Call Me Perihan

"Yesilcam" (Green Pine) is a special term used for Turkish movie industry which had been heavily influential especially during 50's, 60's and 70's. Those popular movies of the time reflect the perception of social norms, gender roles and female stereotypes of the era. What is more the legacy of these norms can still be found in today's Turkish society and its film industry. Though the title of the movie changes, blonde femme fatales and innocent brunnetes as two main stereotypes of Yesilcam movies are destined to experience going round in the circles according to their roles. The femme fatales are punished, the innocents are rewarded...
In this video performance, these stereotypes are portrayed with exaggerated gestures inspired by the female characters of the era. Criticizing that those designated female roles were only a product of the social norms that was also supported by the movie industry of the time and there was not any chance for female characters to go beyond their two-dimensional roles, the video performance itself aims to illustrate and re-create multi-dimensional existence of the female roles via deconstructed scenes referring to some of the famous Yesilcam movies of the time. The main reference of the performance is "Sozde Kızlar" movie, which was adapted from the same named novel by famous author Peyami Safa.