This text focuses on the interaction between local and global culture and politics through an analysis of reviews of the Netflix series Bir Başkadır. The series directed by Berkun Oya was released in Turkey on 12 November 2020. In Turkish it translates as “Something Else” in direct translation or “Unique” if we interpret. It has been published as “Acht Menschen in Istanbul” in German and as “Ethos” in English.

Television series, which have been the most popular genre in Turkey, received the attention of scholars worldwide especially after its transnational popularization in the last decade. The export of these series to Middle Eastern countries during the Islamist populist AKP regime provided the predominant context for these analyses. By conducting textual interpretations as well as audience research in different geographies, researchers have formulated some questions: Why have these series received such a popular reception? And how is this success linked to the soft power of the AKP?

A report by TRT World news can give insights into the official perspective. They ask the reason for the global success and popularity of Turkish dizi. Cultural similarities with the Arab world are emphasized as well as the function of soft power. These series present a “positive image of Muslims” and therefore a “cure for Islamophobia”: “Islamic values like honor, dignity, and faith are pushing back against the stereotypical portrayal of muslims often seen in the west”. It is argued that the Arab world remains the biggest market largely due to cultural similarities and the Turkish products high production value: ”Turkey sees the small screen as a soft power tool”.

This success is partly explained “with presenting a different view of Islamic history than that of post 9/11 Hollywood where Muslims often play the villains or terrorists.” Turkish series are thought to be “more family oriented with no on-screen nudity”, which, by TRT, is seen as one more reason that “Turkish TV series take the world by storm”. Another TRT report talks about increased ratings and advertising revenue in a “global market” and how this success boosted tourism. Turkey has become one of the “most visited country” thanks to dizi celebrities and places. According to the TRT report, this success put Turkey ``right next to Hollywood”.

The increasing popularity of Turkish series beyond Turkey in the last two decades has been researched intensively. Early studies on the transnationalization of Turkish series have focused on the popularity in the Arab world. Kraidy and Al-Ghazzi (2013) state that the popularity is not only related with cultural affinity, but is concerned with a shift in the geopolitical context where Turkey presumes a more active role. Yörük and Vatikiotis (2013) approach the issue in their case study of Greece, and expand the debate on the Middle East by adding a Balkan region, and with some skepticism on the explanatory character of soft power. Instead they suggest framing the issue from the perspective of hegemony.

Turkish transnational soap operas in the Middle East and Europe, according to the authors, “appeal to the nostalgia for the lost tradition, the externalized Orient, and the demoded religious values in the Greek audience, while representing the dream of an achievable degree of modernity, Westernization, and secularization to the Arabic middle classes”. Alankuş and Yanardağoğlu (2019) similarly use the perspective of hegemony but they criticize the use of soft power and cultural proximity in explaining the popularization of Turkish TV exports globally. According to them, the series were used as instruments in the past, but not anymore. The success of Turkish series should be instead explained by “glocal economic dynamics, specific characteristics of the Turkish drama sector, the genre itself, and audiences’ negotiated readings”.

Similarly Yeşil (2015) explains the success of transnationalization of Turkish dramas by considering political and economic factors rather than cultural proximity by relying on in-depth interviews with people working at different stages of the TV sector. According to her, the converging local and global dynamics including governmental support, the historical conjuncture and the changes and activities in the Turkish and global television market created favourable conditions for the export of Turkish dramas.

A recent article by Algan and Kaptan (2021) approaches the TV-series in regard to their role in nation branding and soft power by focusing on how celebrities of Turkish TV are instrumentalized as cultural envoys in foreign policy by the Turkish government. However, as they show, what is aimed or desired by the Turkish government and what is achieved in the global TV industry do not necessarily align. In fact, the process inhabits contradictions and consequences for the participants, TV celebrities and executives. Özçetin (2019) focuses on debates during the Golden Butterfly award ceremony around the historical television series Diriliş: Ertuğrul, which was supported by AKP as the “show of the people”:

The show has been embraced as an alternative to morally degenerate cultural products of alienated Westernist/Kemalist cultural elites. The Justice and Development Party elites used every opportunity to incorporate the series into its populist political program.

The literature contributing to this debate mostly explains how historical dramas are used. However, in this case of ‘Bir Başkadır’, what is chosen is not a historical drama. Instead one encounters a glimpse of an ordinary life in Turkey. Yet, the traces of populism and polarization are visible in this series as well. This piece is interested in how the series are signified not only by Turkish but also by different audiences from different countries. As Christensen writes (2013) about “open-ended multiple interconnectivities of distant locales and identities”, we would like to concentrate on how the series are debated on social media by different contexts and language groups and whether there is any link among them.

The fact that the series are distributed through Netflix, a global commercial platform, allows us to discuss the merit of cosmopolitanism with some caution. As Elkins (2019) discusses, despite the claims of platforms in fostering a cosmopolitan orientation toward the world, one can not deny the role algorithms play in the creation of intercultural affinity of taste clusters or communities. Başlar (2021) analyzes the audience comments on the IMDB site of the Netflix Turkey’s series “Hakan: Muhafız” (2018- 2020) and traces the overlaps between reviews and Netflix discourses and its policies. She argues that local content is appreciated transnationally. Local cultural characteristics remain in the background. Our small scaled research here similarly uses IMDB reviews and Netflix.

Bir Başkadır starts with a part time cleaning worker Meryem who lives at the periphery of İstanbul going to a therapy session and encountering Peri, the psychiatrist. Meryem as a veiled and not educated woman and Peri as educated and secular woman are the main characters of the series. Yet, the series touches upon many polarizations: Turkishness vs. Kurdishness, traditional versus modern, secular vs. religious, poor vs. rich, and uneducated vs. elite. When we think of the polysemic nature of fiction, it is hard to analyze what the series has achieved by pointing in one direction.

For example, the feeling of anger portrayed in the character of Peri, a modern psychiatrist against Meryem, a maid, has the potential of confirming the Muslim as oppressed and as a victim, in line with the populism of Erdogan’s New Turkey. However, one can also ask, whether this is an attempt at reconciliation between existing camps or see how multiple portrayals of women contribute to gender equality, including LGBTQI. It is impossible to limit the possible readings with the political memory and contradictions in Turkey either when considering the transnational character of the Netflix series. Then, it is possible to ask for the significance of the representations beyond Turkey.

177 reviews were analyzed (accessed on Ethos (TV Series 2020) - IMDb September 12 2022). The reviews are mostly positive, full of praise for the artistic quality and the acting. Some people with Turkish usernames, or who are stating explicitly that they are Turkish, mention some problems with the translation. They criticize that some idioms are not translated properly and some things are lost in translation. A few reviewers with foreign names or who state that they are not Turkish mention the place and meaning of music. The role of nostalgia, affection and intertextuality are mentioned mainly in regard to music pieces such as Coban Yıldızı of Melih Kibar and the songs of Ferdi Özbeğen as well as scenes from the film of Sürü. The critical reviews mention the abrupt ending and recommend that more episodes should be made. Some reviews also criticize the narrative slowness while others praise the slow tempo as realistic.

The theme most often emphasised among the reviews is relatability. On the one hand, this can be explained by those viewers from Turkey, and those living near to Turkey. On the other hand, many viewers who are not from Turkey, but different parts of the world - Greek, Brazilian, Arab, American, Canadian - write with enthusiasm about how they can “relate” to the humans at stories:

These people may be so different from you and me, but they are so recognizable and relatable at the same time that you are sucked in.

As a Greek I can relate to both modern and traditional aspects of contemporary Turkey… The actors are brilliant without exception, camera is partially silently shocking, images captured are impregnated in a spectator's head, the story will bring tears to your eyes but most important: not one character is good or bad. They are all both good and bad, making them exceptionally human.

This has excellent acting, story, dialogue, directing and most importantly this is real… YOU CAN RELATE… It's not their fault that they are flawed, they are the bi-product of the East-meets-West, of their parents, of their surroundings…

I'm not turkish but I visited several times... I think personally a lot of international audience can relate to the story as a lot of communities have the same polarisation within that feels like the fabric of the society is no longer consistent. Its the same here in Egypt and Middle East in general. We are exposed to same socio-economic and political unbalance, so its no surprise we reach the same outcomes..

I am an Anglo Canadian for context. This series is among the finest I have seen in a long time. This gem needs no polishing. Every aspect is absorbing without any pretentions. Despite the cultural setting of multiple slices of Turkish society enveloped in secular and traditional tensions; each of the characters was well developed and very real. The interactions between the characters are so brilliantly crafted they elevate the drama beyond national borders. The actors are completely new to me but have become instantly memorable. A follow-up series? Just do it!

For those not from Turkey affective dimensions are underlined while for those living in Turkey realness is emphasized:

I know nothing about Turkey or Kurdish culture but my heart was deeply touched...so well done!

You can see this in many ways (and layers) From the beauty of life, the pain of family and belief, non belief, the city vs the country, the prejudices of people, even smart people, or the broken bridge between different cultures. It doesn't matter. You can just sit there and listen and try to understand why it must be this way and all there suffering. It's a beautiful poem for those who love not just specific people but all the people. Bravo.

Whether you are rich or poor, educated or uneducated, religious or non-religious, liberal or conservative. In big city, all people is the same. We live side by side. We all have our own problems and We have our own way how to find our own peace in life.

For those viewers not from Turkey affective dimensions are underlined while for those living in Turkey realness is emphasized:

I know nothing about Turkey or Kurdish culture but my heart was deeply touched ... so well done!

You can see this in many ways (and layers) From the beauty of life, the pain of family and belief, non belief, the city vs the country, the prejudices of people, even smart people, or the broken bridge between different cultures. It doesn't matter. You can just sit there and listen and try to understand why it must be this way and all there suffering. It's a beautiful poem for those who love not just specific people but all the people. Bravo.

Whether you are rich or poor, educated or uneducated, religious or non-religious, liberal or conservative. In big city, all people is the same. We live side by side. We all have our own problems and We have our own way how to find our own peace in life.

Realness was attributed to “Turkey” mostly in comparison with the real Turkey with real people, the real Turkish society with all its flaws and emotional brutality:

It is very close to what happens inside Turkish society right now.

This is one of the most honest series that I ever watched! So realistic! It pictures real life problems and the Turkish society as it is.

…capturing and mirroring the chasm in modern Turkey…

"Real" also is used with regard to "life" quite often:

This is the real life in Turkey

This is not a screenplay, this is real life!...

… everything are coming from real life.

…the real-life of the east and west. Without knowing how much in common they have.

One of the most often mentioned dichotomy was the conflict of the modern world versus the old or traditional or Islamic world. There are a few reviews which also mention the conflict between secular right/left, Kurds, and conservatives/Muslims. Even when polarizations were stressed, hope and optimism were predominant themes, sometimes beyond Turkey. Again, relatability was the main frame:

The script almost touches every important issue in current political state of Turkey. With the rising polarisation around the globe this show tells us how we did get that much divided and how can we relate to each other forgetting our socioeconomic classes, gender identities, ethnic backgrounds. It gave me hope that we can reconnect and reunite as people again.

many people in Turkey can relate to. This show depicts the many unspoken realities in Turkey, and somehow gives its watchers a sense of hope that we are, in the end, meant to disregard our differences and unite no matter what.

My own reading welcomes the possibility to relate with the fragility of human lives transnationally. At the same time, though, I can not watch the series as something that takes place in any part of the world, but instead I see it as a narrative about certain power relations. Therefore, while it is fruitful to be a witness to the world of veiled women against Islamophobia, at the same time, I remember how a low quality, sensational Islamist newspaper in Turkey claimed that muslim women were eroticized by the series. It seems that TV series as popular culture products continue to be discussed in the context of political tensions and polarizations.

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