Gümüş

Gümüş
Genre	Romantic/Drama
Directed by	Tarik Alpagut Kemal Uzun
Produced by	Irfan Sahin
Written by	Eylem Canpolat Sema Ergenekon
Starring	Songül Öden Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ
Music by	Cem Erman
Country	Turkey
Language	Turkish / English / French
Original channel	Kanal D
Original airing	Turkey January 20, 2005 - June 16, 2007 Bulgaria Juny 15, 2009 - January 14, 2010 Serbia September 25, 2010 - May 13, 2011 Croatia November 22, 2010 - April 1, 2011 Albania Aprill 2, 2011 Slovakia August 2, 2011 Montenegro December 6,2010
Running time	90 minutes (up to 120 minutes with commercials)
No. of episodes	100

"Gümüş" ("Silver"), a Turkish melodrama originally broadcast in Turkey by Kanal D from 2005 to 2007. The sudser became a pop-culture phenomenon when it aired across the Arab world as "Noor" (Arabic for "light") last year. The show which MBC execs dubbed into Arabic using a colloquial Syrian dialect rather than formal, classical Arabic, followed the travails of a beautiful young woman "Gümüş," played by Songül Öden, who marries into a wealthy family.^[1]

The success of "Noor" for MBC has sparked a boom in dubbed Turkish dramas across many leading Arab sat-casters. MBC even launched a pay TV channel in partnership with pay TV platform Showtime Arabia entirely dedicated to "Noor" that allows viewers to watch episodes of the sudser around the clock.^[1]

The dizzying pop-cultural phenomenon surrounding the series has encouraged the broadcaster further to make a film out of the Turkish soap. The feature version, which MBC will co-produce with Turkish shingle Momentum Prods., will have a budget in the $2.5 million-3.5 million range and will also be shot in Turkish before being dubbed into Arabic. The project will reunite Turkish thespians Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ and Songül Öden, who captured the hearts of Arab audiences in their husband-and-wife roles of Muhannad and Noor, respectively.^[1]

The series has also been shown in Romania on Kanal D Romania with the title "Iubire de Argint" ("Love of Silver"). The Bulgarian private TV channel bTV currently airing the show dubbed into Bulgarian with the title "Perla" ("Pearl").

The series is also currently shown in Greece under the title "Ασημένια Φεγγάρια" ("Silver Moons"). The first sixty episodes were broadcast on Makedonia TV from September 2010 to January 2011. However, due to the series' great success it was then picked up by ANT1 and is currently shown there. In Albania, the series is currently showing under the title "Gymysh".

Popularity

In Saudi Arabia alone, 3-4 million viewers admit to watching the program daily on the Saudi-owned MBC channel. The show's final episode attracted a record 85 million Arab viewers when it aired last Aug. 30.^[2] In Bulgaria, Gümüş is also very popular and every episode is watched by at least 2 million viewers. In result of its popularity, Songül Öden came to Bulgaria and was a guest in the Bulgarian TV shows "Dancing Stars 2" and "Slavi Show".

Reception and influence

Noor and Muhannad observe Ramadan, and their marriage is arranged by Muhannad's grandfather but the characters break with tradition in other ways. Characters are shown drinking wine with dinner, partying, and kissing onscreen which has been deemed inappropriate for younger audiences such as children.^[2][3] Female characters do not wear headscarves, and none of the main characters are shown praying.^[4] Muhannad had sex (and an illegitimate child) before marrying Noor, and one of his cousins has an abortion.^[2][4] Perhaps most significantly, Noor and Muhannad's marriage is depicted (in an idealized way) as a modern partnership between equals, in which Muhannad supports his wife's career ambitions as a fashion designer.^[2][5] While such qualities are present in all popular Turkish TV shows, the relaxed attitude towards Islam is new and interesting to the conservative groups in the Muslim World. The AP reports that the show "seems particularly effective in changing attitudes because it offers new content in a familiar setting: Turkey is a Muslim country, inviting stronger viewer identification than Western TV imports."^[5]

The most conservative of Muslim religionists argue the show is un-Islamic, even though some scenes are toned down for consumption in Arab countries.^[5] Saudi Arabia's leading cleric, Sheik Abdul Aziz al-Asheik, has instructed Muslims to avoid watching the show.^[2] Hamed Bitawi, a Hamas legislator and preacher, has also spoken against it.^[5]

Maternity wards report a rise in the baby names Noor and Mohannad.^[6]

Clothing stores throughout the Middle East report brisk sales of blouses and dresses seen on the television series, albeit worn in more modest ways such as with leotard underclothing.^[6]

The show encouraged Arabs to visit Turkey.^[7] The success of Noor in the Arab world was partly attributed to the fact that it was dubbed into the Syrian dialect—a widely understood living variety of Arabic—and not into the little spoken formal Arabic which had hitherto been used to dub Mexican telenovelas.^[8]

The final episode

• 

  Palace

In the final episode of the series the time is moved forwards to 13 years later and the audience sees that everyone has grown up and are all living a happy life. The main female character (Noor) is writing in her diaries about what has happened for the past 13 years and shows us how all the characters have grown up and changed.she talked about her own life.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Jaafar, Ali (February 11, 2009). "Arab net plans film of Turkish soap". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000057.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Worth, Robert F. (September 27, 2008). "Arab TV Tests Societies' Limits With Depictions of Sex and Equality". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/world/middleeast/27beirut.html. 
3. ^ "Mideast Dispatches". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/middleeast/2008/09/a_veritable_soap_opera_onscree_1.html. 
4. ^ ^{a b} http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-801/i.html
5. ^ ^{a b c d} http://www.mail.com/layoutengine.aspx?page=Article.aspx&articlepath=APNews\General-Entertainment\20080727\Mideast-Subversive-Soap.xml&cat=entertainment&subcat=&pageid=1
6. ^ ^{a b} Riyadh and Hebron births
7. ^ http://english.alarabonline.org/display.asp?fname=2008\07\07-28\zalsoz\924.htm&dismode=x&ts=28/07/2008%2002:43:00%20%C3%A3
8. ^ Buccianti, Alexandra (Spring 2010). "Dubbed Turkish soap operas conquering the Arab world: social liberation or cultural alienation?". Arab Media & Society (10). ISSN 1687-7721. http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=735. Retrieved 2010-07-10. 

External links

• Gümüs at the Internet Movie Database