My thoughts on Dudaktan Kalbe series:
Kenan is a sensetive boy whose father was a criminal. His father was arrested in front of Kenan’s eyes and later committed suicide in prison. However, until adulthood, Kenan was under the impression that his father was an innocent man. Kenan’s world was about to shatter at the time but Lamia helped him in maintaining it and encouraged him to value his father’s memory and the talents he passed onto Kenan.
Kenan was also abused as a child by his uncle and cousin. His father was also an alcoholic and Kenan was emotionally abused as a child by witnessing his parents’ arguments when his father was drunk. This causes Kenan to have low self esteem and confidence. He grew in poverty and through the support of his friend and mother became a well known musician, a violinist. His fame, good looks and charming manners made a princess, who did not have a mother and was a successful business woman, Javidan, fall in love with him. Despite his fame, Kenan still has a very sensitive and vulnerable character. He easily believes those around him, specially his sister and Javidan.
Kenan’s relationship with his cousin and uncle is complicated. Leila, Jamil’s wife, was in love with Kenan but because she was from a wealthy family and very beautiful with pure heart, Kenan felt that he did not desreve her. His low self esteem as a young teenager would explain this decision. He never fell in love with Leila but Leila carreid his love with her till death.
Kenan meets Lamia, who is an orphan and a young woman of 18 years with low confidence. She is poor and lives with one of her remote families who also abuse her. Her situation draws Kenan to her as they share similar past. One would think that Kenan and Lamia should understand each other very well. Kenan feels for Lamia from the start but perhaps out of pity for her and himself. Kenan and Lamia sleep together and Kenan decides to get married to her despite his engagement with Javidan and his lack of love for Lamia. Lamia finds out about this and rejects Kenan and tells him the truth. Kenan is at the time relieved but through time falls in love with Lamia’s purity, strong character, love for Kenan, innocence, and vulnerability. Javidan gradually finds out and as she is a woman of wealth and power tries to draw Kenan away from Lamia’s love.
After a while Lamia finds out that she is pregnant from Kenan and not long after Kenan finds out as well. This is after Kenan’s marriage to Javidan. Javidan convinces Kenan that they should get sole custody of Malek, Kenan and Lamia’s daughter. Lamia, a poor and vulnerable girl decides to get married with Jamil to be able to keep Malik. She succeeds but tells Jamil that they cannot be husband and wife in practice as she is in love with Kenan.
Javidan and Kenan’s sister, Afifeh try hard to destroy Lamia’s image in Kenan’s eyes.
After a while, Kenan sees his love for Lamia has grown and finally does not let his pride come between them and tells Lamia that he loves her. Lamia and Kenan decide to live together and each leave their partners.
They now have some time to talk about the past; Kenan tells Lamia how she had hurt him when he opened up to her about his love but Lamia still carries the pain of Kenan’s initial comment about her, that he felt sorry for her as she was an orphan and it was his duty to get married to her rather than love. If Lamia truly loved Kenan, she would have forgiven him and would not record this in her heart.
They both decide that it would be best if Lamia did not leave the house but after a few days Lamia accepts a contract for acting for which Jemli had acted as an intermediary. Javidan is also planning to destroy the relationship between Lamia and Kenan. Although Lamia is aware of Javidan’s malicious thoughts about her, she falls into the trap and so does Kenan. Javidan succeeds in destroying the trust between them.
Kenan does not trust Lamia and thinks she still likes Jamil even though she told him that she even had not allowed Jamil to touch her. Perhaps, his jealousy is rooted in the problems he has with Jamil.
He knowingly hurts Lamia and dances with Javidan in front of her. He has a personality that takes revenge, is easily angered and becomes depressed.
During about 12 months, Kenan loses his fame by appearing on stage drunk, his battle to take custody of his child and his divorce from Javidan. On the contrary, Lamia became famous through fighting for Malik from prison, her beauty and work as a model and later an actress and a social activist.
Kenan’s lack of trust for Lamia causes her to distrust him as well and she no longer believes the truth that he utters about his relationship with Javidan.
Javidan takes advantage of the situation and gets close to Kenan when Lamia leaves the house and moves to a new apartment.
What is wrong about this scenario is that even though Lamia knew that Kenan was ill tempered, did not know her very well and had Javidan poisoned his mind about her, that Jamil had competition with Kenan, that Kenan was abused as a child, that the job offered to her through Jemil could have been a trap, that she needed time to get to know Kenan, that lack of money for Kenan was a real pressure, that Kenan’s public image was in danger and was exerting great pressure on him, she still decides to leave Kenan and distrust him. Lamia had gone to prison and learned about how people could lie, could put you in traps or on the contrary make sacrifice. Even though she says that she would never let anyone come between her love and Kenan’s, she foolishly falls into the trap set up by Javidan and becomes controlled by mistrust, resentment, anger, revenge and selfishness.
There is another flaw with the scenario and that is when Lamia, Kenan and Malik move to the new house, they are very worried that nobody should know of their whereabouts and that Lamia should not leave home with Malik. However, Lamia strangely accepts an offer of a job as an actress for which Jemil acted as a mediatory and goes to work! She is soon in the public eyes but is not capable to deal with the problems caused by the reporters.
Lamia has also gained fame within a very short period of time, 1-2 years. From a shy girl of 18 years of age, she turns into a confident and popular but still sensitive and proud girl of 21 years (as Malik seems to be only 2 years). Her decisions are immature, they are sudden and irrational. She marries an old man for her child, then marries Jamil again for her child, then gets divorced from Jamil, runs away with Kenan and shortly after living with Kenan leaves him due to their mutual misunderstandings. Suzan does not help her and Kenan’s sister, Afife also shows contradictory support for Lamia. At times, she adores her and supports her marriage with Kenan and at times, she talks maliciously about her. I think that one should know that at the outset of every relationship, when a couple do not know each other, they get easily angry because of misunderstandings. Most of these get resolved through time as the couple start to get to know each other better. If Lamia knew Kenan better, his fears, his financial anxieties, his reliance on alcohol, his social pressure and emotional battle, she would not have left that quickly.
The story also starts by showing that Kenan’s uncle and Jamil are not truthful and kind people; they are both selfish and only think about their fame and social position. However, towards the end, these two characters seem to be kind, sensetive and vulnerable. Such change of heart within a year or two is not normal.
II believe that Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. Lamia’s love for Kenan has some of these elements but not all and so does Kenan’s love for Lamia. It seems by the end of the film that none of these true elements of love existed in Kenan and Lamia’s love; however, I think that in episode 120, these elements did exist but over time, these characteristics of love were destroyed by man’s selfish and weak ego, by falling into the trap of Javidan and selfish plans of Naimeh to make Lamia a famous character. I wish the story had developed the elements of love in Kenan and Lamia’s relationship as in real life when people find out about their mistakes once, they usually carry these skills and knowledge with them in confronting future problems. However, this is evidently not the case in this story.
This story does not have an overall element of forgiveness and grace; it seems one’s fate is written by submission to misunderstandings, despair, conspiracy, anger, impulsive behaviour and lack of trust. Love of Jemil for Lamia which was initially rooted in his competition with Kenan and his desire to take a revenge because of Leila’s love succeeded and Love of Lamia for Kenan which was rooted in her unconditional acceptance of Kenan’s talents and artistic creativity was destroyed. Kenan’s love for Lamia which seems to have been rooted in understanding her pains and social injustice had an unfortunate fate. I hope that in future Turkish series, people are taught how to overcome the battles in their relationship, how to overcome the hurdles in love and how to accept one another by forgiveness, courage, understanding and mutual acceptance.
I would like to thank those who made this series and who played in it; I myself learnt a lot as I could see elements of Lamia’s pride in my early teen life; however, my experience in life taught me that God’s love for us can help us love one another unconditionally, understand that as we make mistakes and are forgiven by God, we should forgive one another as well and help each other grow strong even when we make stupid mistakes and fail in any aspect of our life. Love is precious and should be treasured with great care; let us not allow thorns of mistrust, misjudgment, selfishness, fear, anxiety and gossip destroy it.
Kenan is a sensetive boy whose father was a criminal. His father was arrested in front of Kenan’s eyes and later committed suicide in prison. However, until adulthood, Kenan was under the impression that his father was an innocent man. Kenan’s world was about to shatter at the time but Lamia helped him in maintaining it and encouraged him to value his father’s memory and the talents he passed onto Kenan.
Kenan was also abused as a child by his uncle and cousin. His father was also an alcoholic and Kenan was emotionally abused as a child by witnessing his parents’ arguments when his father was drunk. This causes Kenan to have low self esteem and confidence. He grew in poverty and through the support of his friend and mother became a well known musician, a violinist. His fame, good looks and charming manners made a princess, who did not have a mother and was a successful business woman, Javidan, fall in love with him. Despite his fame, Kenan still has a very sensitive and vulnerable character. He easily believes those around him, specially his sister and Javidan.
Kenan’s relationship with his cousin and uncle is complicated. Leila, Jamil’s wife, was in love with Kenan but because she was from a wealthy family and very beautiful with pure heart, Kenan felt that he did not desreve her. His low self esteem as a young teenager would explain this decision. He never fell in love with Leila but Leila carreid his love with her till death.
Kenan meets Lamia, who is an orphan and a young woman of 18 years with low confidence. She is poor and lives with one of her remote families who also abuse her. Her situation draws Kenan to her as they share similar past. One would think that Kenan and Lamia should understand each other very well. Kenan feels for Lamia from the start but perhaps out of pity for her and himself. Kenan and Lamia sleep together and Kenan decides to get married to her despite his engagement with Javidan and his lack of love for Lamia. Lamia finds out about this and rejects Kenan and tells him the truth. Kenan is at the time relieved but through time falls in love with Lamia’s purity, strong character, love for Kenan, innocence, and vulnerability. Javidan gradually finds out and as she is a woman of wealth and power tries to draw Kenan away from Lamia’s love.
After a while Lamia finds out that she is pregnant from Kenan and not long after Kenan finds out as well. This is after Kenan’s marriage to Javidan. Javidan convinces Kenan that they should get sole custody of Malek, Kenan and Lamia’s daughter. Lamia, a poor and vulnerable girl decides to get married with Jamil to be able to keep Malik. She succeeds but tells Jamil that they cannot be husband and wife in practice as she is in love with Kenan.
Javidan and Kenan’s sister, Afifeh try hard to destroy Lamia’s image in Kenan’s eyes.
After a while, Kenan sees his love for Lamia has grown and finally does not let his pride come between them and tells Lamia that he loves her. Lamia and Kenan decide to live together and each leave their partners.
They now have some time to talk about the past; Kenan tells Lamia how she had hurt him when he opened up to her about his love but Lamia still carries the pain of Kenan’s initial comment about her, that he felt sorry for her as she was an orphan and it was his duty to get married to her rather than love. If Lamia truly loved Kenan, she would have forgiven him and would not record this in her heart.
They both decide that it would be best if Lamia did not leave the house but after a few days Lamia accepts a contract for acting for which Jemli had acted as an intermediary. Javidan is also planning to destroy the relationship between Lamia and Kenan. Although Lamia is aware of Javidan’s malicious thoughts about her, she falls into the trap and so does Kenan. Javidan succeeds in destroying the trust between them.
Kenan does not trust Lamia and thinks she still likes Jamil even though she told him that she even had not allowed Jamil to touch her. Perhaps, his jealousy is rooted in the problems he has with Jamil.
He knowingly hurts Lamia and dances with Javidan in front of her. He has a personality that takes revenge, is easily angered and becomes depressed.
During about 12 months, Kenan loses his fame by appearing on stage drunk, his battle to take custody of his child and his divorce from Javidan. On the contrary, Lamia became famous through fighting for Malik from prison, her beauty and work as a model and later an actress and a social activist.
Kenan’s lack of trust for Lamia causes her to distrust him as well and she no longer believes the truth that he utters about his relationship with Javidan.
Javidan takes advantage of the situation and gets close to Kenan when Lamia leaves the house and moves to a new apartment.
What is wrong about this scenario is that even though Lamia knew that Kenan was ill tempered, did not know her very well and had Javidan poisoned his mind about her, that Jamil had competition with Kenan, that Kenan was abused as a child, that the job offered to her through Jemil could have been a trap, that she needed time to get to know Kenan, that lack of money for Kenan was a real pressure, that Kenan’s public image was in danger and was exerting great pressure on him, she still decides to leave Kenan and distrust him. Lamia had gone to prison and learned about how people could lie, could put you in traps or on the contrary make sacrifice. Even though she says that she would never let anyone come between her love and Kenan’s, she foolishly falls into the trap set up by Javidan and becomes controlled by mistrust, resentment, anger, revenge and selfishness.
There is another flaw with the scenario and that is when Lamia, Kenan and Malik move to the new house, they are very worried that nobody should know of their whereabouts and that Lamia should not leave home with Malik. However, Lamia strangely accepts an offer of a job as an actress for which Jemil acted as a mediatory and goes to work! She is soon in the public eyes but is not capable to deal with the problems caused by the reporters.
Lamia has also gained fame within a very short period of time, 1-2 years. From a shy girl of 18 years of age, she turns into a confident and popular but still sensitive and proud girl of 21 years (as Malik seems to be only 2 years). Her decisions are immature, they are sudden and irrational. She marries an old man for her child, then marries Jamil again for her child, then gets divorced from Jamil, runs away with Kenan and shortly after living with Kenan leaves him due to their mutual misunderstandings. Suzan does not help her and Kenan’s sister, Afife also shows contradictory support for Lamia. At times, she adores her and supports her marriage with Kenan and at times, she talks maliciously about her. I think that one should know that at the outset of every relationship, when a couple do not know each other, they get easily angry because of misunderstandings. Most of these get resolved through time as the couple start to get to know each other better. If Lamia knew Kenan better, his fears, his financial anxieties, his reliance on alcohol, his social pressure and emotional battle, she would not have left that quickly.
The story also starts by showing that Kenan’s uncle and Jamil are not truthful and kind people; they are both selfish and only think about their fame and social position. However, towards the end, these two characters seem to be kind, sensetive and vulnerable. Such change of heart within a year or two is not normal.
II believe that Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. Lamia’s love for Kenan has some of these elements but not all and so does Kenan’s love for Lamia. It seems by the end of the film that none of these true elements of love existed in Kenan and Lamia’s love; however, I think that in episode 120, these elements did exist but over time, these characteristics of love were destroyed by man’s selfish and weak ego, by falling into the trap of Javidan and selfish plans of Naimeh to make Lamia a famous character. I wish the story had developed the elements of love in Kenan and Lamia’s relationship as in real life when people find out about their mistakes once, they usually carry these skills and knowledge with them in confronting future problems. However, this is evidently not the case in this story.
This story does not have an overall element of forgiveness and grace; it seems one’s fate is written by submission to misunderstandings, despair, conspiracy, anger, impulsive behaviour and lack of trust. Love of Jemil for Lamia which was initially rooted in his competition with Kenan and his desire to take a revenge because of Leila’s love succeeded and Love of Lamia for Kenan which was rooted in her unconditional acceptance of Kenan’s talents and artistic creativity was destroyed. Kenan’s love for Lamia which seems to have been rooted in understanding her pains and social injustice had an unfortunate fate. I hope that in future Turkish series, people are taught how to overcome the battles in their relationship, how to overcome the hurdles in love and how to accept one another by forgiveness, courage, understanding and mutual acceptance.
I would like to thank those who made this series and who played in it; I myself learnt a lot as I could see elements of Lamia’s pride in my early teen life; however, my experience in life taught me that God’s love for us can help us love one another unconditionally, understand that as we make mistakes and are forgiven by God, we should forgive one another as well and help each other grow strong even when we make stupid mistakes and fail in any aspect of our life. Love is precious and should be treasured with great care; let us not allow thorns of mistrust, misjudgment, selfishness, fear, anxiety and gossip destroy it.