Let me start by saying that I have been hesitant to watch Menajerimi Ara ever since the introduction of Emir and Ekin Atalar taking over as the screenwriter. I didn’t want to judge Menajerimi Ara due to these changes, seeing I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt.
However, being someone who watched Erkenci Kus and someone who is a huge fan of the DC superhero films, I know how new writers and directors can greatly change the original vision of a movie or show. Thus, though I wanted to enjoy the latest episode of Menajerimi Ara, I found it difficult to watch. In the words of @heviwillnot on Twitter, “the more I write [about episode 10], the more I’m realising they all end with “it doesn’t make sense”.
Menajerimi Ara is a show that advertised itself as a look into the world of Diziland through the lens of a film agency. The first few episodes introduced and followed the lives of the various agents at Ego Agency all the while telling the story of Dicle and Barış (who some could argue were the main protagonists of the show). While it did all of this, Menajerimi Ara managed to have some pretty iconic Turkish talent guest star from the likes of Burçin Terzioğlu, Çağatay Ulusoy, and Gökçe Bahadır amongst many other huge names. From what I can tell, this is what drew audiences in and had them loving the dizi.
However, ever since the end of the 8th bölüm, the show has taken a turn that I cannot comprehend. The show seems to be revolving solely around Dicle, Beren, Emir and Barış (though he is being significantly side-lined in his own dizi).
We are seeing less and less of the rest of the agents at Ego Agency, unless their plots tie into Dicle, Beren, Emir and Barış’s lives. The guest stars aren’t as famous as the stars that came before the ninth bölüm, and they seem to mostly be written to advertise various products.
This has become more and more rampant in the dizi and makes me wonder if the show is having budgetary issues. The other issue that I had is that it felt like so many of the characters were caricatures of themselves.
Character Types & Menajerimi Ara
There are several character types in fiction. There are the protagonist and the antagonist. Some characters act as foils to other characters and other characters that are there to symbolise something. Two important character types groups include the dynamic and static character, and the round and flat character.
A dynamic character is a character that goes through a significant internal change throughout the story. The change is typical because of the conflict the character faces. Typically this character is the main protagonist and their conflict is the conflict of the story. In comparison, a static character is a character that does not change or evolve. They maintain the same personality and outlook throughout the story and are usually secondary characters.
Then we have the round character versus the flat character. A round character is a character that is complex and layered. However, unlike the dynamic character, they do not go through any changes. A flat character, on the other hand, is a character that is one-dimensional and is often noted for having one or two traits that make up their whole personality. Flat characters are almost all static characters, but not all static characters are flat.
While watching Menajerimi Ara the characters that I would expect to go through the most changes and be the epitome of a round character would potentially be Dicle, Barış, Kıraç, and maybe the other agents at Ego Agency. Meral and Emrah are some of the flat/static characters.
A great example of a round character in Menajerimi Ara is Dicle in the seventh episode. The episode plot shows the outcome of Dicle resigning from Ego Agency. By the end of that episode, due to her conflict with Kıraç, Dicle goes through her internal change and decides that she cannot prioritise the men in her life and must look after herself. We see Dicle grow and go through an internal change, that continues throughout the rest of the season.
Watching the tenth bölüm of Menajerimi Ara felt like the complete opposite of that. It felt like seeing the definition of the phrase “one step forward two steps back” unfold in front of my very eyes. The writers establish one thing, before completely undermining it later, which left little space for any internal change.
We see Barış, Feris, Kıraç all, rightfully, get upset at Beren for putting Dicle’s career and the agency at risk, only to later ask Beren for forgiveness.
We see Dicle stand up for herself against Beren, only to later ask everyone forgive Beren. We know that Barış has continuously prioritised Dicle’s opinion, yet in this episode, he listens to Beren instead of Dicle.
So, to clarify, my apprehension about this episode is not about Emir, Dicle, Barış or my feelings about the lack of DicBar. It is not about a ship war for me, its about the fact that the story does not make sense because previously established plot points are being discarded to create drama.
I would also argue that one of the blunders of the tenth bölüm is how so many of the characters, including the previously established round characters, become flat characters. These characters who were previously written with nuance and layers are now written with one or two traits making up their entire personality. Dicle became a character that had strong moments but was sweet and kind to everyone. Barış lost his backbone and became a character that believed whatever others were saying. Beren and Gülin were depicted as just evil (with such strong sway over the plot).
Beren the B*tch and Forgiveness
If there was one takeaway that various people I follow had about the 10th Bölüm of Menajerimi Ara it was that Beren’s character and plot largely overwhelmed the tenth bölüm… and that she is a bitch.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind if Beren is depicted as villainous. Do I think it’s overdone when it comes to dizi plots? Yes. Would I like to see her character do something else? Yes. However, how Beren was able to put Dicle’s life and work at risk and face no repercussions was exhausting. The fact that Beren was able to get forgiveness from her father, Barış and keep her job, in @heviwillnot’s words, “doesn’t make sense”. The fact that Beren used the good graces and forgiveness given to her to continue meddling in Dicle’s life was tedious.
I would argue that Beren being forgiven by everyone points at mischaracterization of Dicle, seeing it is Dicle that asks them to forgive her. Dicle has been established as a layered and multifaceted character. She is sweet and kind and doesn’t want to cause trouble. Yet, she is also established as a character that is willing to do what it takes to grow in the sector.
Thus, having Dicle ask everyone to forgive Beren, makes no sense for multiple reasons. Mostly because Beren has wronged Dicle and put her job at risk. It would be one thing if Dicle didn’t want to irritate Beren because she didn’t want Beren telling everyone that she is Kıraç’s daughter. However, it is Dicle’s selflessness led her to forgive Beren. As previously established, in previous episode Dicle goes through a journey where she realises that she can’t be as selfless as she is. By having her act so selflessly, we see Dicle regress instead of progress.
When it comes to Beren’s forgiveness we also need to talk about Barış. Barış has confusing romantic feelings for Dicle. That was the whole point of him looking through his album of pictures of her, that’s why he broke up with Beren and that’s why he wanted to meet up with Dicle.
Dicle telling Barış that he needs to talk to Beren is what causes him to reconcile with Beren. However, this decision makes no sense when you take into consideration Barış kicking his brother out for hurting Dicle. Even when Dicle talked to him about his brother, Barış still didn’t want to forgive him. So to have Barış be the one asking for forgiveness is really strange and doesn’t make sense. Barış has previously been depicted as a person who was Dicle’s love interest, a protagonist in the show, and someone who would defend Dicle. However, as the episodes continue we see less of that Barış.
Emir the Hero and Housing Issues
A key issue of conflict in this week’s episode was the fact that Dicle is having housing issues. In the episode with Burçin Terzioglu, we learn that Dicle and Meral are being kicked out of their house. I could not help but notice the way that the audience learns of this information. It is situated right after Burçin Terzioglu makes a speech about women being told that they don’t understand things, about violent thinking against women, and about women existing, working, and not keeping silent.
Right after this powerful speech, Meral is told she needs to move out because the landlord’s son is coming back. Meral knows this is a lie, which is her literally depicting Burçin’s word by showing that women understand what is happening. She is able to learn that her landlord wants to kick them out because neighbours have seen Barış stay the night. The housing issue has carried on through the past two episodes, with Barış offering to help Dicle out, but her turning down his help because she wants to deal with it herself. In the latest episode, Emir is able to fix Dicle’s housing issues and I hated it.
Part of the reason that I didn’t like the fact that it was Emir that came to Dicle’s rescue, is that the reason that the landlord was kicking Dicle and Meral out is so common in patriarchal societies and is rooted in the patriarchy.
It is rooted in a society that believes women must be kept pure (instead of teaching men how to treat women), in a society where everyone has to say on female autonomy beside the woman herself, and in a society that doesn’t listen to the female voices. With this and Burçin Terzioglu speech in mind, I thought the writers of Menajerimi Ara would use this plot point to discuss important issues.
You might be aware that I originally presumed Barış was going to help Dicle with her housing issues.
However, after much thought, I came to the conclusion that based on the fact that they made Dicle so independent and reluctant to get his help, this was unlikely.
I then thought how powerful it would have been if Feris helped Dicle because we could have seen two powerful women come together to slowly chip away at dated and patriarchal ideas.
Another idea would have been to have Kıraç help Dicle and Meral. This would have allowed us to see Kıraç and Dicle bond, as well as showing another way for men to interact with their daughters. It would have shown that daughters are people that can be trusted and that it not them that needs to change, but society.
However, by having Emir be the one to save Dicle in her housing issues we seeing all of Dicle’s characterization are thrown away so Dicle can exist as a damsel in distress who needs to be saved.
Menajerimi Ara the End of an Era
With the focus of Menajerimi Ara shifting and focusing more on the drama between Dicle, Beren, Emir and Barış and focusing on Peri Masalı instead of the guest stars we are seeing a new era of storytelling. We are seeing old plot point being discarded (e.g. Barış’s issues with being a celebrity, Barış and Dicle’s relationship, the focus on feminist issues etc.) to focus on relationship drama.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with these elements of storytelling… they are not for me. I was drawn to the world of Menajerimi Ara due to the promise of seeing this spunky and happy character played by Ahsen attempt to conquer diziland with wondrous guest stars being featured every week. I was promised to see Barış be some form of the main character. I was promised important conversations of feminism. What we have been getting in the past two episodes is not that.
That being said, I’ve decided to stop watching Menajerimi Ara (and obviously will stop blogging and giffing it) because all I have is anger and frustration to the way the show is being handled. I would like to thank you to everyone who interacted with me on social media about Menajerimi Ara and DicBar. Than you to those who read my blog posts and those who stole my gifs. You have made this experience beautiful.
To the original writers of the show thank you for adapting such a beautiful world allowing us to enter it.
To Ahsen Eroğlu, Happy Late Birthday! I hope your life is filled with success and the number 22. Thank you for bringing such joy to Dicle.
To Deniz Can Aktaş I hope you eat as much healthy food as you want. Look after your hands, arms and hair they are a gift. Thank you for playing Barış.
ERICA TALKS SH*T 