Cinematic Orientalism: East-West Perception in Netflix’s ‘Swimmers’

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 4 Sayı: 1, 43 – 63, 30.06.2024

Kemal Çelik

https://doi.org/10.60077/medkul.1482205

Öz

This article analyzes the movie “The Swimmers” using ideological and frame-by-frame film analysis methods. The themes, characters, and locations in the film are evaluated in the context of the critique of orientalism and self-orientalism, analyzing how ideological themes are processed and reinforced. The film associates concepts of faith and hope with Christianity, presenting Christian characters as saviors. While telling the story of Syrian refugees, the film chooses Christian and European-looking heroes, portraying Muslims negatively. Emphasizing the superiority of Western culture, the film depicts the Eastern world as backward and helpless. Countries such as Turkey are coded as dark and uncanny, while European countries are idealized. The positive portrayal of Greece praises European efforts towards refugees but creates a negative image of the Turkish Coast Guard. The orientalist and self-orientalist elements of the film are attempts to present an attractive narrative for Western audiences. The Muslim screenwriter’s distortion of Eastern historical realities under Western producers’ influence represents self-orientalism. This approach reflects an endeavor to present Eastern culture in line with Western perspectives to gain Western approval, reinforcing prejudices rather than fostering understanding of cultural and political differences.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Swimmers, Orientalism, Self Orientalism, Syrian Refugee, Netflix

Kaynakça

• Abu-Lughod, L. (2015). Do Muslim women need saving?. Harvard University Press.
• Aizura, A. Z. (2010). Feminine transformations: Gender reassignment surgical tourism in Thailand. Medical Anthropology, 29(4), 424-443.
• Aydemir, M. A., & Çelik, K. (2023). Approaches to silence through Scorsese’s silence film: A comparison between western and eastern perspectives. Medya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(2), 23-39. https://doi.org/10.47951/mediad.1337990
• BBC. (2018). Avrupa Birliği demokratik prensipleri ihlâl ettiği gerekçesiyle Macaristan'a cezai yaptırım süreci başlatıyor. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-45497715
• Bednarek, M., (2015). Corpus-assisted multimodal discourse analysis of television and film narratives. P. Baker & T. McEnert, Corpora and discourse studies (pp. 63-87). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bonaime, R. (2022). 'The Swimmers’ review: Harrowing true story of olympian is undercut by bland filmmaking. Collider. https://collider.com/the-swimmers-review-yusra-mardini/
• Busso, L., & Vignozzi, G. (2017). Gender stereotypes in film language: A corpus-assisted analysis. CEUR Workshop Proceedings (Vol. 2006). Italy.
• Cape, S.G., (2003). Addiction, stigma and movies. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 107(3), 163-169.
• Ciesnik, S. (2023). 'The Swimmers' tells the true story of two refugee sisters who did something extraordinary. Infomigrant. https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/46214/the-swimmers-tells-the-true-story-of–two-refugee-sisters-who-did-something-extraordinary
• Comolli, J. L., & Narboni, J. (1976). Cinema/ideology/criticism (S. Bennett, Trans.). B. Nichols (Ed.), Movies and methods: An anthology (pp. 22-30). University of California Press.
• Concannon, P. (2022, October 13). The Swimmers: An affecting if baggy true-life tale of triumph against the odds. BFı. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/swimmers-affecting-if-baggy-true-life-tale-triumph-against-odds
• Cumhuriyet. (2022). ‘The Swimmers’ filminde Çeşme, Rio sahilleri olarak gösterildi. Cumhuriyet. https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/cesmede-cekilen-the-swimmers-rio-sahilleri-olarak-gosterildi-2011583
• Dabashi, H. (2008). Islamic liberation theology: Resisting the empire. Routledge.
• Debruge, P. (2022). ‘The Swimmers’ review: Hope floats in this mostly true story of refugee sisters from Syria. Variety. https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/the-swimmers-review-1235364169/
• Dirlik, A. (1998). Avrupa merkezcilikten sonra tarih var mı? Küreselcilik, sömürgecilik-sonrası ve tarihin inkarı. Cogito, 15, 251-274.
• Eksisözlük. (2022). The Swimmers. Ekşi Sözlük. https://eksisozluk.com/the-swimmers–2974996
• Gatter, M. (2023, April). Going beneath the surface: The subtler messages about forced displacement in ‘The Swimmers’. Allegra Lab. https://allegralaboratory.net/going-beneath-the-surface-the-subtler-messages-about-forced-displacement-in-the-swimmers/
• Gökalp Yılmaz, G. & Buyuran, B.H. (2023). Yüzücüler (The Swimmers) filmi üzerinden düzensiz göçmenliği okumak, International Journal of Eurasia Social Sciences (IJOESS), 14(54), 1436-1452. http://dx.doi.org/10.35826/ijoess.3369
• Güngör, M. (2024). Ege'de 2023'te geri itilen 25 bin düzensiz göçmeni Sahil Güvenlik ekipleri kurtardı. Anadolu Ajansı. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/egede-2023te-geri-itilen-25-bin-duzensiz-gocmeni-sahil-guvenlik-ekipleri-kurtardi/3097300
• Hall, S. (1992). The West and the rest: Discourse and power. S. Hall & B. Gieben (Eds.), Formations of modernity (pp. 184-226). Polity Press.
• Hammond, P. (2022, September 8). ‘The Swimmers’ Toronto review: Remarkable true story of Syrian sisters on a harrowing journey to compete at The Rio Olympics. Deadline. https://deadline.com/2022/09/the-swimmers-toronto-review-remarkable-true-story-of-syrian-sisters-on-a-harrowing-journey-to-compete-at-the-rio-olympics-1235109802/
• IMDb. (2022). Swimmers (2022) user reviews. IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8745676/reviews
• İzmirart. (2022). Netflix’in en çok izlenen filmi The Swimmers’ın çekimleri İzmir’de yapıldı. Sanat Atak. https://www.sanatatak.com/hollywood-turkiyede/
• Jessop, V. (2022, November 17). The Swimmers: The incredible true story behind the new Netflix film. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-swimmers-netflix-olympics-refugee-true-story-b1038136.html
• Kellner, D. (1991). Film, politics, and ideology: Reflections on Hollywood film in the age of Reagan. Velvet Light Trap, (27), 1-24. https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/filmpoliticsideology.pdf
• Kellner, D. (1982). Television myth and ritual. Wordsworth Press.
• Kellner, D. & Ryan, M. (1988). Camera politica: The politics and ideology of contemporary Hollywood film. Indiana University Press.
• Khalid, M. (2014). ‘Gendering orientalism’: Gender, sexuality, and race in post-9/ 11 global politics. Critical Race and Whiteness Studies, 10 (1), 1-18. www.acrawsa.org.au/files/ejournalfiles/231Khalid201416.pdf
• Kırel, S. (2012). Kültürel çalışmalar ve sinema (1. bs). Kırmızı Kedi Yayınları.
• Lattanzio, R. (2022, 8 September). ‘The Swimmers’ review: This uninspiring migrant drama doesn’t dive deep. IndieWire. https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-swimmers-review-netflix-syrian-refugee-drama-1234760360/
• Abdel Meguid, R. (2020). Orientalism goes to the movies: A critical discourse analysis of The Dictator. Cairo Studies in English, 2020(1), 129-157. https://doi.org/10.21608/cse.2021.147193
• Majzoub, M. (2017). Orientalism and eurocentrism in Hollywood: A critical analysis of “Rules of Engagement”. Academia. https://www.academia.edu/35135052/Orientalism_and_Eurocentrism_in_Hollywood_A_Critical_Analysis_of_Rules_of_Engagement_Film
• Nair, S. (2022, 26 Kasım). The Swimmers: The true story behind two Syrian refugees’ swim for freedom. Collider. https://collider.com/the-swimmers-true-story-syrian-refugees/
• Nicha, J. (2012). Orientalism and post-colonialism: Depicting Arab imagery in Hollywood movies. Academia. https://www.academia.edu/6468674/Orientalism_and_Postcolonialism_Depicting_Arab_imagery_in_Hollywood_movies
• Özden, Z. (2004). Film eleştirisi. İmge Kitabevi Yayınları.
• Persaud, A. (2022). 'The Swimmers' review: A resounding tale of hardships and hope. FilmSpeak. https://filmspeak.net/movie-reviews/2022/9/11/the-swimmers-review-a-resounding-tale-of-hardships-and-hope-tiff-22
• Rechtshaffen, M. (2022, 9 September). ‘The Swimmers’ review: A crowd-pleasing drama of struggle, sisterhood and olympic dreams. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-swimmers-sally-el-hosaini-netflix-tiff-1235214207/
• Roman, J. (2022, 28 November). The Swimmers review: A gripping true story of remarkable Syrian sisters. MovieWeb. https://movieweb.com/the-swimmers-review-netflix/
• Simons, R. (2022, September 13). Is 'The Swimmers' based on a true story? Netflix film origins explained. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/swimmers-based-true-story-yusra-mardini-sara-netflix-film-1760044
• Said, E. (1998). Oryantalizm (N. Uzel, Trans.). İrfan Yayıncılık.
• Said, E.W. (2003). Orientalism (3rd ed.). Penguin.
• Saldaña, S. (2022, 13 December). Netflix’s ‘The Swimmers’ is a true story of refugee sisters-with more than one hero. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2022/12/13/swimmers-neftlix-refugee-mardini-sisters-244328
• Sarachan, R. (2022, November 17). 'The Swimmers' tells remarkable true story of refugee sisters with big dreams. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/risasarachan/2022/11/17/the-swimmers-tells-remarkable–true-story-of-refugee-sisters-with-big-dreams/?sh=27c3fb2ef9cd
• Shohat, E., & Stam, R. (2014). Unthinking eurocentrism: Multiculturism and the media. Routledge.
• Syed, A. (2022, 23 March). The inspiring true story behind Netflix’s The Swimmers. Time. https://time.com/6236203/the-swimmers-true-story-netflix/
• Theis, B. (2022, 26 September). The real story behind Netflix’s The Swimmers: Yusra Mardini shares what she has learnt through her journey from war-torn Syria to the Olympics. Harper's Bazaar. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a41983020/the-swimmers-netflix-real-story-yusra-mardini/
• Trthaber. (2022). Yunanistan binlerce göçmeni ölüme itti. TRT Haber. https://www.trthaber.com/haber/dunya/yunanistan-binlerce-gocmeni-olume-itti-652194.html
• Wedding, D. & Boyd, M.A. (1999). Movies and Mental Illness. McGraw-Hill.
• Zengin, P. (2022). Yüzücüler film incelemesi. Cinemali. https://www.cinemali.net/yuzuculer-film-incelemesi-denizde-insanlar-oluyor-haberleri-yok/
• Zilko, C. (2022, 31 December). ‘The Swimmers’ star Manal Issa was ‘devastated’ by the film’s ‘Orientalist cliches’. IndieWire. https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/manal-issa-the-swimmers-orientalist-1234795367/

Sinematik Oryantalizm: Netflix’in ‘Yüzücüler’ Filminde Doğu-Batı Algısı

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 4 Sayı: 1, 43 – 63, 30.06.2024

Kemal Çelik

https://doi.org/10.60077/medkul.1482205

Öz

Bu makalede, “Yüzücüler” filminin söylemi, ideolojik ve kare kare film analizi yöntemleri kullanılarak incelenmiştir. Filmdeki temalar, karakterler ve mekanlar, oryantalizm ve self-oryantalizm eleştirisi bağlamında değerlendirilmiş, ideolojik temaların nasıl işlendiği ve pekiştirildiği analiz edilmiştir. Buna göre, film, Hristiyan karakterleri kurtarıcı olarak sunarak, inanç ve umut kavramlarını Hristiyanlıkla ilişkilendirir. Suriyeli mültecilerin hikayesini anlatırken, kahramanların Hristiyan ve Avrupai görünümlü kişilerden seçer ve Müslümanları olumsuz bir şekilde tasvir eder. Batı kültürünün üstünlüğünü vurgulayan film, Doğu dünyasını geri kalmış ve çaresiz olarak gösterir. Türkiye gibi ülkeler karanlık ve tekinsiz yerler olarak, Avrupa ülkeleri ise idealize edilmiş mekanlar olarak kodlar. Yunanistan’ın olumlu tasviri, mültecilere yönelik Avrupa’nın çabalarını överken, Türk sahil güvenliğinin olumsuz bir imajla sunulmasına yol açar. Filmin oryantalist ve self-oryantalist unsurları, Batılı izleyicilere yönelik çekici bir anlatı sunma çabasının bir sonucudur. Müslüman senarist/yönetmenin, Batılı yapımcıların etkisi altında Doğu’nun tarihsel gerçekliklerini çarpıtarak anlatması, self-oryantalizmi temsil eder. Bu yaklaşım, Doğu kültürünü Batılı bakış açısına uygun bir şekilde sunma ve Batılı onayı kazanma çabasını yansıtır. Sonuç olarak, film, kültürel ve siyasi farklılıkları anlamaktan ziyade önyargıları pekiştiren bir yapıya sahiptir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Swimmers, Oryantalizm, Self Oryantalizm, Suriyeli Mülteci, Netflix

Kaynakça

• Abu-Lughod, L. (2015). Do Muslim women need saving?. Harvard University Press.
• Aizura, A. Z. (2010). Feminine transformations: Gender reassignment surgical tourism in Thailand. Medical Anthropology, 29(4), 424-443.
• Aydemir, M. A., & Çelik, K. (2023). Approaches to silence through Scorsese’s silence film: A comparison between western and eastern perspectives. Medya ve Din Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(2), 23-39. https://doi.org/10.47951/mediad.1337990
• BBC. (2018). Avrupa Birliği demokratik prensipleri ihlâl ettiği gerekçesiyle Macaristan'a cezai yaptırım süreci başlatıyor. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-45497715
• Bednarek, M., (2015). Corpus-assisted multimodal discourse analysis of television and film narratives. P. Baker & T. McEnert, Corpora and discourse studies (pp. 63-87). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bonaime, R. (2022). 'The Swimmers’ review: Harrowing true story of olympian is undercut by bland filmmaking. Collider. https://collider.com/the-swimmers-review-yusra-mardini/
• Busso, L., & Vignozzi, G. (2017). Gender stereotypes in film language: A corpus-assisted analysis. CEUR Workshop Proceedings (Vol. 2006). Italy.
• Cape, S.G., (2003). Addiction, stigma and movies. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 107(3), 163-169.
• Ciesnik, S. (2023). 'The Swimmers' tells the true story of two refugee sisters who did something extraordinary. Infomigrant. https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/46214/the-swimmers-tells-the-true-story-of–two-refugee-sisters-who-did-something-extraordinary
• Comolli, J. L., & Narboni, J. (1976). Cinema/ideology/criticism (S. Bennett, Trans.). B. Nichols (Ed.), Movies and methods: An anthology (pp. 22-30). University of California Press.
• Concannon, P. (2022, October 13). The Swimmers: An affecting if baggy true-life tale of triumph against the odds. BFı. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/swimmers-affecting-if-baggy-true-life-tale-triumph-against-odds
• Cumhuriyet. (2022). ‘The Swimmers’ filminde Çeşme, Rio sahilleri olarak gösterildi. Cumhuriyet. https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/cesmede-cekilen-the-swimmers-rio-sahilleri-olarak-gosterildi-2011583
• Dabashi, H. (2008). Islamic liberation theology: Resisting the empire. Routledge.
• Debruge, P. (2022). ‘The Swimmers’ review: Hope floats in this mostly true story of refugee sisters from Syria. Variety. https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/the-swimmers-review-1235364169/
• Dirlik, A. (1998). Avrupa merkezcilikten sonra tarih var mı? Küreselcilik, sömürgecilik-sonrası ve tarihin inkarı. Cogito, 15, 251-274.
• Eksisözlük. (2022). The Swimmers. Ekşi Sözlük. https://eksisozluk.com/the-swimmers–2974996
• Gatter, M. (2023, April). Going beneath the surface: The subtler messages about forced displacement in ‘The Swimmers’. Allegra Lab. https://allegralaboratory.net/going-beneath-the-surface-the-subtler-messages-about-forced-displacement-in-the-swimmers/
• Gökalp Yılmaz, G. & Buyuran, B.H. (2023). Yüzücüler (The Swimmers) filmi üzerinden düzensiz göçmenliği okumak, International Journal of Eurasia Social Sciences (IJOESS), 14(54), 1436-1452. http://dx.doi.org/10.35826/ijoess.3369
• Güngör, M. (2024). Ege'de 2023'te geri itilen 25 bin düzensiz göçmeni Sahil Güvenlik ekipleri kurtardı. Anadolu Ajansı. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/egede-2023te-geri-itilen-25-bin-duzensiz-gocmeni-sahil-guvenlik-ekipleri-kurtardi/3097300
• Hall, S. (1992). The West and the rest: Discourse and power. S. Hall & B. Gieben (Eds.), Formations of modernity (pp. 184-226). Polity Press.
• Hammond, P. (2022, September 8). ‘The Swimmers’ Toronto review: Remarkable true story of Syrian sisters on a harrowing journey to compete at The Rio Olympics. Deadline. https://deadline.com/2022/09/the-swimmers-toronto-review-remarkable-true-story-of-syrian-sisters-on-a-harrowing-journey-to-compete-at-the-rio-olympics-1235109802/
• IMDb. (2022). Swimmers (2022) user reviews. IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8745676/reviews
• İzmirart. (2022). Netflix’in en çok izlenen filmi The Swimmers’ın çekimleri İzmir’de yapıldı. Sanat Atak. https://www.sanatatak.com/hollywood-turkiyede/
• Jessop, V. (2022, November 17). The Swimmers: The incredible true story behind the new Netflix film. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-swimmers-netflix-olympics-refugee-true-story-b1038136.html
• Kellner, D. (1991). Film, politics, and ideology: Reflections on Hollywood film in the age of Reagan. Velvet Light Trap, (27), 1-24. https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/filmpoliticsideology.pdf
• Kellner, D. (1982). Television myth and ritual. Wordsworth Press.
• Kellner, D. & Ryan, M. (1988). Camera politica: The politics and ideology of contemporary Hollywood film. Indiana University Press.
• Khalid, M. (2014). ‘Gendering orientalism’: Gender, sexuality, and race in post-9/ 11 global politics. Critical Race and Whiteness Studies, 10 (1), 1-18. www.acrawsa.org.au/files/ejournalfiles/231Khalid201416.pdf
• Kırel, S. (2012). Kültürel çalışmalar ve sinema (1. bs). Kırmızı Kedi Yayınları.
• Lattanzio, R. (2022, 8 September). ‘The Swimmers’ review: This uninspiring migrant drama doesn’t dive deep. IndieWire. https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-swimmers-review-netflix-syrian-refugee-drama-1234760360/
• Abdel Meguid, R. (2020). Orientalism goes to the movies: A critical discourse analysis of The Dictator. Cairo Studies in English, 2020(1), 129-157. https://doi.org/10.21608/cse.2021.147193
• Majzoub, M. (2017). Orientalism and eurocentrism in Hollywood: A critical analysis of “Rules of Engagement”. Academia. https://www.academia.edu/35135052/Orientalism_and_Eurocentrism_in_Hollywood_A_Critical_Analysis_of_Rules_of_Engagement_Film
• Nair, S. (2022, 26 Kasım). The Swimmers: The true story behind two Syrian refugees’ swim for freedom. Collider. https://collider.com/the-swimmers-true-story-syrian-refugees/
• Nicha, J. (2012). Orientalism and post-colonialism: Depicting Arab imagery in Hollywood movies. Academia. https://www.academia.edu/6468674/Orientalism_and_Postcolonialism_Depicting_Arab_imagery_in_Hollywood_movies
• Özden, Z. (2004). Film eleştirisi. İmge Kitabevi Yayınları.
• Persaud, A. (2022). 'The Swimmers' review: A resounding tale of hardships and hope. FilmSpeak. https://filmspeak.net/movie-reviews/2022/9/11/the-swimmers-review-a-resounding-tale-of-hardships-and-hope-tiff-22
• Rechtshaffen, M. (2022, 9 September). ‘The Swimmers’ review: A crowd-pleasing drama of struggle, sisterhood and olympic dreams. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-swimmers-sally-el-hosaini-netflix-tiff-1235214207/
• Roman, J. (2022, 28 November). The Swimmers review: A gripping true story of remarkable Syrian sisters. MovieWeb. https://movieweb.com/the-swimmers-review-netflix/
• Simons, R. (2022, September 13). Is 'The Swimmers' based on a true story? Netflix film origins explained. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/swimmers-based-true-story-yusra-mardini-sara-netflix-film-1760044
• Said, E. (1998). Oryantalizm (N. Uzel, Trans.). İrfan Yayıncılık.
• Said, E.W. (2003). Orientalism (3rd ed.). Penguin.
• Saldaña, S. (2022, 13 December). Netflix’s ‘The Swimmers’ is a true story of refugee sisters-with more than one hero. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2022/12/13/swimmers-neftlix-refugee-mardini-sisters-244328
• Sarachan, R. (2022, November 17). 'The Swimmers' tells remarkable true story of refugee sisters with big dreams. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/risasarachan/2022/11/17/the-swimmers-tells-remarkable–true-story-of-refugee-sisters-with-big-dreams/?sh=27c3fb2ef9cd
• Shohat, E., & Stam, R. (2014). Unthinking eurocentrism: Multiculturism and the media. Routledge.
• Syed, A. (2022, 23 March). The inspiring true story behind Netflix’s The Swimmers. Time. https://time.com/6236203/the-swimmers-true-story-netflix/
• Theis, B. (2022, 26 September). The real story behind Netflix’s The Swimmers: Yusra Mardini shares what she has learnt through her journey from war-torn Syria to the Olympics. Harper's Bazaar. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a41983020/the-swimmers-netflix-real-story-yusra-mardini/
• Trthaber. (2022). Yunanistan binlerce göçmeni ölüme itti. TRT Haber. https://www.trthaber.com/haber/dunya/yunanistan-binlerce-gocmeni-olume-itti-652194.html
• Wedding, D. & Boyd, M.A. (1999). Movies and Mental Illness. McGraw-Hill.
• Zengin, P. (2022). Yüzücüler film incelemesi. Cinemali. https://www.cinemali.net/yuzuculer-film-incelemesi-denizde-insanlar-oluyor-haberleri-yok/
• Zilko, C. (2022, 31 December). ‘The Swimmers’ star Manal Issa was ‘devastated’ by the film’s ‘Orientalist cliches’. IndieWire. https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/manal-issa-the-swimmers-orientalist-1234795367/

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