Much to the surprise of many of my friends and family
here in Istanbul, it would appear that we in Turkey
are currently living under a fundamentalist Islamic
regime hell-bent on instituting an absolutist version
of Sharia Law. I have to admit, the news came as a bit
of a shock, but since that is the way the country was
portrayed in a recent episode (January 26, 2005) of
NBC’s "The West Wing," it must be true. If there is
one thing that we know about the people who write for television programs and films excreted from the Hollywood system, they are real sticklers for accuracy when it comes to the portrayal of non-Americans in general, and Muslims in particular.
A description of the controversial scene in the
episode of "The West Wing" was outlined in the letter
of complaint sent to NBC by the Assembly of Turkish
American Associations (ATAA):
"The "West Wing" episode [...] takes place in the
corn-growing state of Iowa and concerns a presidential
campaign focused on farm subsidies, ethanol, and
NAFTA. During the campaign, there arises an
international crisis in which Turkey, having adopted
Islamic laws under the leadership of the AKP, has
convicted and ordered the execution by beheading of a
woman, Karli, for having sex with her fiancée. The
stated crime is adultery. The news, displaying a map
of Turkey and the Turkish flag, adds that the
execution will create difficulties for Turkey’s EU
admission. Furthermore, the news states that despite
the tragic situation of this Turkish woman, the US Administration places so much importance on Turkey’s alliance that it will continue to support Turkey."
The episode in question has yet to air in Turkey, but
it has generated a firestorm of controversy in the
Turkish national press. The Turkish ambassador to the
United States and the ATAA wrote formal letters of
complaint to NBC, and even the Turkish Prime Minister,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, brought it up during a meeting
with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her
recent visit to Ankara.
This brief yet grossly inaccurate portrayal of Turkey
is typical of the way in which predominantly Muslim
nations have been shown in the US media over the
years, and only serves to reinforce ridiculous,
ill-informed stereotypes. As the ATAA and other groups
have pointed out, not only does Turkey not have
legislation against adultery, Turkey -- unlike the
United States -- does not have the death penalty. It
is somewhat ironic that writers of "The West Wing"
chose the death penalty to be a hindrance to Turkey’s
joining the EU as a storyline, because, in real life,
capital punishment was abolished as a direct result of
Turkey’s efforts to join the EU. It is even more
ironic that at the same time that images of Muslims as bloodthirsty, wild-eyed savages circulate endlessly in the US popular media, states such as Texas have no problem executing mentally-retarded prisoners or issuing defendants in death penalty cases with defense attorneys who are alcoholics or fall asleep during trials.
The fact that Turkey is a staunchly secular nation is
of little consequence to these scriptwriters: Turkey
is 98% Muslim, and we all know what these people are
like deep down, don’t we? So why let a little thing
like accuracy get in the way of a juicy Islamic
beheading story?
Naturally, the writers of "The West Wing" could have
picked a country other than Turkey. Saudi Arabia, for
example, has a far more brutal record when it comes to
capital punishment. Perhaps NBC learned a lesson from
what happened in 1980, when the British-American
program "Death of a Princess"
aired in the UK and in the US (on PBS). The program
centered around the execution of a Saudi princess for
adultery, and, after it was aired in the UK, the
outraged Saudis recalled their ambassador from London
and cancelled $400 million in arms contracts. In the
US, PBS was placed under enormous pressure by both
Mobil Oil (a major corporate sponsor of PBS) and the
US Secretary of State to pull the program for fear of
the Saudis turning off the oil tap (PBS aired the
program anyway). Of course, far be it from me to
suggest that a major international conglomerate like
General Electric (owners of NBC) would be worried
about things like this.
As a media researcher, it would be irresponsible of me
to suggest that we are simply brainwashed into
believing the skewed images of Muslims and Islam we
see in media. Of course, people read newspapers. And,
of course, there are people who are aware of the fact
that Turkey is a staunchly secular democracy, and has
been so since 1923. On the other hand, it would be
equally irresponsible to deny the power of the media
in shaping the way non-Muslims in countries such as
the United States people look at people from countries
such as Turkey. Force-fed a diet of terrible
stereotypes over the years in the form of Hollywood
films and network television, as well as
poorly-reported and cliché-ridden news stories about
the Muslim world, it is hardly surprising that people
will assume that countries with a predominantly Muslim population will be full of anti-American religious fanatics who would love nothing better than to behead some promiscuous harlot.
While an argument could be made for a certain degree
of "artistic license" for writers of programs such as
"The West Wing," the fact remains that Muslim nations
are regularly misrepresented in films, on television
and in the press. One cannot treat scenes such as the
one in "The West Wing" as idiosyncratic or isolated:
they must be seen within a broader context. How much,
one should ask, does the average American citizen
actually know about Turkey? Would it be fair to assume
that the information given about Turkey in "The West
Wing" -- albeit a fictitious television drama -- could
be taken at face value by a significant percentage of
the millions of people watching the program?
For those of us who live in Turkey, the answers to
these questions can be painfully obvious. As a Ph.D.
student at the University of Texas at Austin, I heard
stories of Turkish faculty members being asked by
students where Turkey was located, and how they got
home for the holidays. When the Turkish instructors
said that they flew home, students were surprised to
learn that there were actually flights to Turkey from
the US. After moving to Istanbul, it was very common
for people to ask me if it was easy to get a drink in
the city, and if women had to wear a veil when going
out (if you want to know the answers to those
questions, go to the library). Finally, on a flight
once from Stockholm to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, I
sat next to a middle-aged Swedish man who, upon seeing
the flight attendant coming with food, joked to his
wife, "I hope it isn’t camel!"
If NBC had written the story of that flight, it would
have indeed been roast camel...served by a veiled
flight attendant and with a copy of the Koran in the
seat pocket in front of me. As it was, I got the beef
and a bottle of red wine.
Christian Christensen is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Communication at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey. He can be reached at bahcesehircc@yahoo.com
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