Turkish serials have entered our lives with confidence and have not given up our chance to stop worrying about the morbid relationship of the characters. And even the most prominent skeptics, who until recently believed that Turkish cinema was limited only to the “Magnificent Century”, learned who Serkan Bolat was.
The success of the Knock on My Door series, which all TikTok users are crazy about, is quite simple. Another romantic story full of intrigue where he is a successful but toxic businessman and a girl from a simple family, ready to sacrifice herself for love. Throughout the plot, viewers watch the constant drama, which is more reminiscent of the American race in their relationship: they either confess their love, then break up, and this continues for almost two hundred episodes. It sounds ridiculous, but the author of the text was more worried about their relationship than about his own.
Why is everyone so romantic about toxic relationships? Maybe the point is that even the most unhealthy love starts with a spark between two people and turns into a stormy love? So, for example, in the Turkish series “Kara Ask” Kemal (Burak Özçivit) and Nihan (Neslihan Atagül) were among their main characters, although they fell in love at first sight, but only after a few episodes. He made it clear to the audience that they were constantly being emotionally abused because of their feelings.
Agree, it is always more interesting to watch the drama in other people’s relationships. At least because you can decide right now that everything in your life in general isn’t so bad after all. Psychologist Andrey Zberovsky, for example, thinks that this is the cost of any long-running series, and as far as we remember, Turkish TV series are famous for this. After all, you can draw something interesting about something that only hints at insoluble drama. But what if toxic love isn’t ideal for a series that is several hundred episodes long?
Doctor of Science and family psychologist Andrey Zberovsky
“People like to see things in their lives that they can relate to. Unfortunately, most people live with relationship difficulties. They watch for unhealthy relationships and recognize themselves in even the most controversial characters. The problem is, healthy relationships are boring. A man and a woman met, made friends, started a relationship, got married, had children – what is there to show? Daily family meal? Walk in the park? The format is such that no one can watch it. People want action, and it’s a sick relationship.”
In this case, Turkish cinema not only normalizes toxic relations, but also idealizes them. Let’s go back to the Knock My Door series mentioned above. The main character, Eda, is an independent girl, but as soon as Serkan Bolat enters her life, she turns into a puppet, constantly chasing a man who hides his feelings. And the biggest problem with TV shows is that love stories, toxic or not, always have happy endings. In the end, the main characters will still be with the sick love object – it’s like a reward for long suffering.
But in real life, unfortunately, everything is not the same as in hot Istanbul. Endless dreams about things that don’t tend to be real distract a person from reality when entering a toxic relationship. And instead of breaking up with his partner, he finds dozens of excuses for his abusive behavior.
Source: People Talk
