Sorry to go the other way on this one but I fail to see what's all the fuzz about. Then again maybe that's because I am not really a big soap opera enthusiast. I guess I just dislike how characters always seem to get stuck in the same roles.
Before I proceed to say why I'm not much into it, I should mention that this TV series is currently being aired on one of the local channels here in P.R. Curiously, they advertise the show like a hundred times a day every single day to exhaustion (no kidding) and on all of the other TV shows on the channel, as if it was the greatest show to ever hit the local tube here, which is far from the truth. And it is being advertised as a TV series but frankly Fatmagül is more like a soap opera, just like the flurry of Mexican, Venezuelan and Colombian novellas that the other TV channels air locally every year. Sadly though, they are no longer transmitting the 7:00 PM movie (which was a delightful break from the norm) because Fatmagul is now taking up that 7:00 PM spot. That's too bad because that one TV channel was one of the very few local channels that I could say was soap opera-free. The other channels are packed full of that stuff; to me at least, it's quite annoying.
Anyway, the acting on the show, I'd say in general is not all that bad, for the most part, compared to other soap operas on the local tube here. But like most soap operas, Fatmagül is way too over-acted by most actors. That's a big turn off. Also, most action scenes (fights, car chases, car wrecks, etc.) look pretty fake. Special effects is below average, but most TV productions outside of Hollywood lack in this area anyway. And I have been able to easily predict some of the events/scenes in the plot way before the story even gets there.
Speaking of the plot, I understand that people have become very interested - and even seem to enjoy - in that the story develops around a horrifying rape event; and most thrill about how the main character slowly overcomes adversity against all odds in a place where women have very little going for them in terms of making their own decisions, while not letting tragedy suppress her sensibilities and her desire for love, something that in itself is quite admiring and inspirational. However, to me personally, such plot does not send the right message, not only about women - since is is highly unlikely for a raped woman in her right senses to become romantically involved with a man who witnessed her being raped and yet chose not to do anything about it - but also about men, especially Turkish men, who like in most soap operas are often portrayed as evil characters, by taking up the role of the abusive male, who does not regard women as sensible human beings that deserve respect. In real life, though, the great majority of men DO NOT go around bullying or sexually abusing women as it is often characterized in these so-called "romantic" dramas. The creators of Latin-American novellas also have the bad habit of almost always either vilifying male characters, or developing the plot around one topic, and one topic only: Infidelity. And to make it even more insidious, male infidelity is often censored while female infidelity is completely justified and well taken within the plot... because men are "evil" and apparently they had it coming or deserve to be cheated on.
Maybe I lack a sense of romance but in my view a rape and all the pain and emotional suffering that comes from it seems to me like the least romantic episode a woman, or any human being for that matter, could go through. It's not romantic drama at all; it is more like unromantic trauma, really. But I'm sure some folks out there will like this 'tragedy turned victory' story. I don't.
Before I proceed to say why I'm not much into it, I should mention that this TV series is currently being aired on one of the local channels here in P.R. Curiously, they advertise the show like a hundred times a day every single day to exhaustion (no kidding) and on all of the other TV shows on the channel, as if it was the greatest show to ever hit the local tube here, which is far from the truth. And it is being advertised as a TV series but frankly Fatmagül is more like a soap opera, just like the flurry of Mexican, Venezuelan and Colombian novellas that the other TV channels air locally every year. Sadly though, they are no longer transmitting the 7:00 PM movie (which was a delightful break from the norm) because Fatmagul is now taking up that 7:00 PM spot. That's too bad because that one TV channel was one of the very few local channels that I could say was soap opera-free. The other channels are packed full of that stuff; to me at least, it's quite annoying.
Anyway, the acting on the show, I'd say in general is not all that bad, for the most part, compared to other soap operas on the local tube here. But like most soap operas, Fatmagül is way too over-acted by most actors. That's a big turn off. Also, most action scenes (fights, car chases, car wrecks, etc.) look pretty fake. Special effects is below average, but most TV productions outside of Hollywood lack in this area anyway. And I have been able to easily predict some of the events/scenes in the plot way before the story even gets there.
Speaking of the plot, I understand that people have become very interested - and even seem to enjoy - in that the story develops around a horrifying rape event; and most thrill about how the main character slowly overcomes adversity against all odds in a place where women have very little going for them in terms of making their own decisions, while not letting tragedy suppress her sensibilities and her desire for love, something that in itself is quite admiring and inspirational. However, to me personally, such plot does not send the right message, not only about women - since is is highly unlikely for a raped woman in her right senses to become romantically involved with a man who witnessed her being raped and yet chose not to do anything about it - but also about men, especially Turkish men, who like in most soap operas are often portrayed as evil characters, by taking up the role of the abusive male, who does not regard women as sensible human beings that deserve respect. In real life, though, the great majority of men DO NOT go around bullying or sexually abusing women as it is often characterized in these so-called "romantic" dramas. The creators of Latin-American novellas also have the bad habit of almost always either vilifying male characters, or developing the plot around one topic, and one topic only: Infidelity. And to make it even more insidious, male infidelity is often censored while female infidelity is completely justified and well taken within the plot... because men are "evil" and apparently they had it coming or deserve to be cheated on.
Maybe I lack a sense of romance but in my view a rape and all the pain and emotional suffering that comes from it seems to me like the least romantic episode a woman, or any human being for that matter, could go through. It's not romantic drama at all; it is more like unromantic trauma, really. But I'm sure some folks out there will like this 'tragedy turned victory' story. I don't.