By Slewo Oshana
Much digital ink has been spilled over the recent release of “The Promise” and the attempts by trolls of Turkish origin to bury the film in a sea of bad reviews. Now whether the film is bad or good is ultimately up to the eye of the beholder; however, it is a film that needs to exist.
The Armenian Genocide that occurred at the hands of the Ottoman Empire is largely unknown in the Western world today. Even with recent acknowledgements by major Western countries, it has stayed that way, in large part due to simple distance in both time and space, and the current Turkish government’s resistance to acknowledging it even happened, not to mention its complicity in the act by its attempts to bury it.
Culture at large controls how we interface with reality. Simply ignoring something can, unfortunately, be very effective in neutralizing our recognition of it as an event. It’s also how historical events can remain in our collective memory decades or even centuries after the fact. Stories are one of the most effective tools there is in allowing something to continue to exist, and if it remains unspoken that is also a way of counteracting its power. Over the past century or so, the Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide, as well as its attempts to bar discussion of it overseas, have made the world even more so apathetic to the genocide.
That’s why having a movie, even one like “The Promise” that’s framed around a love story, is necessary.
When Turkey is doing things like releasing its propaganda film, in the form of “The Ottoman Lieutenant,” to make the public sympathetic to the Turkish position, there needs to be something, anything, about the slaughter they perpetrated. While I would one day love to see a serious documentary, or Oscar-worthy movie that holds Turkey accountable, anything works. As with any other form of representation, something is better than nothing. Baby steps are necessary to eventually get the kind of representation this genocide warrants and deserves.
That said, one would hope that “The Promise” is only the start and not the end for the Armenian Genocide’s receiving a place under the spotlight. Though given President Trump’s stance toward Turkish President Erdogan, as well as his unwillingness to reverse the federal government’s stance and acknowledge the genocide, it’s going to be an uphill battle.
But there’s something to be said for the impact of a film when trolls attempt to bury it before its release and a government has to release a propaganda film to counter it. For that, I do thank the makers of “The Promise” for bringing this issue into the light.
This battle is going to be waged on the cultural as well as political fronts. And although the “The Promise” may very well be a “light” version of the Armenian Genocide-awareness experience, it’s taken genocide awareness and recognition a step further along than it was a year ago.
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Yes, The Promise is beginning like previous movies long time ago, but we don’t have power over hollywood. I think we should other ways to do about Armenian Genocide 1915 movies. Because the admitting this barbaric action from turkey movies is not enough , goverment official should take action , we are not getting them , we don’t have oil, we don’t have money , we don’t have other sources so turn things over way. Global capitalism money talks , not movies. especially in USA people goes to money spent lots of money with popcorn to see violent like turks did, movie maker , producer , editor if dare make movies to show barbaric turkish actions in 1915. But to do this it is easy to say , because we don’t nobody at hollywood…on our side.
Credible review.