Hinted Homosexuality: Censorship and Control over Turkish Netflix Originals

Publikationstyp:
Konferenzbeitrag
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Abstract
With a population of 83 million and a lively TV industry, Turkey has a major market for digital platfoms. Netflix launched in Turkey in January 2016 and released the first Turkish local production The Protector (2018-2020) at the end of 2018 (Vitrinel and Ildır, 2021). In 2020 it was announced that the Netflix original series If Only (Şimdiki Aklım Olsaydı) was cancelled one day before the start of the set. The screenwriter of the series confirmed that the cancellation was related to a homosexual character in the script. Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which is responsible for all shooting permits in the country wanted the character to be changed with a heterosexual character (Yücel, 2020). When such request is not accepted, the series had to be cancelled. Homophobia is widespread in Turkey and the LGBTQI+ community faces a wide variety of discrimination, especially by the official authorities governed by the conservative government (Yenilmez, 2021). From the hostile tweets of the ministers to censorship of gay characters on TV and media-led boycotts of LGBT-friendly brands, a growing malice is suffocating Turkey's LGBTQI+ community. In 2019, with a law went into effect, The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) has been given the powers to censor online TV platforms and streaming sites like Netflix. Currently all the online content is supervised by national authorities (Bozdag, 2016). Up until today Netflix produced 11 original series in Turkey and none of these series include any openly gay or lesbian characters. Even though the media presence of LGBTQI+ characters are under control, the attitudes about homosexuality are shifting toward greater acceptance in Turkey, especially among young people (McClain and Waite-Wright, 2016). Even if banned, pride parades and social media campaigns against homophobia gain more supporters every year. The fictional TV and digital platforms series such as Love 101 (Aşk 101/2020-2021), The Club (Kulüp/2021-2022) include characters that do not fit traditional gender norms. Although their sexual orientation is not specified because of censorship, there are many implications in the series. With looking at these hinted LGBTQI+ depictions in Turkish Netflix originals and audiences’ social media reactions to these series, this study aims to analyze the limitations of creative practices of digital platforms in Turkey.
Autoren
  • Sezen Kayhan Müldür
Conference finish date
2022
Conference place
Universitat de València
Name of conference
International Conference on Discourses of Fictional (Digital) TV Series
Datum der Veröffentlichung
2022
Herausgeber URL
https://congresos.adeituv.es/series22/
Datum der Datenerfassung
2022
Conference start date
2022
Titel
Hinted Homosexuality: Censorship and Control over Turkish Netflix Originals

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