a Turk was represented in such a "positive" way.

What happened to The Turk? I'm not exactly sure, but The Turk was nowhere to be seen, following an apology from a Camel company representative, concerned that they might have offended some ethnic groups. You can bet the ethnic groups that complained weren't Turkish!

Ottoman Turkish cheesecake

There was a cop show on television called TURKS a few years ago that had nothing to do with Turkey... the program was about a family of police officers who happened to have "Turk" as a last name. (No doubt the idea was that "Turk" connoted toughness.) I remember reading reports about complaints received from our Orthodox friends... Heaven forbid Turks should come across positively in the media, even in such a pathetically small light.

Camel, by the way, is not the first American tobacco company that showcased a Turkish flavor in their advertising campaigns. Many years ago (perhaps at its peak in the 1930s?), Murad dressed up their ads with typical images meant to depict Turks... such as the harem girl pictured here. (At any rate, the "harem" aspect is probably the first thought that would have come into people's minds.) Years ago, I was in a restaurant in New York City that had a huge, nearly wall-sized print of an old "Murad" ad... depicting a fierce Turkish warrior on horseback, swinging his ever-present sword. (It was beautifully dynamic, and I loved it. I wish I could have had that barbarian on my wall.)

More on Meet the Turk and other cigarette ads with Turkish themes. The first link informs us the campaign lasted from 1974-1980, and that:

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was looking for a Camel Filters advertising campaign that targeted the independent individual, or at least people who thought they were independent. "Meet the Turk"; he is a man who does the unusual, "he searches for what most men do not even know exists." This campaign opened on the West Coast about the same time Turkey decided to invade Cyprus. Untimely? You bet. Billboards in the San Francisco Bay Area were being defaced to read, "Meet the Jerk" or "Meet the Tur_." Did this negative reaction bother the Turk? Yes it did, but only from a distance. You see, the Turk was from Manhattan. Meet George Kozul, a part-time model by day, and a full-time telephone repairman by night. George's father was Yugoslavian, and his mother of Italian ancestry. At the time of the campaign, George hadn't been any closer to Istanbul than Coney Island.

Epilogue, the Camel Campaign.

R.I.P., Joe Camel

"The Turk" was not the only Camel mascot who was yanked, thanks to pressure from special interest groups. JOE CAMEL bit the dust, after advocates criticized the cartoon character for influencing children to take up smoking. (Notice how Joe Camel could dress up like The Turk, in James Bond fashion.) It was at that point Camel shelved the idea of having their product represented by any symbol... they now concentrate on generic, adventurous scenes. Sometimes the Turkish flavor creeps up in their ads, as in the example below.... where few Turks would probably object to the outdated representation provided by the Fez.

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2) Turks in American and Western Cinema

Mustafa Kemal AtatÃ¼rk said in 1937:

"A day will come when the invention of the cinema will seem to have changed the face of the world more than the invention of gun powder, electricity or the discovery of new continents. The cinema will make it possible for people living in the most remote comers of the earth to get to know and love one another. The cinema will remove differences of thought and outlook, and will be of great assistance in realizing the ideals of humanity. It is essential that we treat the cinema with the importance it deserves."

Once again, AtatÃ¼rk showed his great wisdom.

Of course, there is another effect of the cinema... far more insidious. As powerful as the medium can be to influence and change minds for the better, resulting in people getting to know and love one another... the cinema can also be used by those less scrupulous, to teach or reinforce the effect of hatred.

Turk haters have made great use of this weapon, in the Western world.

In this section, I would like to examine some examples of how Turks have been depicted in mostly American movies. Just for the heck of it, near the bottom of this page, we'll also examine the treatment of Greeks and Armenians in mostly American cinematic fare.

There is a Book Written on the Subject

A book I would love to read. I've come across this piece from the Turkish Daily News that describes it:

ANKARA- The roots of the West's negative image of Turks is found in a book by Italian author and cinema historian, Giovanni Scognamillo with the conclusion drawn being, "Never trust a Turk," the Anatolia news agency reported.

According to the book entitled "Turkey and Turks in Western cinema," Istanbul has characteristically been depicted on the movie screen as an exotic center for junkies and spies. As a result, Turkey gained a reputation as a dangerous country and Turks came to be thought of as untrustworthy people.

The latest example of this anti-Turkish propaganda in Western cinema was a 1991 film called "Mediteraneo" directed by Gabriele Salvatores. Alan Parker's "Midnight Express" provides another example among films which present Turkey as a dangerous land.

On the other hand, while it is true that modern Western cinema rarely presents Turks in a positive light, a 1917 film called "Filling his own shoes," promoted Turks in a very positive manner.

Let's Start Things Off with "Good" Treatment of Turks, in Western Cinema

Seems like the American silent film period was a heyday when it came to depicting Turkey in the cinema. (In sharp contrast to these days, when the movies rarely show anything Turk-related... and if they do, it is almost certainly in the form of villainy or evil.) To wit:

War in Turkey (1913)
Charlie in Turkey (1919)
Somewhere in Turkey (1918)
Mutt and Jeff in Turkey (1913)

How fitting we have to go back all the way to 1917 to get an example of a film where Turks appeared to have been portrayed as decent human beings. This would be FILLING HIS OWN SHOES, which I never heard of until I read the article above.

Poster for Filling His Own Shoes
Directed & co-written by Harry Beaumont and starring Bryant Washburn (Ruggles), Hazel Daly and Louise Long (as "BÃ¼lbÃ¼l"), the comedy is about Ruggles (according to Janiss Garza, of the "All Movie Guide") " joining the Turkish forces in the Balkan war. When he rescues a Turkish military chief, the dying man bequeaths him a fortune and three girls from his harem, which Ruggles must marry off. He takes the girls -- Roxana (Virginia Valli), Rosa (Helen Ferguson), and BÃ¼lbÃ¼l (Louise Long) -- to Paris to find them mates. BÃ¼lbÃ¼l decides she wants Ruggles and causes a lot of trouble between him and Ruth. Finally, all three harem girls are married off to titled Europeans, and Ruggles is able to wed Ruth."

Well.... okay. It's not exactly steeped in reality, what with the "harem" angle. But this is as good as it's going to get.

A decade later in the silent era, another effort would showcase Turks (I'm concluding the characters' Turkish nature from the title) in not the harshest of lights... TURKISH DELIGHT (1927). Rudolph Schildkraut plays "misogynist New York rug dealer Abdul Hassan" who "inherits the throne of a small, Middle Eastern principality." The sultana has it in for him and his niece, and there is a big, crazy chase scene at movie's end.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)

Giving Sean Connery a hand
The most cerebral of the James Bond movies contained perhaps the most positive image of Turkey in a Hollywood film... some forty years ago! Co-starred Pedro Armendariz as "Kerim Bey," Bond's Turkish "sidekick." As the unknown author of the marvelous treatise on MIDNIGHT EXPRESS wrote: "Their countries are passive background to the stories in which all the important and good things are done by Western heroes like James Bond. If they have a problem they are not able to solve it, because a western hero is necessary to solve the problem or at least to show them the way to the solution."

BACKGROUND TO DANGER (1943)

Filmed during the brief respite from anti-Turkish madness, the World War II years, where I presume the Allied forces did not want to get on neutral Turkey's bad side; one reason why this was the rare Hollywood film where Turkey was not featured as the bad guy. Directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring George Raft, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, this was Warner Brothers' follow-up to CASABLANCA that did not live up to expectations. Istanbul is yet another of the characters, always good as a mysterious locale of intrigue where spies converge... and converge they do, with Nazis, Soviets and the plucky American, who is helped by his Turkish "sidekick," played by Turhan Bey.

Turhan Bey is the only Turkish star who became a household name in American cinema. Characterized as a suave leading man, his career was short-lived after appearing in one too many "Casbah" movie. Half-Turkish (his attempt at the language in BACKGROUND TO DANGER was pretty pitiful), he retired to the land representing the other half of his heritage, Austria. After a forty year absence from the screen, he resumed his career for a few more ventures. The only other Turkish "celebrity" in the United States I'm aware of is Richard Bey â€” who hosted a syndicated Jerry Springer type of daytime TV talk show years ago.

The only other Turkish celebrity from the United States?

HADJI MURAD THE WHITE WARRIOR (1959)

This Italian film, starring Steve "Hercules" Reeves is perhaps the only Western film where a Turk emerges as a true hero. Funny thing, too, as I don't believe the Turkish character in Tolstoy's novel was particularly heroic. Hadji Murad is not an Ottoman Turk, just one of the many Turkic-types from the Caucasus in line for the Russians' centuries-long assault. Here are excerpts from an insightful description I appreciated from "The Internet Movie Database," called, "An inadvertently unique historical film":

The wonderful thing about this film is its decision to cover a subject area that is largely unknown to Western audiences. Indeed, we Westerners didn't have any idea about this area of the world until the fall of the Soviet Union... Now the Turks are not the heroes in this film, per se (not the Turks of today's Turkey, or the then-Ottoman Empire) but various Turkic tribes in the Caucasus (in the film, they're referred to as "tribesmen," "Caucasian," once as "Muslims," or -- derogatorily by the Russians --as "Savages." Probably using the word "Turk" would have been risky, as the Western audience might then lose its sympathy for the film's heroes). In the declining years of the Ottoman Empire, mighty Czarist Russia instigated many wars against the Ottomans, taking good advantage of their weakened state.

The thing I found interesting is that Czarist Russia is often depicted in American and other Western films as noble and heroic... I guess it's the Christian connection. In this film, based on a novel by Tolstoy, the Russians are hinted at as the bloodthirsty oppressors they were....

The one Turkish book I own identified as "Haci Murad"

At the beginning of the film when Hadji Murad attacks Russian troops down a lonely road, Robin Hood-style, he meets with the "Maid Marian," Russian princess Maria. When she makes a statement regarding the superiority of Russian soldiers, Murad replies that his tribe kills only soldiers, whereas the Russians slaughter women and children. I'm reminded of the fighters in Chechnya following the same procedure (generally)... they wouldn't target innocent Russian civilians (other than terrorist attacks) during the first phase of their recent struggle, a few years ago. During the second phase, when the Russians invaded again, the Russians murder, rob and rape as indiscriminately as they have done in centuries past. Now that the Chechnyans (is it Chechens?) are no longer winning, there has been a general news black-out in the American media... but their struggle is still a continuation of freeing themselves from Russian domination in the Caucasus that "The White Warrior" is about.
JOURNEY OF HOPE (1990)

Best Foreign Film Oscar winner, this powerful Swiss-Turkish co-production traces a poor Kurd-Turkish family's plight as they travel to the promised land of Switzerland. (This film doesn't quite belong on this list as there is a Turkish "hand" in its making... but it was one of the few Turk-related films in America that got some recognition, so I figured it would be fitting to send it a nod.) Presented by a pre-ARARAT Miramax, when the studio was into finding little gems like this.

LATER ADDENDUM:

MONSIEUR IBRAHIM (2003)

Omar Sharif makes up for all his negative cinematic portrayals of Turks by wonderfully playing Mr. Ibrahim, a shopkeeper whose Turkish identity is hidden until the trip to his native land by movie's end. In "Cinema Paradiso" style, the French film studies the bond between a senior and a junior, until the monsieur winds up as the surrogate father. A warm and charming experience, pulling at our heartstrings.

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002)

Audrey Tatou

Beautiful French actress Audrey Tautou portrays Senay, a Turkish national trapped in the seamy underground world of London's desperate immigrant community, along with a Nigerian. Writer Steven Knight and Director Stephen Frears deserve credit for helming a film that shows a Turk as at least a regular human being, and a sympathetic character to boot.

THE FAVORITE ["INTIMATE POWER'] (1989)

The movie is analyzed at length on this page.

THAT'S IT!

Melina Mercouri

As far as American films (which is what I'm mostly covering... I'm aware there are lots of films featuring Turks from other Western nations) where Turks are presented "positively." The best that can be said about the rest is when some feature Turks in a "neutral" way... like, say, TOPKAPI, the fun caper 1964 movie where the Turks were little more than background window dressing.

MEMED MY HAWK (1984)

The Yasar Kemal novel was brought to the screen by TOPKAPI's Peter Ustinov, as writer and director. I haven't seen this movie, and I always thought it was a "positive" film, regarding Turks...but from the bits and pieces I've picked up along the years, I'm not so sure. I understand Kemal was a writer who highlighted Turkey's "persecution of Kurds," and "disregard for human rights."

PASCALI'S ISLAND (1988)

Ben Kingsley
I enjoyed this one, starring the narrator of PBS's only "positive" program featuring Turks, ISLAM: EMPIRE OF FAITH, Ben Kingsley. Ben is a real pro... he is the only actor trying his hand at a Turkish character (I have encountered) whose spoken Turkish was at least understandable. And what a fine performance as Pascali, a spy for the Sultan in 1908, on a Greek island. The Greeks are the heroes at the end, firing on Turkish troops, soon to free themselves from the Turkish yoke. (What is a "yoke," anyway?) The anonymous academic paper-writer (from the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS page... link below) thought: "in Pascali's Island (James Dearden) Ben Kingsley plays an ugly, bold, bisexual Turkish spy who becomes tragically involved with Charles Dancer's tricksy archaeologist and Helen Mirren's Austrian painter in the middle. Due to his fanatical jealousy and denunciation, the lovers (English archaeologist and Austrian painter) are killed by the cruel, ugly, fat, bribee Turkish Pasha of the island."
HAREM (1985)

I barely remember this one, but I don't have a bad feeling about it... or maybe that's because I like Ben Kingsley playing Turks. Although it may be his character, Selim, might not even have been a Turk. This is mainly a love story, where the captor and the captive (Nastassja Kinski) fall for each other... like a latter day SON OF THE SHEIK.
HAREM (1986)

Omar Sharif's charms failed him in this one
In this TV mini-series, somehow the heroine (Nancy Travis) manages to fend off the Sultan's advances, played by Omar Sharif (whose Turkish, for a man fluent in many languages, was almost as indecipherable as "Bluto" 's, of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS). In either of these HAREM films, the heroine pretty much took the reins of The Ottoman Empire in her hands, saving the nation from its backwardness. Ava Gardner appeared in her last role, as "Kadin," the harem's den mother.

YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL (1970)

This adventure movie follows two mercenaries played by Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson hired by a Turkish governor to protect a shipment of gold, and his daughters. Set in the chaotic days after the Empire's collapse, I only caught the tail end of the film when our two heroes were given a reckoning (they got off easily) by "The General," Patrick Magee, whom I guessed meant to represent Ataturk.

Another Bronson movie, COLD SWEAT, has our hero spotting a boat with a Turkish flag, and he says something like, "That can mean only one thing â€” opium."

THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1988)

Terry Gilliams' fairy tale featured a sultan who was the villain of the story, of course. Great shots of the Turks laying siege to Vienna, but I think the baron pulled a few heroic tricks to make the Turks' lives a little uneasier. (It's been a while.) The real Baron Munchausen, Karl Friedrich Hieronymous von Munchausen, lived from 1720 to 1797.... and had a habit of embellishing his stories. (Might have been part Armenian.) He fought for the Russians, against the Turks.

THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION (1976)

Elementary

This unusual and original Sherlock Holmes romp features Laurence Olivier as Holmes' traditional villain, Professor Moriarty... but the real villains are the Sultan and his men, on board a train. Holmes and Watson get the better of the Turks.
THE LIGHTHORSEMEN (1987)

An Australian film with a fair treatment of the Turks, who enjoy some prominence in the story, unlike the more famous WWI Australian film, GALLIPOLI. The Germans come across worse, in Nazi-fashion. The Australian Light Horse attack on Beersheba is filmed wonderfully, with the Turks taking flight in a cowardly fashion at the end. The Turkish commander comes across as somewhat noble, although he is made up to look very sinister... with dark make-up and a big old scar.

ISTANBUL (1989), (1957)

This poorly made Swedish film is about an American journalist (Timothy Bottoms) who must rescue his kidnapped daughter in the alien world that is Turkey, and the brutality it naturally encompasses. A benign MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, in that the Turks come from another planet, and the line, "It's a strange country," is said at least twice. Twiggy serves as our hero's only hope.

I enjoy tourists getting mixed up in dangerous circumstances within foreign countries, like Harrison Ford in FRANTIC, where the hero must not only solve a terrible problem, but deal with unfamiliarity in a foreign land. I could have enjoyed ISTANBUL regardless, since I'm used to Turks being treated poorly in films... but I didn't, only because it came across as an amateurish effort.

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I have not seen the 1957 ISTANBUL with Errol Flynn, but it appears Turkey is merely the exotic backdrop in this CASABLANCA style tale. Nat King Cole is in the role of the piano-playing "Play it Again, Sam." The only two credited actors playing Turks seem to have been played by a Greek and an Armenian. One good thing about movies based in Turkey is that they give Greek and Armenian actors work, since Greek and Armenian actors specialize in playing Turks.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)

Gabrielle Byrne, Kevin Spacey

A wonderfully made effort, with one of the scariest screen villains in cinematic history. (Keyser Soze, a Turkish Mafia man.) "Nobody believed he was real," the movie's narration tells us, as we witness a horrifying scene that demonstrates the villain's toughness and lack of mercy. Three rival Hungarian hoods break into his home, rape his wife and terrorize the kids. When Keyser arrives, the Hungarians demand his territory/business. However, Keyser gets the drop on them and shoots two. The third holds a child hostage, but to his horror, Keyser deliberately murders his own son. One by one, he follows up by wiping out his whole family, and lets the terrified Hungarian escape to tell everyone about his sure-to-follow growing legend. Keyser then hunts the rival gang, murdering all, including their families, and even their friends. He burns their houses and other meaningful establishments. Then he disappears, leading to the last lines of the screenplay's narration:

He becomes a myth, a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night. If you rat on your pop, Keyser Soze will get you. And nobody really ever believes.

And you know why Keyser Soze could do all this and get away with it? It was because of his God-given roots.

He was a Turk....

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1978)

"For a nation of pigs, it sure seems funny that you don't eat them! Jesus Christ forgave the bastards, but I can't! I hate! I hate you! I hate your nation! And I hate your people! And I fuck your sons and daughters because they're pigs! You're all pigs!"

Little Billy Hayes manages to kill the bully guard Hamidou,
played by Paul Smith, who was "Bluto" in POPEYE

That is my favorite line from this masterful exercise in xenophobia and racism; the film shaped the West's perception of Turkey and Turkish justice, and "the whole concept of 'Turkish prisons' is still a suitable punchline for any joke about oppressive and barbaric third world conditions."

Main credited actors playing the Turks were Zanninos Zanninou, Michael Yannatos, Vic Tablian, and Kevork Malikyan .... playing the Prosecutor, whose Turkish was the only one in the whole film that was comprehensible. Kevork would go on to play an Armenian in the ONLY American/Western Film or TV venture I have ever seen that put the Turks in a good light (besides THE WHITE WARRIOR, above), where the Turks were not second bananas.

The real-life Billy Hayes was different than the one in the movie; immediately after his "escape," he was on television stating (paraphrased), â€œI like the Turks, itâ€™s their prisons I canâ€™t stand.â€� In contrast to the big courtroom outburst scene, where the three really ugly actors selected to play the judges hung their heads in shame, Billy was "nobly" resigned to his fate, in the book. The interesting thing about the cinemaâ€™s version of Billy Hayes was that we are shown at the filmâ€™s beginning how much he knows what a crime he is committing (at the airport) as he breaks into a cold sweat preparing the hash that he tapes around his torso. (If Iâ€™m not mistaken, the soundtrack had the now-clichÃ©d, anxiety-producing â€œheartbeatâ€� effect). So, unlike the â€œfemale Billy Hayes,â€� played by Lee Remick, in the TV-movie DARK HOLIDAY (one entry below, where she gets framed), Billy goes into his criminal act with eyes wide openâ€¦and yet, weâ€™re supposed to feel sorry for him. He gets caught doing the wrong thing, faces the unpleasant consequences, and refuses to take the responsibility for something that would have never happened had he not broken the lawâ€¦ instead, he whines about being the poor, helpless victim, and finds meaningless excuses... HEY! Just like the Armenians.

(While I wrote this page months ago, it is now May 31, 2003... and I am working on the site's finishing touches. A week ago, I spoke to a receptionist in a Manhattan office building, and the subject of our ethnic identities came up. Upon hearing of my Turkish background, the receptionist immediately brought up MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, politely wondering how true the portrayed events were. A whole quarter-century after the release of the movie. What a fantastic coup this film has been for Turk-haters, with lingering effects to be felt to this day.)

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, the CrÃ¨me de la CrÃ¨me of anti-Turk movies, certainly deserved its own page.

FORGOTTEN PRISONERS: THE AMNESTY FILES (1990)

This TV film focuses on Turkey's oppressive nature because, as some Greeks, Armenians and other Turk-haters will tell you, Turkey has the worst human rights record in the world. At least in this film, the victim is a Turk, played by Hector Elizondo, who fails miserably in making sense of the Turkish language. Ron Silver plays an Amnesty International lawyer appalled by the shocking conditions in Turkish prisons, becoming determined to seek justice. Produced & Directed by Robert Greenwald, whose specialty is "socially-relevant TV movies" such as THE BURNING BED.

DARK HOLIDAY (1989)

A television-movie version of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, but with a twist: the prisoner is a woman. Lee Remick, in her last role, gets framed by having an antique put in her bag, and her nightmare in the Turkish prison system begins (although she doesn't get anywhere near as brutalized as Billy Hayes... well, it is a TV-movie). An Australian IMDb reviewer comments: "Whilst much is made of Remick's blonde hair in a country of dark women, and her fear is believable, she isn't the heroic type, so her repeatedly being told how admirable she is, is unintentionally funny." I don't remember much of the film, but I do remember how the other Turkish inmates were always in awe of Lee Remick, clearly the superior human being.
PRISON HEAT (1993)

While the above might have featured a woman in prison, it was not a true "Women in Prison" movie... the genre that is the tawdry underside of the b-film, featuring ingredients such as "nubile innocents being abused by lecherous wardens and guards, molested by lesbian fellow-prisoners, and taking lots of showers." For that, we have PRISON HEAT.... a natural combo of a W.I.P. film, set in the worst country on earth to be imprisoned in; a can't lose proposition!

The rest of her clothes won't stay on for long

I haven't seen the movie, but I understand the Turkish warden rapes an inmate under a portrait of Kemal Ataturk. The four American beauties who are falsely arrested are shown treated very nicely in Greece, where they were formerly vacationing (or maybe they were vacationing there, and the villainous Turks somehow got their hands on them, but the message is clear: Greece=Good, Turkey=Bad), and to top it off, the Turks in the film reportedly speak... Arabic!

Perhaps this was so because it looks like the film was probably made by American Jews in Israel. While I can understand the prejudice and ignorance of some American Jews, having been raised in New York City and getting firsthand exposure to the thinking ways of some (certainly not all; most are very cool) of them... (and why should American Jews be any different in their ignorance and prejudice than any other American?), I kind of wish Israelis wouldn't be so prejudicial, as I would hope they would know a little more about Jewish history than ignorant American Jews. They would hopefully know Turkey has historically been one of the Jews' very, very, very, VERY few friends. For example, Turks saved the Jews in WWII, Armenians killed the Jews, and yet American Jews and Israelis love to snuggle up to their supposed fellow genocide suffering-Armenians.

KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1985)

Pretty blond American maiden and a Lustful Turk

The RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK rip-off with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone â€” before she became a star â€” featured a double dosage of villains Westerners love to hate, a WWI era German and a Turk (dressed in the clothing style of an Ottoman era long past). At least the always wonderful John Rhys-Davies, playing the Turk (named "Dogati." Dogati... Pascali... are these Turks, or Italians?) doesn't come across as a total buffoon, and gives as well as he gets; even though his German "master," played by the equally always-wonderful Herbert Lom, keeps calling him "STUPID TURK" throughout the movie. I still enjoyed this film, regardless. Brought to us by the Israeli tag team of Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan... who would soon be replaced in anti-Turk cinematic depictions by Miramax's Harvey Weinstein. (ARARAT, coming up.)
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

The wonderful masterpiece by David Lean offers the cinema a cut of the finest irony: the "always" villainous Arabs in Western films are, for once, the heroes. ('Course, we know who the REAL hero is.) Even in a film where the Arabs are portrayed not-so-negatively, the Turks are still the villains.

Is this the STAR WARS scene, where our heroes escape the clutches of the stupid
Turks, by talking their way out... or the scene where Lawrence gets arrested?

The Turks are certainly presented as cartoon characters, and the worst scene is the one exhibiting masochism and homosexuality between Lawrence and Turkish Bey, played by Jose Ferrer. (Why in the world Turkish men are cinematically so depicted as being gung-ho about homosexuality, I'm at a loss to understand. No, I know the reason why.)

I always wondered whether the bankrupt Ottoman Empire actually owned airplanes, like the one we see near the film's beginning, conveying how the poor, simple Arabs are oppressed by the "modern" Turks. Apparently, two Turks studied flight in France, and the two airplanes the nation possessed got ruined in the hangar... then the empire spent something like 30,000 francs for a new airplane around 1912. That's all from memory, but it appears the airplane in the film might have been the only one owned by the Empire, sputtering about.

Regardless, the film is a classic, and I appreciated the scenes that showed some sympathy for the Turks, like the regiment on its last legs that is slaughtered by the Arabs (while Lawrence's pangs of conscience get to him. Awwwww!) Another little gesture I appreciated was the very handsome actor selected for the Turkish soldier taking a shot at our hero, from the derailed train. Hey, Turks have got to take what they can get.

BREAD AND CHOCOLATE (1973)

This wonderful and ironic film explores the travails of an Italian immigrant to Switzerland, failing at practically everything. The comic relief is the stupid Turk, a fellow migrant worker who is even more of a foul-up. Our hero's "girlfriend" is yet another immigrant, who is clearly an outstanding human being. What ethnicity does she happen to be? Why, Greek, of course.

One moving scene was the Turk, at the receiving end of our hero's insults throughout the film, being observed by the hero as the Turk greets his family at the train station. His children kiss the Turkish boob's hands, and show him much respect, while our hero looks on with... envy? Some remorseful emotion, anyway.

A quarter-century or so later, at least the struggling Turkish immigrant would be treated more sympathetically, as with DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002), on the short list of "Good Treatment" films, near the top of this list.
TURKISH PASSION (1994)

I look forward to seeing this Spanish film one day. It regards a woman, Desideria (Ana BelÃ©n) whose sexual urges are not fulfilled with her husband, until she meets Yaman (Georges Corraface), on a trip to Turkey. He is a brutal lover, and ravages her, as only Turks can; she gets so hooked, she leaves her husband to be with the cad... who makes a practice of seducing women.

She's in for it... wait till she gets a taste of The Lustful Turk

I like the idea of this film because it seems to highlight a quality of Turkish men that has been kept hidden: their virility. I've encountered a couple of accounts by Western travellers who remark on this facet. However, while Frenchmen have the reputation of being great lovers, anything positive about Turks would certainly be squashed, so the only hint we get about this passionate quality about Turks is in the stereotype of "The Lustful Turk"... where instead of driving a woman mad with desire, the Turk exhibits the negative characteristics of perversion and lechery. Yaman does not appear to be the kind of screen lover that women would ordinarily sigh over; he represents the typical rough, macho creep modern women know to reject. (Apparently, he ultimately drives Desideria into "a self destructive circle of violence, prostitution and sodomy.") Regardless, I prefer to look at the good in this guy; we're not going to get a Turkish Johnny Depp. At least his character gives a hint that Turkish lovers might have something to offer. (Cheee!)

LOVERBOY (2003)

Michael the Moroccan loverboy with Denise

Another European attempt with a similar motif is one I haven't seen.... a Dutch tele-film called LOVERBOY (2003), for
the teenage market. The "loverboy" of the title appears to be Moroccan, but the big bad boss of the movie is Turkish.
(Turks reportedly represent the seamy underbelly of Dutch society, probably not alone among Western European nations where Turkish immigrants have made themselves noticeably felt.) Michael, the chief loverboy takes a sweet seventeen-year-old girl, Denise (Monique van der Werff), and turns her into a cheap street hooker; she goes along, because she falls deeply in love with him, thus throwing away her old world's safe environment... like Desideria from TURKISH PASSION. Sounds like an interesting film, shot documentary-style, as we follow our heroine's depraved (mis)adventures. The catch is, the Moroccan loverboy falls in love, and becomes as protective as his loveless upbringing will allow... but the real victimizer seems to be the Turkish overlord and perhaps one-time loverboy, to whom... from what I have gathered... the smaller-time loverboys owe money.

This brings to mind a famous Dutch film called TURKS FRUIT (1973), a frank, let-it-all-hang-out love story with a realism uncommon to Hollywood, directed by BASIC INSTINCT's sexual madman Paul Verhoeven (and starring Rutger Hauer)... nominated for the Oscar as Best Foreign Language film. It is reportedly still the biggest-grossing Dutch film in history. A provocative, sexually explicit, graphic and even violent film, not for the fainthearted, that hasn't anything to do with Turks, save for the title... an interesting choice connoting passion and intensity... also known as TURKISH DELIGHT. I gather there is a scene where the two lovers eat the Turkish candy ("lokum"), and the symbolism is perhaps applicable to Rutger Hauer's character, rough on the outside and sweet within, which some say applies as well to the movie as a whole, judged as rude and base at the surface... by those who weren't able to see the tenderness and beauty within.

The Cinematic Sexuality of Turkish Women

"The Lustful Turk" stereotype as discussed at TAT applies only to Turkish men. What about Turkish women?

Naturally, there is always a danger when one thinks in stereotypical terms... but something usually doesn't become a stereotype unless there is a grain of truth to begin with.

The stereotype of Northern Europeans, the French excluded, is that sexually, they are not very hot stuff. Let's not insult the women, and just talk about the men. Gwyneth Paltrow caused a furor in England not long ago, criticizing English men for not being sexually aggressive; perhaps she was not without a point, as when I think of Roger Moore as James Bond (exceptionally handsome on the outside, but one who doesn't look like he could let loose on the inside), it's hard to imagine any woman fluttering her eyes and going, "Oh, James..." (Sean Connery, on the other hand, would be a much different story; but Connery is hardly veddy, veddy British.) German men don't have a reputation as being wonderful in bed, and when I once asked a Swedish girlfriend what she thought of Swedish men, she opined they were fairly unexciting and "square." (Then I brought up the young Max Von Sydow, and her heart skipped a beat; so obviously, there are exceptions to every rule.)

Southern European men are stereotypically much more hot-blooded... as Soghoman Tehlirian's German lawyer made sure to point out, to distinguish how much more animal-like Turks and Armenians could be, compared to the Germans.

No Spaniard could become a flamenco dancer or bullfighter without knowing how to satisfy a woman. The Italians can be like firecrackers... even Benito Mussolini made sure to often be photographed without his shirt to demonstrate his virility. I don't know much about the sexuality of Greek men, but I'd imagine they would not be far from this rule, as long as they didn't wear their funny looking skirts. (For example, think of "Zorba the Greek," who embodied passion.) Only the Turk gets the stereotype of being "Lustful," and even though this is meant in a denigrating fashion... if we can look at the positive side of the coin, the meaning of a red-blooded man is to be nothing but lustful.

The same must be applied to women; who needs a fuddy-duddy ice princess? Just as a real man would pride himself on being virile and passionate, a real woman would think no less the same.

All of the Southern European, Mediterranean women have a "hot" reputation in Western culture. The Spanish are fiery vixens, the Italians are earthy, and the Greeks are hot-tempered and tempestuous... if Melina Mercouri's image serves as an example.

(You know, my mind just travelled to Sophia Loren as an example of the sexy, earthy Italian woman... and then I thought of Vittorio de Sica's classic, TWO WOMEN. Sophia's character, along with her daughter, gets raped by African soldiers in war-torn Italy, and she curses them out afterwards, calling them... among other things... "TURKS." Sigh! Et tu, Sophia?)

Turkish women? They are not thought of in this same way. Although I have a feeling "The Lustful Turk," in its most positive sense, would not be a one-way street.

One hint not supportive of this view was presented in a years-ago American article about Natashas, desperate Russian women looking to make a living after the fall of the Iron Curtain... and many found a market in Turkey as prostitutes, threatening the stability of many marriages. The reason given was that Turkish wives were lacking in keeping the home fires burning, but when I thought about it later... isn't the "Not tonight, dear, I have a headache" attitude from wives a universal concept? On an "Oprah" program from a few years back, for example, forty percent of American women were revealed via a survey to "hate" sex. The bulk of these women were older, and presumably married.

How have Turkish women fared in Western cinema regarding sexuality? This is not an area that's covered, as "Moslem" Turkish women are probably seen as wanting to stay as far away from sex as possible (and among the very religious Turkish women, that would would appear to be the case.... as it would be among the very religious of any religion)... so there isn't much to talk about, as opposed to the Lustful, "perverted" Turkish male.

Here is the only example I've come across in a Western film touching on the topic of Turkish female sexuality: In 1974's French-Italian co-production THE GYPSY (with Alain Delon in the title role, an outlaw anti-hero), two criminal accomplices head off in a car after the gang parts ways. One says they'll be in Switzerland soon, and maybe they'll go to Turkey. The other, a lady-killer (Nicolas Vogel) looks dreamily into space and mutters, "Those submissive broads..."

ADDENDUM (Outside reading): Western quotes on Turkish women, as this one by Paul Rycaut:
Turkish women "are accounted the most lascivious and immodest of all Women, and excel in the most refined and ingenious subtilties to steal their pleasures." From the West Chester University page.

MEDITERRANEO (1991)

Italian soldiers marooned on a Greek island during World War II, with nothing to fight....so they explore the meaning of life. A Best Foreign Film Award winner, the film explores Greco-Roman sensuality, and the common traits of both Mediterranean people. I haven't seen this film, and it sounds wonderful... I can't understand how any anti-Turkishness would enter this scenario, but according to a blurb about the book that examines the image of the Turk in Western Cinema, evidently the film makers found a way to squeeze this popular notion in.

DUST (2001, etc.)

Ka-Pow.
The German Der Tagespiegel declared the film anti-Albanian and Neo-Fascist, saying: "Instead of the Albanian Muslims we have here the Ottomans as the 'untermenschen' and the Macedonians are as innocent as lambs," which are slaughtered during the film numerously. Alexander Walker from the London Evening Standard accused the Macedonian filmmaker, Milcho Manchevski, of making a racist film, showing the Turks "as herd of a corrupt people who gibber like apes in red fezes, and are more violent and far less responsible than Macedonians." Walker then asked Manchevski: "I wonder what you think the effect will be upon contemporary Turkey which is at the present moment trying to enter the European Union. Do you have a political agenda by this film?" Manchevski only replied: "Thank you for your statement." I have not seen the film, but how nice of the British and the Germans to stand up for the Turks.

Aren't the Macedonians and Greeks at each other's throats? I guess Greeks who love to pass off the Macedonian Alexander the Great as their own can take this as positive proof that Macedonians are cut from an entirely different cloth... since Macedonians don't seem to follow the iron-clad Greek rule, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
AMERICA, AMERICA (1963)

By Elia Kazan

Director Elia Kazan's account of an Anatolian Greek, Stavros, who arrives as an immigrant in the United States (whereupon he falls to his knees in gratitude and kisses the ground). Kazan, born in Turkey (and half-Armenian), wrote the screenplay and novel as a means of exploring his familyâ€™s cultural heritage...Stavros Topouzoglou is based on Kazanâ€™s uncle, the first member of the family to immigrate to the New Land.

Oppression rears its head when the Turkish Army sets fire to a church filled with Armenian women and children, and the Turks are not treated as being very nice people all around. The only "fair" moment I remember was when (Stavros, I guess) was in line to get seriously harassed by Ottoman troops when one of them recognizes Stavros as an old pal... whereupon the belongings the soldiers roughly took from him are quickly put back in the cart. The Turk says something like they are being treated badly, too. (Two seconds of the Turkish viewpoint! Ho-paa!)

The great director (ON THE WATERFRONT) became largely despised by the Hollywood set for ratting on many during the Senator McCarthy period, in the interest of saving his own skin, which led to the ruin of many careers. Of course, Kazan wasn't the only one who was a fink.

THE FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH (1982)

Hissss! It's the Turkish villain

Turkish ambassador Munir Ertegun might have been able to stop the big-screen MGM version of the phony book (in the 1930s), but at least the Armenians and their deep pockets came up with this obscure version. Directed by Sarky Mouradian. I have a feeling we would be hard-pressed to find even the teeny-weeny "fair" moment described for AMERICA, AMERICA, above.

MAYRIG (1991), 588 RUE PARADIS (1992)

Verneuil (Achod Malakian) & Claudia Cardinale
I knew Omar Sharif was famous for DR. ZHIVAGO, but I had no idea another of his claims to fame was that he might be the one actor who has appeared in the most Turk-unfriendly movies..! Noted French director Henri Verneuil's real name was Achod Malakian, born in Turkey, and his last film efforts dealt with his family's escape from the brutal Ottoman Empire... and I take it MAYRIG ("Mother," played by Claudia Cardinale) presents the biographical tale of "Azad" rising in his new land to become a playwright, and in the sequel, 588 RUE PARADIS, a film director. Followed in 1993 by MAYRIG, the apparent mini-TV series, where Omar Sharif reprised his role of "Hagop." The original MAYRIG has a character named "Tehlirian," which I assume represents the Armenian hero/assassin who shot Talat Pasha in the back of the head, and also heroically shot Talatâ€™s innocent wife. An IMDb commentator from Italy calls MAYRIG a "masterpiece," and adds: "The film totally smells â€˜hate & revenge.â€™ "

KOMITAS (1988)

"Armenian monk" Soghomon Soghomonian, known as Komitas, is a composer (the music for this film is mostly his)... he was later "devastated by the horrors of the 1915 massacre and spent the rest of his years in various mental institutions." Director Don Askarian emigrated from the Soviet Union to West Germany, and biographer Nune Hovhannisyan gushes, "He is perhaps the only director whose â€˜purely Armenianâ€™ films have been professionally distributed and proved financially successful in Germany, Japan, Holland and England."
ARARAT (2002)

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote: "Ararat clearly comes from (Atom) Egoyan's heart, and it conveys a message he urgently wants to be heard: that the world should acknowledge and be shamed that a great crime was committed against his people. The message I receive from the movie, however, is a different one: that it is difficult to know the truth of historical events, and that all reports depend on the point of view of the witness and the state of mind of those who listen to the witness. That second message is conveyed by the film, but I am not sure it presents Egoyan's intention. Perhaps this movie was so close to his heart that he was never able to stand back and get a good perspective on it â€” that he is as conflicted as his characters, and as confused in the face of shifting points of view."

ARARAT is the second movie explored on TAT that got its own page.

ASSIGNMENT BERLIN (1981)

I gave my story on how I came to see this film (about Talat Pashaâ€™s assassination and the ensuing trial), when it was presented by a universityâ€™s Armenian club, in the Trial of Tehlirian section of TAT. Naturally, it was the duty of the Armenian director to show the Ottomans were behind a state-sponsored policy for extermination, and there was even a fantasy scene of a Wannsee-type Conferenceâ€¦ where Turkish officials discuss the Armenian Final Solution. The proof supplied that allowed for the assassin to walk away a free man were the forged Aram Andonian telegrams of Talat Pasha. Andonian was present at the trial according to the transcript I read from an Armenian siteâ€¦ although the site might have removed Andonianâ€™s testimony, assuming he actually testified (as a defense attorney, Von Gordon, hints at). Regardless of whether the fake telegrams were actually introduced, since the film makes it sound like the telegrams were the reason for the acquittal, it would have been ethical to let the viewer in on the illegitimacy of these forged papers, the originals for which Andonian claimed were â€œlost,â€� and later personally admitted were meant as propaganda. (Did I say â€œethicalâ€�?)

The one that started it all! Oscar Apfel, a reported protÃ©gÃ© of Cecil B. DeMille (thatâ€™s what Peter Balakian claims, anywayâ€¦ although I was not aware THE TEN COMMANDMENTS director was already that â€œbigâ€� in 1919, to have had a protÃ©gÃ©) directed this silent film based on the stage play, "The Auction of Souls," produced by the Near East Relief. The movie starred Aurora (Arshaloys) Mardiganian, whose memoirs the play was based on, and whom Balakian claims â€œsurvived harems, rape,â€� and â€œwitnessed the mutilation, torture and rape of hundreds of young girls like herself.â€� Itâ€™s a wonder how she made it to the United States with all the inconceivably ghastly horrors she has claimed to have experienced, but somehow she didâ€¦ only to become a movie star, appearing alongside fellow movie star, Ambassador Henry â€œHolier-than-Thouâ€� Morgenthau. Only one reel of the film reportedly survives, and proceeds from the movie supported the relief efforts. The more sympathy, the more contributions, of courseâ€¦ perhaps why the filmâ€™s poster promises â€œover four millions perished.â€� Balakian claims the film caused a â€œsensation,â€� and I believe the English professor is being actually truthful.

From a New York Times article reporting on a private showing of RAVISHED ARMENIA (February 15, 1919):

Mrs. Oliver Harriman, Chairman of the National Motion Picture Committee, delivered an address in which she said that Miss Mardiganian had come to this country because she was a typical case selected form among her people as one of many victims of the terrible desolation wrought in Armenia By the Turk. The young woman, said Mrs. Harriman, established direct contact between a stricken people and a generous human America.

"The whole purpose of the picture is to acquaint America with ravished Armenia," said Mrs. Harriman," to visualize conditions so that there will be no misunderstanding in the mind of any one about the terrible things which have transpired. It was deemed essential that the leaders, social and intellectual, should first learn the story, but later the general public shall be informed. It is proposed that before this campaign of information is complete, as many adults as possible shall know the story of Armenia, and the screen was selected as the medium because it reached the millions, where the printed word reaches the thousands."

THE TERRIBLE TURKISH EXECUTIONER (1904)

The punishment isn't capital

Great special effects film pioneer Georges MÃ©liÃ¨s got in on the anti-Turkish act almost during the birth of the cinema! The Turk of the title is terrible enough to pull out his great big sword and decapitate four men with one blow. The victims don't stay dead, however (making the Turkish executioner pretty terrible in another sense), and exact revenge. The film is three minutes long.

(Thanks to Dave Sindelar.)

BLACK SABBATH (1964)

The Russian son reveals the villain

Karloff shows what "Turk's Head" means

Mario Bava directed this wonderful Italian compilation film of three terror tales, the middle one featuring the legendary Boris Karloff, who turns into a "wurdulak"... a Russian vampire who targets loved ones. Loosely adapted from a Tolstoy story, we learn the villain is Alibeq, a "cursed Turk" who gets hunted down by Karloff's character.

ABDUL THE DAMNED (1935)

There were photos of Abdul from the 1942 British book, "Grand Turk," that I had scanned and used elsewhere on TAT, often wondering where they were from. Now I know. Directed by Karl Grune and starring Fritz Kortner in the title role, and Greek-Briton actor George Zucco (as the firing squad captain; see pic at bottom of page), I can't say for certain whether the British film is unfair... but I suppose the title itself gives a good clue. (Naturally, it could mean in the sense of "Damned if Abdul did or didn't," but I don't think so.) It sounds like one to catch. The menacing chief of secret police "removes" possible threats to the paranoid sultan. A foreign dancer/actress spurns Abdul's attentions, and the police chief arrests her fiancÃ©, forcing her to enter Abdul's harem. I think that's only a subplot... the film as a whole seems to be more of a character study, "an intense psychologically sound portrait of a man terrorised by the repercussions of his own reign of terror!", as "Film Weekly" put it. Photo 1 and Photo 2.

BORN OF FIRE (1983)

This film doesn't belong on this list, since it's not about Western treatment of Turks or Turkey... not as far as I remember, as it has been years since I had seen it. However, it sure was weird. Directed by Pakistani Jamil Dehlavi, Brian J. Wright opines: "The big appeal of this movie is the Turkish locations - between the deserts, caves, and a gorgeous glacier loaded with streams, waterfalls and pools, it didn't really matter what was happening; it kept me involved just looking at it." Richard Scheib concluded: "Born of Fire can probably lay credence to being the worldâ€™s first and only Islamic horror film."

Since this page is getting too large, new additions will be featured on their own pages.

VAMPYROS LESBOS (1972)

CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1973)

THE FAVORITE ["INTIMATE POWER"] (1989)

GREEKS AND ARMENIANS IN WESTERN FILMS/TV

Benji visited Greece
Observing the cinematic rule of Greek=Good and Turk=Bad, Greeks are always played positively in American Films and Television (and the focus here is on â€œmodernâ€� Greece, since all films dealing with ancient Greece and/or Greek mythology [the TV show XENA being a recent, although inadvertent, example] exhibit the Greeks as heroes), from ZORBA THE GREEK to ESCAPE TO ATHENA to MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (So many othersâ€¦MOTHER GOES GREEK [1968... no, not a porn film!], MY PALIKARI [1982, with Telly Savalas], NEVER ON SUNDAY (1960), ASTORIA (1990s), FOR THE LOVE OF BENJI and SUMMER LOVERS [1977, 1982, where Greece is presented as Heaven-on-earth], LARA KROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE (2003), and even Costa-Gavrasâ€™ excellent French-produced political intrigue, Z [1969, with unnamed Greeks vs. Greeks]). THE FAMOUS TEDDY Z and KOJAK to MY BIG FAT GREEK LIFE offered positive Greek role models on television, although usually the positive Greek representations on television stem from Greek â€œguest appearances,â€� rather than shows with Greeks as recurring main characters... as when FRASIER attended a jubilant Greek weddingâ€¦ an occasion which almost always culminates in the American hero joining in the festive Greek dance.)

The beautiful heroine of DAREDEVIL; daughter of yet another Greek tycoon. (Jennifer Garner)

The only time I remember a Greek villain in an American/Western feature film was in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, and he (Greek tycoon Kristatos, played by Julian Glover) was a sophisticated, subdued and â€œgoodâ€� kind of bad guy (in contrast to your typical, megalomaniacally evil, â€œDr. Noâ€� type of James Bond-villain). The diner owner from THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1981; the Greek immigrant Nick Papadakis from the novel was called "Nick Smith" in the1946 film noir version) might have been a little greasy (but still the greasy victim), and Victor Buono played a rich Greek (the only Greeks allowed to be villains are filthy-rich, except when the filthy-rich Greek depicted is Aristotle Onasis [THE GREEK TYCOON from1979, with Anthony "Zorba the Greek" Quinn playing yet another Greek, a â€œthinly-disguisedâ€� Onasis... and THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD from 1988, with Raul Julia]â€¦ I have yet to see a â€œcommon Greekâ€� portrayed villainously) who was villainous in a benign way in THE MAN WITH BOGARTâ€™S FACE (1980)â€¦ compared to the vicious Turk in that film (â€œHakim,â€� played by Franco Nero), who was incomparably more evil. (But at least he was handsome.) In case even the subtlest idea of villainy for a Greek would be too much to handle for Western viewers, Buonoâ€™s â€œSydney Greenstreetâ€� character had a beautiful Greek daughter (Michelle Phillips) who happened to be the heroine and love interest of the movie. (I remember the line from that film, â€œIâ€™ve never seen a blue-eyed Turk,â€� and I thought, â€œbut my dad has blue eyes.â€�)

A film Iâ€™ve never seen (but sure would like to; it's the only one with the pairing of the two stars) is SMART MONEY (1931), where Edward G. Robinson plays a Greek barber humiliated by gangsters. He teams up with James Cagney, and they both out-con the conmen. â€œRobinson plays Nick as a really nice guy all the way through â€” we genuinely like him and want him to succeed even though it's at gambling.â€� Yet another example of the rare Greek screen villain who is really a hero. Similarly, in 1945's ISLE OF THE DEAD, Boris Karloff plays a Greek general in the first Balkan War who has the potential not to be nice, stern as he is shown to be (at times); but is ultimately sympathetic. (There are other "nice" Greek characters thrown in for balance, at any rate.)

Armenian characters havenâ€™t had as much wide cinematic exposure as the Greeks, and when one encounters the occasional Armenian portrayal, you can bet word of the â€œGenocideâ€� will rarely be far behind. I forgot the name of the film, but an Armenian character was the hero copâ€™s sidekick in one run-of-the-mill police drama â€¦ and of course, the writer stuck in a line where the Armenian alluded to the suffering of his people. Brother!

In an Armenian site, people were complaining that the main character in VARIANâ€™S WAR (2000), a cable movie about an Armenian-American â€œSchindlerâ€� (the real-life Varian Fry was quoted as having said, â€œIn all we saved some two thousand human beings. We ought to have saved many times that number. But we did what we couldâ€�â€¦ the courageous journalist was aided by other Americans, including Miriam Davenport Ebel, Mary Jayne Gold, Charles Fawcett, Leon Ball and American vice consul Hiram Bingham, Jr., the latter given a 2002 posthumous award presided by Colin Powell) who saved Jewish artists and intellectuals (including Franz Werfel, Hannah Arendt and Marc Chagall) from WWII Vichy France, was written in a way where Varian Fry (William Hurt) wasnâ€™t classically heroic, and perhaps had a â€œgayâ€� side (in the film, he reportedly enjoys â€œsome mild flirtation with Marseilles' most urbane Naziâ€�) â€¦ Lord! Here they have a movie where the Armenian is played by a handsome leading man who is CLEARLY portrayed as a HERO, and theyâ€™re still griping? Armenians! There is simply no satisfying themâ€¦

---------------------------

ADDENDUM: An example of Armenians on American television where they don't come across as "good." Unbelievable!

A Holdwater Salute to Two Favorite Armenian & Greek Actors:

George Zucco
Sid Haig

*********************************************

3) Turks in American Television

Turkey and the Turks are fairly invisible from the American small screen, unless in the form of anti-Turkish feature film presentations (see link at bottom) or documentaries where Turks almost always come across as history's villains notably from Americaâ€™s Public Broadcasting network, PBS (The only â€œPro-Turk program which I have ever seen was ISLAM: EMPIRE OF FAITH, where the accent was not directly on Turkey. However, it was an excellent, rare, open-minded show, and PBS is to be commended for not being its typically prejudiced, anti-Turkish self) â€¦ in such vehicles as THE GREAT WAR, ARMENIA: SURVIVAL OF A NATION, THE FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE and AN ARMENIANâ€™S JOURNEY.

PBS is far from the â€œnon-fiction interloperâ€¦ programs such as CBSâ€™s 60 MINUTES has been known to set its sights on the favorite whipping boy nation covering topics from Kurds to Human Rightsâ€¦ and NBC-TV has engaged in what appears to be a systematic campaign over the years to make Turkey look as bad as possibleâ€¦ all the way down to blatantly and deliberately hiding Turkish athletes during certain years of the networkâ€™s Olympic coverage.

However, the idea of this page is to show examples of fictional depictions of Turks on American television. I will provide three examples; one from years back, one from relatively current times, and lastlyâ€¦

THE ONLY TRULY FAIR AND NON-HOSTILE FICTIONAL DEPICTION OF TURKS EVER, IN (PROBABLY) THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN TELEVISION

A BERSERK TURK

The now-classic television series

The 1970s television series MASH is deservedly recognized as one of the finest examples of quality offerings ever to grace the screen of the American boob tube. MASH is one of the only examples of a TV series perhaps going on to outdo the original film the series was based upon (1970â€™s M*A*S*H, directed by Robert Altman). The reason why the series excelled was not only for its great cerebral wit, but because the show (co-produced and often written by comic â€œgenius Larry Gelbart) was headed by a team of crack writers who succeeded in touching the nerve center of humanity and compassion, underneath the yuk-yuks. (Along with Gelbart, the writers for the third season of the show included Laurence Marks, Jim Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum, Sid Dorfman and Simon Muntner.)

Which is why it is so heartbreaking that a program noted for its great intelligence and sensitivity still succumbed to the anti-Turkish stereotypeâ€¦ in ways not only huge, but ironic as well.

I remember as a kid noticing the television magazine (TV Guide) blurb for the episode aired on December 3, 1974, entitled â€œA Full Rich Dayâ€�â€¦ three hectic happenings were described for this full rich day, headed byâ€¦ â€œA BERSERK TURK.â€�

On this episode â€¦which is the one where we learned how â€œHawkeyeâ€� Pierce (Alan Alda) got his nickname (from "The Last Of The Mohicans", the only book his father ever read), Hawkeye dictates a letter to his dad, describing the events that took place yesterday. A heavily sedated Turkish soldier (Sirri Murad) arrives at the medical compound, but is still awakeâ€¦ in that â€œFrankensteinâ€�-like inhuman tough way Turks are known forâ€¦ and â€œeven Klinger thinksâ€� the Turk is crazy. (The quotation marks here and to follow are from several MASH fan sites on the Internetâ€¦ itâ€™s been many years since Iâ€™ve seen the episode.) The Turk slashes his way through the stretcher lying on top of him, and the MASH unit gets another arrival, a wounded man in the back of the jeep whose friend (Lt. Smith) orders Frank to take care of, at gunpoint.

Hawkeye tries to explain to Smith that one man isn't as much as a priority as is a man who is more severely wounded (which I guess would be the Turk, so we learn Hawkeye regards the Turk as a human being, much to Hawkeyeâ€™s credit; on the other hand, he could have been talking about another soldier, since the Turk didnâ€™t appear that badly woundedâ€¦so scratch that credit). Smith says he understands but then orders Hawkeye inside, or else.

Meanwhile the Turkish soldier, who was getting restrained, refuses to go under, and Col. Blake mistakenly gets injected by the needle instead, twirling as he falls to the ground. The Turkish soldier escapes (the â€œFrankensteinâ€� parallel, again) and the camp gets searched.

Radar finds the Turkish soldier held up in the kitchen, but we all know Radar would not be able to handle the tough loon, and so he summons Hawkeye â€¦ who tries to reason with the Turk in English, as all Americans do with people who donâ€™t speak English. The Berserk Turk swings his menacing butcher knife around, yelling in Turkish.

The MASH cast in 1974

Radar shows how much smarter he is than Hawkeye (maybe the little guy didnâ€™t need to fetch Hawkeye in the first place, for all the good Hawkeye was able to do, so far) by looking up what the Turk is saying in a Turkish-English dictionary that must have been standard issue in all MASH compounds. The Turk has been saying, â€œChinese,â€� which really makes Radar out to be a Mensa member, as how he knew to spell the Turkish word for â€œChineseâ€� (which begins with the weird â€œÃ‡â€� symbol) isnâ€™t elaborated on.

Hawkeye figures it outâ€¦ the Turkish soldier doesnâ€™t care about whatever wounds he has that got him brought into the hospital to be tended toâ€¦ ALL HE WANTS IS TO GO BACK OUT INTO THE FRONT TO KILL MORE CHINESE! Itâ€¦ itâ€™s just like Henry â€œHolier-than-Thouâ€� Morgenthau has been telling us; Turks ARE bloodthirsty savages!

Hawkeye puts his agile mind to good use at this point (the kind that allows him to effortlessly banter with Trapper John; example from this episode: a Luxembourg soldier thought to be dead gets a memorial service, but he joins the mourners by saluting his own dead self. Hawkeye says to Trapper, "I thought you said he was dead?" to which Trapper replies, "He got better"), and decides on speaking to the beast in his own primitive language. He does this by GRABBING ANOTHER KNIFE and SWINGING IT AROUND, acting JUST AS MURDEROUSLY. The Turk recognizes a fellow savage when he sees one, and this soothes his wild nature momentarilyâ€¦ he puts his own knife down and calls Hawkeye "A damn good Joe."

â€œHawkeye makes Radar get out of his uniform so the Turk can have it and go back to the front. In celebration, the three have a drink, and has Radar put something in the Turkâ€™s drink that will make him fall asleep. Radar and the Turk get in a jeep and drive off, and Hawkeye tells Radar to turn around when the Turk falls asleep.â€�

Alas, Hawkeye notices soon the plan went awry when the Turk drives Radar back, as it is Radar who has fallen asleep. (Mighty nice of the savage to have taken the trouble to drive Radar back.) When Hawkeye tries to get the Turk out of the jeep, the Turk puts his palm upon Hawkeyeâ€™s head, and pushes the man twice his size (down to the ground, if I remember correctlyâ€¦ which might give evidence that Alan Alda truly was the feminized, weak man that was his image during these years of the raging Feminist Movement), calling Hawkeye a â€œdamn good Joe againâ€¦ before driving off.

This script, written by John D. Hess, perpetuated the brutality of the Turkâ€¦ even though, once again, MASH was the product of the most humane, understanding, compassionate, sensitive writers Hollywood had to offer.

To top it off, one episode later, entitled â€œPrivate Charles Lamb and aired on December 31, 1974, the story concerned Greek soldiers who came across as true, noble good guys, when Radar stole the lamb they were preparing for a feast, unable to bear the animalâ€™s destruction (Thus, Hawkeye and Trapper invent the famed Spam Lamb!). The message once again: Greek=good, Turk=bad.

What if it were a Greek swinging that knife acting like an out-of-control madman, and it was the Turks preparing the lamb feast? Are you kidding? Even the possibility of such a role reversal would have been inconceivable.

The irony is, this was no typical example of Turk-bashing. Regarding the Korean War: not that other allied nations did not contribute to the war effort, but none of them saved a U.S. division from total destruction; no other nation's soldiers suffered higher casualties, none gave hope to a "demoralized American nation," and I doubt any of these other nations received obvious heartfelt praise by American major players (such as President Dwight Eisenhower and General Douglas MacArthur) words to the effect of the Turks being the â€œBravest of the Brave and the Hero of Heroes.

Although the Turksâ€™ heroism has never been publicized, as the rule in American media is nothing positive about Turkey must be allowed to slip out, I suppose there were still four or five Americans who were aware of what an ugly black eye the MASH program represented, and made their voices heard. This is probably why the same Turkish-American performer was brought back to act in an episode entitled â€œCaptains Outrageous (aired four years later, December 10, 1979), regarding a brawl in a bar that required the doctors to run the saloon. Sirri Murad (whom I understand was sorry to have taken on the previous role) had a nothing background role, but just to be on the safe sideâ€¦ since his Turkish character was now actually human¦ the producers decided to feature a good GREEK soldier, too!

Please visit TAT's Korean War page; toward the bottom are two interesting accounts relevant to the action of this episode: How the Chinese and the Turks got along, and how American doctors were really affected when they treated Turkish wounded.

THE FEREY MÃœHTAR TALK SHOW

For a more current treatment of Turk-treatment on American television, we can turn to the long-running late night comedy institution, Saturday Night Live.

Some years back, I wrote a letter to SNL when I noticed the Turk they had dressed in a photograph, for a bit on their weekly news segment, had appeared in a fez, sunglasses and long cloakâ€¦ since most Americans believe Arabs and Turks are indistinguishable. I told them itâ€™s okay to make fun of Turks (after all, it is a satirical type of show, and everyone is open game), but I wished they would base their attacks on reality.

SNL's spin on Turkish Talk Shows

Perhaps the letter had an effect (although I'd doubt it), but for the latest round of Turk-ridiculing, at least somebody did their homework. There is now a parody of a Turkish TV show, and the names and costumes for the characters in this program are at least not off the mark. Although all the characters are loutish and unsophisticated, cheap gold-chain-wearing, chain-smoking subhumans, at least some effort was made to come closer to realityâ€¦. And that cheap gold-chain-wearing, chain-smoking stereotype does exist in the mid-to-lower classes of the Mediterranean nations (and people of other nations, like East Europeans, and South Americans). So I canâ€™t criticize Saturday Night Live too muchâ€¦ however, the unfairness here (even in the area of a satirical program, where anything goes) is that out of all the ethnic types to make fun of, it is once again the maligned Turk who gets picked on. Ah, well. At least, even though the Turkish characterizations are all of the same mold, that of rude, stupid, bad-taste simpletonsâ€¦ there are tiny, tiny nuances of â€œhumanityâ€� that slip out, and itâ€™s these little crumbs that make such a portrayal bearable. (In other wordsâ€¦ in an environment of near-total hostility against Turksâ€¦ anything short of total monstrousness, Turks should be grateful for? Exactly what am I pathetically suggesting..?)

Iâ€™m not a regular viewer of SNL, but I did catch two episodes with the Turkish TV host character, so itâ€™s obviously not a one-shot idea. The first go-round (aired March 16, 2002) featured frail Briton Ian McLellan as a macho Turkish idiot, qualities at the opposite end of the actorâ€™s persona. (The excellent actor was wonderful in OF GODS AND MONSTERS, but as the powerful supervillain â€œMagnetoâ€� in X-MENâ€¦. hoo-boy!) The second of this recurring series I happened to catch aired on November 9, 2002, when the Greek-American star of MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, Nia Vardalos, played host.

Nia Vardalos Nose this is her golden chance to stick it in

Granted, her character certainly had to fit in line with the established â€œlow-classâ€� humans that formed the very essence of the theme. This is why even though her role was that of a beautiful Turkish celebrity, complete with eyebrows that connected, a la â€œBluto,â€� the big, bully guard of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, I could accept it; even the most beautiful Turkish woman had to appear as if she resembled an animal, within this established context. However, when Ms. Vardalos chose to lovingly pick her nose at one point, like the low-class defense lawyer in MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, I thought she was rubbing her advantage in a bit too much.

I may not have felt as strongly if the actress werenâ€™t Greek. However, it just seemed like Nia Vardalos relished the opportunity to do a number on the Turks. Itâ€™s okay when Greeks exercise their ugly displays of Turkish hatred amongst themselves, but the way she handled herself was particularly insensitive, given the animosity that exists between the two peoples. I believe almost any Turkish actor, when given the opportunity to make a Greek look lousy in front of othersâ€™ eyes, would not have gone anywhere near as overboard, and more likely would have made sure to inject positive values into the characterâ€¦ so as not to take unfair advantage of the situation. Iâ€™d think a Turkish actor wouldnâ€™t act much differently even on Turkish television, when portraying a Greek.

One can summarize by saying the two qualities in short supply here, at least on the part of the actress, were 1) Fairness and 2) Class. As far as on the part of the showâ€¦ Fairness and Class are incongruent to the nature of the program, so SNL is mostly off the hook. Iâ€™d say what theyâ€™re in short supply of is the quality of â€œcourage. During the show's beginnings, when it was a hot property, Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd played two â€œCzechoslovakian brothers who thought they were great lovers but, in fact, were totally clueless. As â€œstupid as they were, at least they were â€œlovable and the choice of ethnicity then was a safe one, since Czechs and Slovaks were unknown entities in America (save for a couple of one-time tennis superstars). Besides, the viewer understood these silly characters were not meant to represent all Czechs/Slovaks. The point of this â€œtalk show, though, is that all Turks are represented as below average on the evolutionary scale. If SNL decided to â€œgo to town on an ethnic group, it was much easier to pick on a group already established as an open season target. It would have been much more interesting â€“ and gutsy â€“ to focus on a group with powerâ€¦ not excluding Nia Vardalosâ€™ ethnic kind. (Although that would have entailed the short-circuiting of SNL's switchboard.)

ADDENDUM:
"24," and others

Yes, I know above I wrote only three examples of Turks in American television would be provided. However, it is now January 2005... late in the phase of Western Turcophobia, where one would think producers would tread carefully before portraying Turks as the typical villains. After all, there are so many other ethnic groups waiting their turn.

Bad Turk

Really bad Turk

A caveat here must be added; I'm jumping the gun and providing this write-up based on the first two episodes of the fourth season of this excellent program, "24," starring Kiefer Sutherland. Perhaps later in the story, there will be Turkish characters to counter-balance the heartless villains that were offered thus far. For example, in the second season, the writers made sure to cast suspicion on an Arab character who later turned out to be a "good guy." Thus, the audience was taught the invaluable lesson not to judge a book by its cover, in the wake of the anti-Muslim hysteria brought about by 9/11. (Only the teen-age son of the terrorist masterminds, Behrooz, appears to be a sympathetic Turkish character, in these initial episodes.)

Granted, the Muslims are the "bad guys" in the West, in fuller force these days. But... of all the Muslims in the world, what possessed the producers to pick on the Turks? (Okay, they've already done "Arab," so it was time to focus on another bunch of ethnic Muslims. For example, there's traditional enemy and member of President Bush's so-called "Axis of Evil," Iran. Why focus on the one ethnic group that has more than paid its dues, in Western movies and television, as the acceptable villain?

For example, if one is to do a story on terrorism, how about the Greeks? Didn't Athens have a reputation regarding the healthy relationship with terrorist groups, from the PKK to the PLO, for many years? And what about the Armenians, who wrote the book on terrorism with the Ottoman Bank takeover in 1896, creating a model for future terrorists to follow? Didn't the U.S. Department of Justice include the terrorist state of Armenia among those to watch for in 2002, until the Armenian uproar clamped a mysterious lid on the move? (Who knows why the U.S. government has allowed Armenia's terrorist organization, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ["A.R.F."], to be headquartered in America's own soil of Boston.) In addition, wasn't Turkey the one nation that warned the world against the plague of international terrorism, years before the world sat up and took notice? How ironic to single Turks out as terrorists... but we all know the repercussions would be red-hot if an untraditional group for screen villainy, as Armenians and Greeks, would be selected as the bad guys.

I knew we were in trouble when a hacker discovers code meant to spell disaster for the world's computer systems. Not all of it is in English, he tells his friend at American intelligence. No, some of it looked Middle Eastern... like Arabic... or... Turkish!!

For the love of Mary! Don't the writers believe in conducting at least some basic research? A Latin alphabet replaced that old Middle Eastern hieroglyphics some three-quarters of a century ago.

And here we have a depiction of the terrorists wearing Arab-style head-coverings against Arab-style lettering. Straight out of today's headlines featuring the barbaric no-goodniks who perform the beheadings and such. Only... these characters are meant to be Turkish.

Just what the American public needed... further confirmation of how evil the Turks are, after the centuries long imprinting of racist imagery. It plain ain't fair.

ADDENDUM: After watching a few more episodes until mid-February, no further clues have been presented as to the "ethnic identity" of the villains. The bald baddie (pic on top) was identified as a Turkish national operating from Ankara, so we're still left with the impression this "Osama bin Laden" bunch are Turks. Even though the names of the characters aren't Turkish; the name of the son (of Iranian ancestry, also appearing in "House of Sand and Fog"), for example is the Persian "Behrooz" instead of what I thought I had heard, "Firuz."
[Here is a protest letter from a retired American military officer.]

DISHONORABLE MENTION

It seems to be "Open Season" on Turks in early 2005. "The West Wing" made the secular nation out to a "Taliban" state, on its Jan. 26 broadcast. As "King Corn" reports, a CNN "newscaster starts talking about a woman in Turkey who was apparently convicted of adultery and condemned to death after having sex with a co-worker." Funny thing is, the CNN itself had reported that Turkey had abolished the death penalty in 2002, the last execution having taken place in 1984. There are also no laws criminalizing adultery.

Tom Schantz, Turkey Peace Corps 1966-1968, wrote: "We will be mobilizing former Turkey Peace Corps volunteers to point out the dangers that an ignorant scriptwriter can create." (Thanks to JFK's fine program for allowing at least a few Americans to have learned the real scoop on Turkey..!)

Prof. Christian Christensen reflected on the episode, in an essay entitled "Turks on NBC's 'The West Wing': Head-Chopping Lunatics," in Common Dreams.

Looks like NBC-TV is still continuing its anti-Turkish perspective, ongoing for many years.

ON THE LIGHT SIDE

"The Simpsons" on the deck of a Turkish freighter

When it rains... Early 2005 is sure giving Americans a taste of Turks! I accidentally caught the end of an episode of "The Simpsons" where the kids find themselves aboard a Turkish freighter, and Homer and Marge engage the captain in a conversation, from the dock. Homer asked something like whether the kids will still remain Christian, bringing up the idea of forced conversion we've seen countless times in anti-Turkish propaganda. The captain answers, "Coptic Christian?" Homer yells something to the effect that the Turks are "Cyprus Stealers." Finally, all is well and the Simpsons are on board, eating, playing soccer and music. Marge seems drunk and the Turks beside Homer ask if they should mellow her out by offering hashish. Then Marge asks this pertinent question. (Which you can also listen to by clicking on the above picture; she obviously has never been to the relevant page on the TAT site.) Naturally, the program made references to some stereotypes, but you can tell the producers had knowledge of real Turkish ways and were not approaching the subject from a perspective of animosity. While I rarely watch the show, "The Simpsons" deserves its long run, representing true quality television.

THE RARE â€œPRO-TURKâ€� DEPICTION

Allow me to clarify: when I use the term â€œPro-Turk,â€� I donâ€™t mean the makers of the program Iâ€™m about to discuss happened to be in love with Turksâ€¦ since itâ€™s the extremely rare Westerner who loves Turks, being barraged by anti-Turkish messages as Westerners areâ€¦ any more than Admiral Mark Bristol loved Turks, or historians Justin McCarthy and Heath Lowry love Turks. Since the prevailing rule in each of these cases is that Turks are only around to have mud slung at them, the moment someone steps in and treats Turks in an even-handed and open-minded mannerâ€¦ they must be labeled as â€œpro-Turk,â€� or have some sort of weird ulterior motives. â€œPro-Turkâ€� is the unfairly recognized term for trying to be fair and truthful.

When George Lucasâ€™s THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES ran on television back in 1992, I tried not to miss an episode. This program was television at its greatest. George Lucas had the financial muscle and access to up-to-date technology (behind his â€œIndustrial Light and Magicâ€�) to come up with a program that obviously was a labor of loveâ€¦ even though the program was a ratings bust, since it did not follow the action packed formula of the Indiana Jones movies.

Young Indiana Jones was first introduced in the third and final film in the series, INDIANA JONES AND THE LOST CRUSADE, played by the late River Phoenix. The depiction (below) of 1938 Iskenderun (a Turkish port city near the Syrian border) was disappointing, as the men in a crowd scene were mostly seen wearing fezes (outlawed circa 1925) and all the women were dressed in the familiar head-to-toe covering Moslem wear. (By then, the first female Supreme Court justice had been appointed some six years prior, beating the United States' doing the same by generations; here's a 1923 note on suffrage) So either someone didn't do their homework, or took a little poetic license... since the "gag" for the scene was Indiana's family friend-sidekick needing to stick out in an exotic setting. Of course, a true-to-life exotic setting could have been selected, so somebody didn't do their homework... as usual, when it comes to things Turkish. Consequently, Mr. Lucas' record was spotty, as far as sticking to authenticity.

ADDENDUM: Well, Holdwater is a monkey's uncle! As it turns out, it was I who didn't have the facts straight... as reader N. Kartal Toker points out: "Indy3 takes place in 1938, when Iskenderun was not a part of Turkey. Iskenderun and Antakya (Antioch) voted for joining Turkey in 1939. Therefore during the time of Indy3, the modern dress-code laws of Turkey were not in effect in Iskenderun."

Boy, did he make up for it.

The actor was well cast for the role

At first, the humorously cerebral TV-show simultaneously featured Indy as a young boy, which was soon dropped in favor for the second part of Indyâ€™s depictionâ€¦. that of a young man, played capably by Sean Patrick Flanery. A reviewer called each of the handful of episodes made â€œa cinematic production in its own right, light-years better than your typical movie-of-the-week or mini-series.â€� Very true words. Moreover, the show presented principle personalities of the early 20th Century, including Albert Schweitzer, Charles de Gaulle, Mata Hariâ€¦ as Indy found himself in the midst of the skirmishes of WWI. (I vaguely remember an exciting episode where Indy and a German officer were reluctantly partnered in a balloon.)

I recognized this show to be the brilliant production it happened to beâ€¦ a program that made an effort to be conscientiously authentic within a fictional format. I wrote George Lucas a letter, telling him that he had the opportunity to tell the tale of the Ottoman Turks from the vantage point we Americans never get to hear: the side of truth.

Mr. Lucas probably never received or read that letter; regardless, I was overjoyed when finallyâ€¦ FINALLYâ€¦ an American movie or television production tackled this subject from the rare, â€œOther Sideâ€�â€¦ using Professor Stanford Shaw as their consultant.

Thank you, George Lucas, for your courage and integrity.

1918 Istanbul

Istanbul: always good for a flavor of mysterious espionage

The Ottoman Empire was explored in two hour-long episodes. Indy pretends to be a fake journalist (perhaps the fictionalized Emile Hilderbrand, said to have interviewed AtatÃ¼rk in a phony June 22, 1926 interview for The Los Angeles Herald Examiner?) who is first shown cavorting with Halide Edip (Zuhal Olcay; ), the renowned novelist who became one of the heroes of the national independence movement. He asks to get an interview with AtatÃ¼rk, which Ms. Edip is reluctant to arrange.

Next stop: Meeting with Ataturk

There are many twists and turns of intrigue that follow, and here is the gist of the goings-on: Indy does get a chance to meet the uncertain-of-himself but kindly Sultan (NÃ¼vit Ã–zdogru), while Enver Pasha (I presume, played by Ali Taygun, not a very â€œYoung" Turk) rants in the back. (Click on the Sultan to hear his words.)

The Sultan feels his nation doesn't get a fair shake in the West

Then there is an Armenian agent working to undercut his nation (WHOA! Thatâ€™s an unheard-of concept), and he is played by Kevork Malikyanâ€¦ the Armenian-American actor who spoke the only decipherable Turkish in MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, as the prosecutor! (This is the great thing about the Indiana Jones TV programâ€¦their attention to detail. Not only did they seem to spare no expense to shoot on location, they made an effort to match the ethnicity of the actor with the character they were playing).The Armenian succeeds in wounding our hero, from the shadows.

Indy has a fateful meeting with AtatÃ¼rk (Ahmet Levendoglu), where French terms for peace are heartily rejected. (Click on â€œAtatÃ¼rkâ€�s picture below, to hear the words.) Is this the only time AtatÃ¼rk has been portrayed in an American/Western film or TV show? Unbelievably, it probably is.

"AtatÃ¼rk" doesn't mince words

One of these men, among others, is a backstabber. (Gasp.)

Indy, wounded, must protect papers in his possession, but he suspects someone in his nest of spies is working as a double agent. There is a whole hodgepodge of ethnic representations within this groupâ€¦ including a Bulgarian, a Jew (I believe), and a Russian. The production hired Russian actor Boris Isarov to play Vasily, who is deliciously sinister. The main actor the production seems to have failed in matching the ethnicity of is the Greek, Nico. He is played by the Turkish actor, Huseyin Katircioglu, which must have been a FIRST in American/Western cinemaâ€¦. A Turk playing a Greek, instead of the always-expected other way around. (For the record, Mr. Katircioglu does not have Nico picking his nose. Quite the contrary, Nico comes across as a handsome, robust, dashing sort.)

It appears the Lucas company re-edited some of the showâ€™s episodes and put them out as direct video release movies. A variation of the segment Iâ€™ve described is part of what is now called THE MASKS OF EVIL (1999), which apparently has been combined with another episode regarding Indyâ€™s meeting withâ€¦ Dracula?

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Turks in American and Western Cinema
VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971)

This film exploring erotic obsession is among the more famous and respected of prolific Spanish director Jess (Jesus) Franco, who is also known for his "bad taste."

Linda down for the count-ess

Linda Westinghouse (Ewa StrÃ¶emberg), works at the American branch of her legal firm in Turkey. One night she sees a strip tease
act at a club (along with her boyfriend, Omar), and becomes transfixed ... the performer resembles the woman she has been seeing in her dreams. Afterwards, she is assigned to take care of the will of a mysterious countess who lives on one of the few Turkish islands left from the Lausanne Treaty... Nadine Carody (Soledad Miranda), who just happens to be the object of Linda's fascination. Linda soon takes care of the countess' will in ways she would have never imagined.

The Turkish components mainly serve as a backdrop. For example, the sunny, Mediterranean settings serve as a reworking of vampire film tradition, in contrast to the typical foggy Transylvanian-type atmosphere we would normally be offered. Plenty of metaphors are offered, such as a kite and scorpion.

There are only two Turkish characters, one being Linda's boyfriend, Omar (AndrÃ©s Monales)... who is far from effective when the time comes to rescue his damsel in distress. He is, basically, totally incompetent as the hero... in the horror film arena, where the boyfriend can generally be relied upon to save the girl. (Actually, it's always refreshing to go against type, but too bad this had to happen in one of the very few Western films where the Turk was presented in the traditional hero's role.)

As a matter of fact, the useless Omar... if anything... serves as a model of psychological abuse (along with the psychiatrist he takes Linda to). Linda ultimately takes control of her own situation, bypassing male "assistance"... even if that means succumbing to the dark side. Whether a clever Freudian notion is at work is anyone's guess... but very likely this is not the sort of film to expect much depth from.

The only "horror" in the film is provided by the other Turkish character, Mehmet (played by the director, Jess Franco; the name is spelled as "Memmet" in the credits) ... who offers physical abuse, instead. Mehmet is the bizarre porter at the hotel who happens to be the husband of one of the countess' former victims, now locked up in the same institution Linda will visit... acting as a kind of "Renfield."

The crazed Mehmet's bound victim

Early in the film, Mehmet corners Linda and blabbers: "She went to the woman on the island â€“ when she came back she was crazy!" He means this as a warning, so he's not a completely bad guy. What Mehmet means by "crazy" is that his wife "lost interest in men." Men traditionally react with violence when faced with lesbians in vampire films, and Mehmet does not disappoint; soon the Turk will kidnap and torture female victims to death in the hotel's wine cellar.

VAMPYROS LESBOS doesn't treat its Turkish characters too badly, as far as Turkish characters in Western films go. True, one goes to pieces and can't handle the situation, and the other goes to pieces and tries to carve up pieces... but it is a vampire film, and there is no real anti-Turkish maliciousness at work.

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CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1973)

This low-budget horror film of little distinction is one of the few movie productions from the United States that actually treats its Turkish characters as real human beings!

The only trouble is...

They are never referred to as "Turkish."

The hero arrives on the mysterious island

I knew something was up when Chris (Andrew Prine) arrived on "Vampire Island," riding a boat named "Bulur." That looked like a Turkish word (meaning something to the effect of "finder"), so I stayed tuned for other clues. Chris arrived to tie up loose ends regarding his archaeologist father, who had recently met his demise (in the prologue, he was shown being murdered).

The "Turkish portrayal" didn't look promising (before I realized these people would never be identified as Turks) when the villagers very rudely gave the new arrival the cold shoulder, very much out of keeping with typical Turkish hospitality. However, this was the old "we are living in a cursed place" behavior that one can recognize from some horror movies.

As luck would have it, one of the two or three islands Turkey was allowed to keep in all of the Mediterranean had to be the one inhabited by vampires.

Andrew is picked up by Peter (Mark Damon), the other outsider on the island who kept Chris' father company. When we are introduced to Peter's sister Mary (Patty Shepard), she is seen teaching some kids in a decrepit old classroom... and the kids are shown clearly singing a song in Turkish, so that clinched their ethnic identity.

It's not long before Chris releases the entombed vampire on the island, after enlisting the help of the now-slightly warmed up villagers. Blind Abdul Hamid (Frank Brana), who knows how to play only one song on his accordion, gives the standard prophesies of doom... to no avail. (He will go on to exclaim: "You fool, you freed the vampire, and my dog lies dead to prove it!") The writing is on the wall: the skeptical scientist will have to deal with the forces of superstition, once the bogeyman (or bogeywoman, in this case) is let loose.

The vampire is Hannah, identified as the wife of the 13th-century French crusader-king Louis VII; the tomb says she died in 1269, and was interred by her infidel-slaughtering royal fiancÃ© because she was turned into a bloodsucker (once her ship was lost at sea and she and the ship's crew were marooned on this accursed island); Louis shows up too late to rescue her bride, and hasn't the heart to kill her after destroying the rest of the vampires. Therefore, the king has her sealed underneath four tons of marble, where she will lie around for seven centuries, having nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs.

However, from a historical perspective...

Louis VII reigned in France from 1137-1180, having caused his holy terror during 1148's Second Crusade... when he was wed to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor never sported fangs, as she had her marriage to the dour Frenchman annulled, and wound up as the wife of England's Henry II (what are the chances of a woman being courted by not one, but TWO kings? Even though Henry was just a prince at the time...), later going on to spawn King Richard I (the Lion-Heartand one). So probably the date on Hannah's tomb should have been 1169, and not 1269.

Louis IX (1214-1270) would have been the crusader king (he went on the Sixth Crusade in 1248) during Hannah's time, but he was really into the Christianity business (known as Saint Louis) and most likely would have frowned upon allowing a profanely unholy beast from Hell to go on living. As portrayed by Teresa Gimpera, Hannah certainly is easy on the eyes... but her beauty probably wouldn't have carried much weight with her religious fanatic husband-to-be.

There is one interesting point in the film, when Hannah sheds tears... possibly indicating having gone bonkers after many long years of entombment. She's a sensitive vampire... one who walks very, very slowly, and with a semi-smile, most of the time.

Chris displays his puckering-up ability

Meanwhile, Chris falls in love with Mary... in predictable fashion. In fact, Chris has no problem at all in getting the girl, and the resulting romance is pretty unbelievable.... while comfortingly formulaic.

Peter heartily approves, giving us a chance to learn more about the island's past and Peter's failed attempts at being a writer. Unfortunately, for the sake of suspense, the viewers are already aware that Peter is one of the "villains," from the prologue... where he was seen murdering Chris' father, with the help of a one-eyed "wild man" dressed in a woolly suit.

The Spanish production was the last film directed by Julio Salvador, before he passed away in 1974... originally entitled La Tumba de la Isla Maldita (Tomb of the Cursed Island); Ray Danton is the solely credited director, indicating he re-edited this previous version, along with shooting extra footage for the English language version.

In the cast populated mainly by American and Spanish actors, I was curious to see which roles would go to the Turks. After all, the visitors were shooting fairly far away from home... surely some of the people in the movie would have needed to be recruited from among the locals. (And the extras obviously appear to have been from the region... especially the ones who stand around in wooden fashion.)

We have a young Turkish character named Adnan, who is seen in one shot with flies disturbingly walking all over him. He is an obvious American, the son of old-time Hollywood actor, Jack La Rue. Then there is the actor playing Adnan's father... one of the vampire's victims who begs his fellow villagers to kill him, uttering the unforgettable phrase, "MY MIND IS GONE!" However, once again, the actor is an American (Edward Walsh)... who received his vampire training as the assistant from the "Count Yorga" films.

Abdul Hamid, the blind sailor, was played by the Spaniard, Francisco "Frank" BraÃ±a (who also happened to be in all of the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" movies).

There is a little "subplot" in the film featuring two of the kids in Mary's classroom (among the rest who pretended to understand Mary's English), who are warned not to play in the graveyard. By the way, there must have been quite a few Christians buried in the Turkish graveyard:

The Turkish graveyard

I guess this is where the remains of the 1.5 million Armenians must have been buried... since their "en masse"-acred corpses couldn't be found anywhere else!

Zora and her worry beads

At any rate, the lead kids in the cast is where Turkish actors were finally allowed to shine... Jem Osmanoglu played the little boy, and Shera Osman appeared as Zora, the fair girl.

However, neither of these children were professional actors, and must have been rounded up from whatever little bodies readily available. Wasn't there at least one professional Turkish actor that the producers could have considered for a somewhat juicy part? Granted, maybe not too many Turkish actors spoke English flawlessly in 1973, but all the other "Turks" in the film spoke with accents... so this couldn't have been an insurmountable obstacle.

After all, in the only heartily "pro-Turk" Western film production I'm aware of... George Lucas' Indiana Jones Chronicles, from 1992... the cast was filled with Turkish actors, speaking very acceptable English. Couldn't CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD have given one lousy job to a professional Turkish actor?

Well, there was one meaty role the producers figured could be handled by a Turk.

The Wild Man

The "Wild Man" was played by Turkish actor Ihsan Gedik, and his job was to go around brutally killing people..!

A LOOK AT "GREEK" HORROR

BLOOD TIDE (1982) was a British-Greek co-production, co-produced and co-written by Nico Mastorakis... starring James Earl Jones and JosÃ© Ferrer. The story had some interesting parallels to CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Americans arrive at a Greek island, where the initially inhospitable villagers (led by the "mayor," JosÃ© Ferrer)show signs of the old "we are living in a cursed place" behavior. A lead girl character (as played by Rania Photiou) gets mixed up in the goings-on, along with other children. There is an American sister cooped up on the island. Another American (as played by James Earl Jones) disturbs a sleeping monster from its long sleep, who then goes on to claim a good several island inhabitants, before being done away with.

Even though this isn't the most "pro-Greek" movie, the setting is definitely identified as Greek... and as we get to know the inhabitants further, they are definitely a good lot. Even if they have to sacrifice a virgin to appease the sea monster.

The one thing I couldn't help thinking was how similar the Greek islanders were to the Turkish islanders... and yet, we can always expect the differences to be stressed. Oh, the humanity.

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THE FAVORITE [INTIMATE POWER] (1989)

The story of AimÃ©e Dubucq de RivÃ©ry (a.k.a, Naksidil, Nakshidil) is explored in this 1989 film starring F. Murray Abraham as Sultan AbdÃ¼l-Hamid I (who reigned from 1774-1789), Maud Adams as Sineperver (Ayse Seniyeperver Valide Sultan), and Amber O'Shea in the title role. This is a film I had seen years ago, and stumbled upon recently. It's one of the very few Western films that has treated the Ottoman Empire "sympathetically."

Video Box, from Ace Video, for "The Favorite."

But even in this rare case of cinematic kindness, note how the movie was sold, from the video box. The only indication we have of the Turkish subject is the lettering style of the word "intimate," which is an extremely subtle element. We have some "warriors" at bottom, but who knows what nation they are representative of. Certainly, the costumes of the soldiers in the movie bear no resemblance.

And to add insult to injury, note the description on the back of the box:

In the 1850â€™s a beautiful young French nun, Aimee (AMBER Oâ€™SHEA), is abducted. Sheâ€™s transported into the Istanbul slave trade, where she catches the eye of the Sultan (F. MURRAY ABRAHAM, Amadeus). He falls in love with this outsider and they share the secrets of Intimate Power.

Aimee bears his son. Jealous women plot to kill the baby, to poison Aimee, and to usurp the Sultanâ€™s reign.
As revolution rocks Persia, Aimee fights along side the Sultan emboldened by whatâ€™s theirs forever... Their Intimate Power.

Since the described sultan's reign ended in 1789, already we know they are way off base with their "1850's" description (AimÃ©e/Nakshidil lived from 1768-1817); the sultan she fights alongside of in the film regards successor sultans... "as revolution rocks Persia." For God's sake! They can't even get the name of the country correct.

As we look into how the film was handled, we'll make comparative notes with what apparently was the real history. It's difficult to ascertain what the real history was. In doing research, I noticed some quarters even question whether the title character originated from France. The film itself responsibly states in the end credits:

The legend of AimÃ©e Dubucq de RivÃ©ry is based on fact. This motion picture tells the broad story of that legend. As a result, all characters except AimÃ©e Dubucq de RivÃ©ry, Abdul Hamid and Mahmud, depicted in this photoplay and the details of events are fictitious.

So the historical commentary to follow is a matter of interest, not criticism. It is the age-old right of a motion picture depicting historical events to take liberties; this is after all, a work of entertainment, and not a documentary.

AimÃ©e/Nakshidil was the subject of several novels, and the film was based on "Sultana" (La Nuit du Serail), written by â€� by Prince Michael of Greece. She was also covered by Janet Wallach in "Seraglio" (here is an excerpt which follows the events of the film closely, and a review.) A site dedicated to historical women leaders (guide2womenleaders.com) tells us:

1808-17 Politically Influential Naksidil Valide Sultan of The Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

A depiction of Aimee, "ornament of the heart"

An apocryphal story has it that she was originally Marie Martha AimÃ©e Dubuc de RivÃ©ry â€” cousin of Empress JosÃ©phine Tascher de la Pagerie of France. She was supposed to have been captured by pirates and sold to the slave marke(t) of Istanbul and presented to AbdÃ¼lhamid and acted as his advisor 1733-73. After his death his brother, Sultan Selim III asked her to remain at the Seraglio harem with her son, Mahmud his nephew. She acted as his advisor and apparently taught him French; and for the first time, a permanent ambassador was sent from Istanbul to Paris. Selim was assassinated in 1807 by religious fanatics who disapproved of his liberalism. The assassins also sought to kill Mahmud, but Nakshedil saved her son by concealing him inside a furnace. Thus Mahmud became the next Sultan, accomplishing significant reforms in the empire that are, for the most part, attributed to the influence of his mother. She lived (1768-1817).

Maud Adams plays "Sineperver"

I like the way they presented the facts questioningly, even though they blew it big time with their 1733-73 dates in which she had acted as an advisor. (They also appear to be wrong with the classification of Mahmud as Selim's nephew. It seems Selim was the nephew, and not the brother, of Abdulhamid, the father of Mahmud.) The site also featured the Maud Adams character as a woman of influence:

1807-08 Ayse Seniyeperver Valide Sultan of The Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

Also known as Daulatlu Ismatlu Aisha Sina Parvar Validi Sultan 'Ahiyat us-Shan Hazratlari, she was mother of Mustafa IV (1807-08), who was deposed in favour of his half-brother Mahmut II. She lived (1761-1828).

Aimee is played by Amber O'Shea

This film likely wouldn't have been made if not for "The Lustful Turk" element, where the innocent Christian woman is captured against her will to become a sex slave. The lure of the harem is little less irresistible today than in the days it had captured prurient imaginations throughout the Western world.

As the film begins, I was impressed the title card called the city by the name the Turks called it, Istanbul (and not Constantinople), in 1817. The "Sultana" is on her deathbed (at only 49 years old), and Sultan Mahmud (Francesco Quinn) summons a priest (Gerard Touroul) to her dying motherâ€™s side. â€œI am a Christian,â€� the priest protests; â€œso is my mother,â€� the sultan replies. He joins in Muslim prayer to the priestâ€™s prayers... which was quite an effective scene in religious coexistence.

Noel Barber's sensationalized and frequently biased "The Sultans," my main account of "real history," confirms the accuracy of this scene: "...as AimÃ©e's life slipped away the grief-stricken Mahmud made what was, for a devout Moslem ruler of a Moslem empire, a decision of courage and love." We are told the convent superior of St. Antoine, Father Chrysostom, was summoned. He noted Mahmud "appeared to be about forty years of age; his height was above the ordinary; his brow high and noble; his expression commanding. His beard was black, and gave his face an impressive, grave beauty."

The Greek doctor by AimÃ©e's side and the black slaves were told to withdraw, and she was told by a kneeling Mahmud: "You wished to die in the religion of your fathers; let your wish be fulfilled." Barber further writes, "Father Chrysostom listened to AimÃ©e's confession, prayed with her for an hour and gave her Absolution, while in a corner of the room the 'Christian Sultan,' as he was nicknamed by those opposing his reforms, called on Allah to help him bear his loss. So AimÃ©e died in the faith to which she had been born."

Aimee's harem life begins.

We travel back in time thirty-three years, to Nantes France, and first learn how defiant she is at convent school. â€œI donâ€™t think if you ever had to take a bath youâ€™d be stupid enough to do it with your clothes on,â€� she prays, asking God to have the Mother Superior change her mind about her punishment, and let her be free for the holidays. There is a nice scene displaying the corruption of hypocritical holies, as the uncle (Tom McGreevey) is forced to give a never-ending pay-off to the chief nun (Edith Fields), in order for AimÃ©e to be released. On a ship, AimÃ©e is kidnapped by Algerian pirates, and later transported to Istanbul, where she would spend the rest of her life.

Barber confirms: "AimÃ©e must have been a remarkably resilient girl, for when she was forced to exchange the strict and decorous life of the convent (where she had been made to wear a calico robe each time she took a bath) for the imperial harem where the odalisques spent long hours 'lolling in Turkish baths, naked and sleek, ladling perfumed, water over each other' she appears to have quickly realised that it was useless to struggle against her lot."

The harem girl tells Aimee that she's only trying to be nice

In fact, it was this resilience that made it difficult to suspend my disbelief when I had first seen the film. It just seemed ridiculous that at every turn AimÃ©e proved defiant and got away with her "bad attitude"... which must have been very difficult in an atmosphere where a slave, especially a female slave in what was such a male-dominated society, could be so lucky. Particularly when we see another woman making advances on our heroine, and even though (after being caught), she protests the sultana Sineperver had put her up to it and that she didn't do anything, she gets bound and thrown in the river.

Upsy-daisy! Finally, she'll be making a splash in her life

This seemed pretty odd, and apparently was designed to appeal to our baser instincts... since Barber also lost no opportunity to tell us of this barbaric style of murdering these poor young harem women. Yet, if this barbarism existed, it seems hard to believe that any kind of defiance would have been tolerated. AimÃ©e was undoubtedly strong-headed (and she had been described as "spoiled" in several accounts), but it's a surprise the novelty of her backbone could have lasted so long... no matter how attractive she was. (Barber: "The odalisques in the harem paid her the supreme compliment of christening her Naksh, 'The Beautiful One'.")

Incidentally, were lesbian acts in the harem punished by death? In the brief excerpt to Janet Wallach's novel, she tells us AimÃ©e was ruffled by the "Lesbos" setting... not hard to believe, given these women must have led such incredibly boring lives, waiting to be picked by the Padishah.

The court's dwarf (Joseph F. Griffo)

No decadent royal court would be complete without a dwarf, and this film offers a couple. When we see the â€œChief Dwarf,â€� he speaks in impeccable Turkish (the name he introduces himself as is the Turkish word for â€œBigâ€�) That made me think at least the film has a stamp of authenticity, unlike MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, where the spoken language was mainly indecipherable. Then, in a later scene, the actor spoke perfect, unaccented English. That must have been dubbed, I thought. But when I later learned the actorâ€™s name was Joseph Griffo (who has an accomplished list of credits) and when I later noticed he spoke Turkish onscreen mainly with his back turned, I realized which language was the one likely dubbed.

In fact, there are no Turks in the cast, except for a character called Baktar, and a harem girl extra, Ayse Gungor, who is the third wardrobe assistant. Although the film was shot in Turkey (the end credits give thanks to a representative of the Topkapi Museum), only a handful of Turks were in the crew, all as assistants (except for the "transportation captain.") This must have been quite an extravagant production, importing everyone from outside the country.

No more Mr. Nice Guy from Tulip

Back to the story. The sultan picks AimÃ©e from a line-up, and she runs away... after Tulip (the chief black eunuch, played by Ron Dortch) instructs her to kiss his hem. When I thought the fact that she rejected the sultan would be curtains, she is instructed in the fine art of obedience (Tulip already had trouble with AimÃ©e when she refused the Turkish name "Nakshidil" he had given her. At one point, she asks why he is going through so much trouble for her, and he replies that he values love and friendship. Hmm!); she is still resistant, but Sineperver persuades her, explaining the only option that remains would be death. The fateful scene between AimÃ©e and the sultan takes place.

Abdulhamid I

More clean-cut, but not a
bad resemblance!

Barber: "Toward the end of the eighteenth century, fifty-nine year-old Abdul Hamid I, who had been Sultan for eleven years, received a gift which delighted and rejuvenated him, for it consisted of a golden-haired French girl with a witty, upturned nose below large blue eyes, and a perfectly formed Cupid's bow of a mouth above a determined chin."

Sultan AbdÃ¼lhamid explains that he will not force her, and gives sob stories about his old age. That's when the thirteen-year-old girl chooses to be his lover, later explaining in a scene where she is privately praying to God that something compelled her. Was it pity?

Yet, Barber writes, "There is little doubt that AimÃ©e was deeply attached to the Sultan," and later in the film (when he goes off to war and to his death), she proclaims his love.

When the chief of the Janissaries wants to go to war with the Russians, the sultan explains the Janissary tradition of overthrowing sultans. So why not let them go to war, AimÃ©e asks. The sultan explains that the Janissaries are outmatched, and they would be destroyed. She replies, then he wouldnâ€™t be overthrown. In this fashion, she will continue to show others the errors of their ways.

She bears AbdÃ¼lhamid a son, but Sineperver has the newborn killed. The succeeding sultan, Selim, will later ask her to be the guardian of Mahmud (whose mother had died years ago, the film tells us)... but according to Barber, the son AimÃ©e bore was, in fact, Mahmud. Perhaps the film was taking liberties here, demonstrating the behind-the-scenes intrigues taking place, where poisoning/killing of royalty was to be commonly expected. Or maybe it was an interesting way to set up the "confrontation" scene, where AimÃ©e bursts into the sultanâ€™s throne room, unveiled (forcing the other men to bow their heads, since they are not permitted to gaze) and yelling that she hates him because he never does anything. "You like the killing,â€� she screams, little realizing that if he liked killing that much she could well be next in line. Yet, the Sultan permits this insolence, witnessed by so many others.

Sultan AbdÃ¼lhamid returns spoiled from war, and Selim (James Michael Gregary) ascends the throne. He falls in love with AimÃ©e. Barber:

Does Aimee aimer Selim?

"The relationship between Selim and AimÃ©e provides a fascinating question to which no historian has been able to find an answer. They had known each other well since AimÃ©e first entered the harem to become the sultana of an ageing husband who had allowed Selim every liberty, permitting him even to learn the precious art of French politics from AimÃ©e (veiled and under the strictest supervision, no doubt). They were both in their twenties, physically attractive, and shared a love of literature. Selim was 'of a pallid delicacy... one of those sighing princes, whose vellum-toned features have a feminine cast.' Lamartine described him as 'a lonely, dreamy prince, sensitive and shy, with almond eyes, a long serious face.' He spent hours listening as AimÃ©e read to him.

AimÃ©e, a full-blooded Frenchwoman in the prime of life, was consigned to a life of chastity. Selim was totally uninterested in his harem, and died childless. It seems impossible that after Abdul Hamid's death they did not become lovers. And there was another curious fact. Why did the mother of Mustafa the heir virtually disappear from the scene during Selim's reign? Since Selim was the only man in the way of her son's accession, one would have expected her to have plotted against him; yet history tells only of AimÃ©e's selfless influence. It is pleasing to hope that the innocent golden-haired French girl who became a slave was not only a loyal wife and a devoted mother, but (as some recompense for her misfortunes) was also the passionate mistress of a good-looking intellectual who adored her to the exclusion of every beautiful woman who could have been his at the snap of a finger."

Indeed, the film makes reference to Selim's lack of interest in the harem. He is also shown learning the French language from AimÃ©e, especially in a scene where they go off in public, overhearing what the people truly think of him (the people have a low opinion).

The kid better not be screaming, "Hands off"!

A boy (Joe Elrady) is accused of stealing, and his hand gets chopped off... in yet another bow to how the Western world enjoys perceiving the Ottoman ways. (We see the action in gory glory. Maybe this is why the film was rated "R," since there is next-to-no nudity.) The spunky AimÃ©e attacks the Janissary guard. Selim steps in to save her from the guard, and when a second guard confronts him, AimÃ©e comes to his rescue. As they run away, she asks why didnâ€™t he do anything? and he replies that Itâ€™s been this way for centuries.

She refuses to bear him a son, and Tulip suggests that she can then pick out another child-bearer. After a candidate is selected from the harem, she has a jealous fit.

He canâ€™t do anything against the Janissaries, he tells her, but she disagrees. AimÃ©e suggests he get guns from the French.

May I have this dance, Monsieur?

"I want you to know your placeâ€� Selim orders, after she bursts in on a conference with a French representative about an arms deal. â€œYou are, after all, a slave and a woman.â€� Once more, to get the idea of what a firecracker she is, in the very next scene she has put on a Western gown and asks the Frenchman, Sebastiani (Laurent Le Doyen) to dance with her. (He is the handsome noble at the beginning of the film who had already made kissy-face with her. In an amazing coincidence, of course, it would have had to be him to cross paths with her again.) Selim's green eye roves, as he watches.

As the Frenchmen departs, he suggests she come with him; â€œYou donâ€™t want to spend the rest of your life with savages,â€� he reasons. â€œI canâ€™t leave,â€� she responds. As she enters the Sultan's chamber, Selim declares, â€œI didnâ€™t think you were coming back.â€� â€œNeither did I,â€� she replies, as they embrace.

(In July 1798, Napoleon would invade Egypt, a province of the Ottoman Empire, forcing Selim to go to war with France.)

The Janissaries storm in and corner Selim, AimÃ©e and Mahmud. He abdicates, saying Mustafa is the new sultan. AimÃ©e is at a loss to understand why, and the dwarf servant explains he did so to protect her.

(Barber tells us Mustafa, Selim's half-brother, prevented Selim from committing suicide after his abdication. Selim could have lived in "the Cage," if not for forces still loyal to him. When a pasha named Bairactar marched to the city with 40,000 troops and demanded to see Selim, Sultan Mustafa realized the only way to safeguard his life would be to kill both Selim and Mahmud, leaving Mustafa the last of the Ottoman race.)

In their holding room, they are attacked. Selim is strangled, AimÃ©e and Mahmud barely escape on the rooftops, and when the guards pursue, the dwarf gives his life to save the others.

(Barber tells us Selim killed two of this attackers, fighting a delaying action in order that Mahmud might escape. "AimÃ©e grabbed him and together they escaped, but only by seconds. As the murderers raced down the Golden road, one of AimÃ©e's slaves, a formidable Georgian woman known in the harem as 'The Strong' blocked their way." She performed a delaying action, permitting Mahmud the time to creep through a chimney and hide.)

Mustafa (played by Glenn Scarpelli, who used to appear in "One Day at a Time"... I thought that grating voice sounded familiar) calls them down from the rooftop the following morning, assuring them that he means no harm. However, in true "I, Claudius" fashion, AimÃ©e finds a way to make sure he will never harm them, and Mahmud becomes the new sultan. (The film makes it appear Mustafa IV's reign was considerably shorter than what it was, from 1807-1808.)

(Barber: Mustafa kicked Selim's body into the courtyard for Bairactar to witness, and the weeping Pasha raced to avenge the death. "As Bairactar and his men prepared to kill Mustafa, there was a dramatic interruption. Mahmud appeared, his clothes in tatters, his face blackened with soot; but in this, almost the first moment of his thirty-one-year reign, AimÃ©e's son displayed all the dignity that was to earn him the title of 'The Reformer.' His first order on his accession was to consign Mustafa to the Cage." One of his many reforms would be to replace the turban with the fez.)

AimÃ©e, â€œa French schoolgirl born in Martinique, ruled the harem of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire for fifteen years," we are told at film's end. The narrator continues:

â€œThe reign of her son, Sultan Mahmud the Second, was to continue for an additional fourteen years. His rule was marked by the destruction of the Janissaries, and by internal reforms that brought new rights and freedoms to his people. AimÃ©e Dubucq de RivÃ©ry lies buried in a tomb in Istanbul, which is inscribed by the name given her in the harem Nakshidil ornament of the heart. There is no other name on the tomb.

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Armenian Genocide Resource Center

13.7.05

207) Turks in Western Media - TURKS IN AMERICAN AND WESTERN CINEMA -TURKS IN AMERICAN TELEVISION

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