The new Turkish series "Spectrum Istanbul" (Bir başkadır) achieved unprecedented views on Netflix within only two weeks of its presentation, and became at the forefront of the most watched shows in Turkey and a number of Arab countries, in addition to the uproar it sparked in Turkish intellectual circles.
The series consists of 8 episodes, and its events take place in Istanbul between a group of characters from different social and cultural backgrounds, whose paths intersect in some way to connect with each other by chance.
The series also sheds light on one of the most prominent issues for discussion within Turkish society, which is the conflict between Islamists and secularists.
Associating religiosity with ignorance
The series revolves around the heroine, "Maryam", a veiled young woman from a poor family, who lives in her grandfather's house with her brother, wife and children. She works as a cleaning house, as well as takes care of her brother's children due to his wife's severe depression.
The story begins with a scene in which Mary loses consciousness while cleaning one of the houses in which she works, so that the events return to the scenes to the beginning of the story a year ago when she lost consciousness for the first time, and the doctors did not find any organic explanation for her complaint, so she was transferred to the psychological department.
Maryam visited a psychiatrist, and during her conversation it became clear her strong focus on the religious side of her life, which appeared from her hijab, to her brother who was committed to performing his prayers, then her close association with the village sheikh and her keenness to consult him in the smallest matters of her life.
The doctor linked the family’s religiosity and Mary’s denial of the brother’s wife’s illness, describing her as ungratefulness, and her treatment by the sheikh who recommends her to pray and quit smoking to appear for healing, stressing that what she suffers does not require the intervention of a doctor.
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Hereditary provisions
Sitting on the sofa opposite the chair Mary tells the details of her life sits Doctor Perry, who has not hidden from the first day her hatred for the veil and veiled women, and the great difficulty she finds in dealing with them since she was young because of her mother's "horror" of them as if they were not part of society.
Berry felt nervous and uneasy during her sessions with Maryam, and furious as the latter spoke about her association with the sheikh.
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Berry did not bear the psychological pressure that Maryam's sessions had shown her, so she, in turn, visited her psychiatric supervisor Golbin, and explained to her what she was thinking, and how she referred a former patient of hers to another doctor because she could not bear her veil either.
Despite Berry's degrees, her studies in America, her openness to the world, and her work as a psychiatrist, which necessitated her to deal with cases without discrimination, she was unable to correct the misconceptions her mother implanted in her towards the Islamists.
After the first session, Perry tried to apologize to Mary and direct her to another doctor, but she was unable to do so, and she discovered her attachment to her story and became preoccupied with all her thinking, even in her conversation with her friend, so that Maryam became more than just a case of frequenting her clinic.
With the complexity of the situation in Maryam's house, she did not find an escape except for her sessions with Perry, and she became persistent with her and their relationship developed further.
Maryam was not the only one receiving treatment during these sessions, but Berry as well, as she began trying to abandon her thoughts and judgments, and she sought to deal with this group impartially and without prejudice.
Reciprocal accusations
The two scholars meet Maryam and Berry at Golbin 's house, and the gap between Islamists and secularists is strongly evident in her relationship with her sister, as Golbin leans toward secularism, while her sister wears the veil and leans toward Islamists.
Golbin also sees her sister being "absent" and constantly judging those around her, while her sister sees her as "deviant" from the right path.
At first it seems as if Mary is the only one who suffers from turmoil in her life, but with the development of events in the lives of all parties, the series delves deeper into the behind the characters, showing the severe loneliness Perry suffers, the division in Golbin’s house, and the differences of the owner of the house - in which she works Maryam - with his mother, and the sheikh of the village, whose daughter surprised him with her desire to take off her hijab.
The series depicts with these samples the Turkish society in which secularists and Islamists live in a hidden struggle that sometimes pops up.
It is clear that all the characters have untold stories, changed ideas, pent-up feelings, and unspeakable pains. Despite their different orientations and the judgments that each party gives to the other that led to a societal division, all these characters suffer in the end, they are human beings.
The series was written and directed by Birkun Oya, and actress Oiko Karail played the heroine, Maryam, and Daphne Kayalar participated in the role of Berry, Tulane Ozan as Gulpin, and the actor Sitar Tanriugen in the role of Sheikh.