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Utopia Talk / Politics / Netflix surrenders to Erdogan
Allahuakbar
Member
Tue Jul 21 10:45:28
Erdogan keeps on winning!

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53489296

Netflix cancels Turkish show If Only in row over gay character


37 minutes ago



Netflix has cancelled a Turkish drama on the eve of filming, with its writer saying the government blocked it because it included a gay character.

Screenwriter Ece Yorenc said Netflix scrapped If Only after the government refused to grant it a licence.

"Due to a gay character, permission to film the series was not granted and this is very frightening for the future," she told Turkish film website Altyazi Fasikul, according to the FT.

Netflix confirmed the story's details.

If Only was due to tell the story of Reyhan, an unhappily married mother of twins, who is suddenly transported back 30 years to the night her husband proposed.

Yorenc said there were no gay sex scenes or physical contact between the gay man and other characters.

The streaming service did not want to bow to Ankara's demands, and instead decided to cancel the show after talks with Turkey's audiovisual authority RTUK, she added.

The deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling party, Mahir Unal, tweeted on Monday that he believed Netflix would "show greater sensitivity to Turkish culture and art with deeper co-operation" in the future.

Netflix said it remained "deeply committed" to its Turkish subscribers and those in the country's creative community.

LGBT opposition

If Only was due to be one of the first original television shows produced there. There was speculation that another Turkish series, Love 101, which was added to Netflix in April, would feature a gay character called Osman.

While Osman did appear, there were no references to his sexuality in the show, which was based on the lives of five high school students.

While homosexuality has been legal throughout modern Turkey's history, official opposition to the LGBT community has grown in recent years. The Istanbul Pride march has been banned for five years in a row.

Netflix said in a statement: "We currently have several Turkish originals in production - with more to come - and look forward to sharing these stories with our members all around the world".
Habebe
Member
Tue Jul 21 10:56:10
I fucking love Netflix though. The original content is getting better and they bring back all the canceled shows that were good.
Rugian
Member
Tue Jul 21 12:29:12
I mean, if it was blocked in Turkey, there wasn't really a point in continuing with it.
Habebe
Member
Tue Jul 21 13:00:42
I mean, kimd of hard to hold Netflix accountable here. They were cool with making it, but if its target audience womt be allowed to see it its kind of pointless. If anyone is salty about it their beef is with Turkish government.
Paramount
Member
Tue Jul 21 15:29:11
"Netflix has cancelled a Turkish drama on the eve of filming, with its writer saying the government blocked it because it included a gay character."


Do they need to cancel it just because the Turkish government blocked it? Can't they film it and show it in America?

The cancel culture and the stifling atmosphere must end. Gays are also people and deserves to be depicted in movies.
Habebe
Member
Tue Jul 21 16:05:01
Paramount, I agree with your position on the film that it should have been filmed. My point is that the blame falls on the Turks.

I don't know why it couldn't have been filmed elsewhere. Perhaps it would have been cost prohibitive. If it was not in English that alone greatly limits its US audience.
kargen
Member
Tue Jul 21 21:35:29
I think just the opposite happened. Netflix didn't surrender. They decided they were not okay with the requested changes and since they were not going to be allowed to film without the changes they said fuck it and scrapped the show.

So no Paramount they could not film it anyway because Turkey didn't give them the licence to film and even if they could have filmed it why would they just to show it in America? It would have to be subtitled and very few people in America would catch the cultural references that make a decent show decent. Also the matter of none of the actors being known at all in the US.

Habebe
Member
Tue Jul 21 22:09:41
Honestly, Its better they pulled out of filming than if they filmed some BS censored show.
Nimatzo
iChihuaha
Wed Jul 22 00:35:11
Uhm it is Netflix themselves that block movies or shows in countries to beging with. Of course if Netflix does not comply things can escalate. They have in the past (when the blocked something in Saudi) said they are not in the truth to power business, which is fine. But it just comes off wrong, that they stop up for something, they did, by burning the whole thing to the ground rather than change it.
Nimatzo
iChihuaha
Wed Jul 22 00:36:03
Stop=stood
Habebe
Member
Wed Jul 29 13:24:17
Nim, Well, Tirkey wouldnt grant them a license to film.

And yeah, I'd rather them film nothing than a censored POS. If they felt itnwould fundamentally change the story.
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