It's pretty wild when you think about the cultural relevancy of Bewitched.
Yes, I said it.
Airing from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972 on ABC, the show has been in syndication ever since as well as shown all over the world, which inspired remake TV series in Argentina (Hechizada), Japan (Okusama wa majo or My Wife Is a Witch), India (Meri Biwi Wonderful), Russia (My Favorite Witch) and even a UK pilot as late as 2008. That's not even getting into the spinoffs, reboots and inspired shows, like WandaVision, which detailed the Scarlet Witch trying to fit into the sitcom suburbs of her grief or the crossover with The Flintstones in 1966.
Maybe that's because there's something just under the surface here, like the sardonic narration by José Ferrer or the fact that it was one of the few shows of its era to deal with interracial marriage. And in 1964, Betty Friedan wrote "Television and the Feminine Mystique" for TV Guide. While she called out so many shows that made women out to be "simplistic, manipulative and insecure household drudges whose time was spent dreaming of love and plotting revenge on their husbands," she saw Samantha, the lead character of Bewitched, as one that broke the stereotype while both playing into and subverting said preconceived notions. She literally wrote that the characters of Samantha and Endora broke new ground in the depiction of women on television.
There are 254 episodes of the show, but for some, that would not be enough. Or perhaps their country didn't get to see the show and the idea was universal. And in Turkey, the show was really popular.
Popular enough to get a movie.
The Turkish version of Bewitched, directed by Ertem Göreç and written by Halit Aysan, has Filiz Akin playing Selma, our heroine, and she already stands out with her platinum tresses. At just 56 minutes, this is around three episodes in length of the show, but I still find it both amusing and empowering that another society could take and remix, remake and yes, rip-off something that came from another country and make it their own.
After all, Bewitched did the same thing with the 1947 movie I Married A Witch, right?
In case you wondered, the title translates as Adventures of the Sweet Witch. Much like the show, Selma marries Fikret (Ugur Say), who makes her promise to never do magic again. Why would he ask that of her? Why would he subvert the very nature of who she is? And how can she keep loving him when he can't allow her to be her truest self?
In 1992, The Advocate asked Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery if the show was an allegory for homosexuality. She responded, "Don't think that didn't enter our minds at the time. We talked about it on the set - certainly not in production meetings - that this was about people not being allowed to be what they really are. If you think about it, Bewitched is about repression in general and all the frustration and trouble it can cause."
Unlike many countries around it, women in Turkey are free to dress how they want, go where they want, drive and work. However, around 40% of Turkish women have suffered domestic violence at some point in their lives, which is higher than Europe and America, while femicide also remains a major issue, as well as an increase in rights violations against women - as late as last year! - and arrests of women who protested.
While a silly bit of fluff, Bewitched and its inspirations have a truth inside them, hidden just as Samantha - or Selma - hit her powers. That's universal in any language.
Yes, I said it.
Airing from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972 on ABC, the show has been in syndication ever since as well as shown all over the world, which inspired remake TV series in Argentina (Hechizada), Japan (Okusama wa majo or My Wife Is a Witch), India (Meri Biwi Wonderful), Russia (My Favorite Witch) and even a UK pilot as late as 2008. That's not even getting into the spinoffs, reboots and inspired shows, like WandaVision, which detailed the Scarlet Witch trying to fit into the sitcom suburbs of her grief or the crossover with The Flintstones in 1966.
Maybe that's because there's something just under the surface here, like the sardonic narration by José Ferrer or the fact that it was one of the few shows of its era to deal with interracial marriage. And in 1964, Betty Friedan wrote "Television and the Feminine Mystique" for TV Guide. While she called out so many shows that made women out to be "simplistic, manipulative and insecure household drudges whose time was spent dreaming of love and plotting revenge on their husbands," she saw Samantha, the lead character of Bewitched, as one that broke the stereotype while both playing into and subverting said preconceived notions. She literally wrote that the characters of Samantha and Endora broke new ground in the depiction of women on television.
There are 254 episodes of the show, but for some, that would not be enough. Or perhaps their country didn't get to see the show and the idea was universal. And in Turkey, the show was really popular.
Popular enough to get a movie.
The Turkish version of Bewitched, directed by Ertem Göreç and written by Halit Aysan, has Filiz Akin playing Selma, our heroine, and she already stands out with her platinum tresses. At just 56 minutes, this is around three episodes in length of the show, but I still find it both amusing and empowering that another society could take and remix, remake and yes, rip-off something that came from another country and make it their own.
After all, Bewitched did the same thing with the 1947 movie I Married A Witch, right?
In case you wondered, the title translates as Adventures of the Sweet Witch. Much like the show, Selma marries Fikret (Ugur Say), who makes her promise to never do magic again. Why would he ask that of her? Why would he subvert the very nature of who she is? And how can she keep loving him when he can't allow her to be her truest self?
In 1992, The Advocate asked Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery if the show was an allegory for homosexuality. She responded, "Don't think that didn't enter our minds at the time. We talked about it on the set - certainly not in production meetings - that this was about people not being allowed to be what they really are. If you think about it, Bewitched is about repression in general and all the frustration and trouble it can cause."
Unlike many countries around it, women in Turkey are free to dress how they want, go where they want, drive and work. However, around 40% of Turkish women have suffered domestic violence at some point in their lives, which is higher than Europe and America, while femicide also remains a major issue, as well as an increase in rights violations against women - as late as last year! - and arrests of women who protested.
While a silly bit of fluff, Bewitched and its inspirations have a truth inside them, hidden just as Samantha - or Selma - hit her powers. That's universal in any language.
