A common theme in American film, literature, and TV series is very clearly-defined antagonists and protagonists. When examining some of our culture's favorite pieces, such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar, Jurrasic Park, and The Hunger Games, there are characters who are explicitly and consistently evil, fighting against the pure and brave heroes. This division reveals to the audience who to side with, even if the hero is an underdog. Oftentimes, this can create the allusion for viewers that people in the real world are either wholly good or wholly bad and can either be fully trusted or not trusted at all. The story of Kara Para Ask demonstrates that perhaps Turkish culture embraces the reality of good and evil in everyone, drawing viewers into a much more complex, thrilling tale of twists and turns.
Bahar, Elif's best friend since childhood, represents a character who we should trust. She has known Elif's family for years and suffered through the loss of their father alongside them. She even works for the family company, which brought her out of a poor household. She is beautiful, intelligent, resilient, successful, and outwardly kind, yet we discover that she is envious of the family's wealth and is plotting to steal their inheritance from right under their noses. Her loyalty and support help Elif as she suffers through loss and crisis, yet she deceives Elif and uses her for material gain. We cannot fully love or hate Bahar.
Elif is gentle and loving toward her family. She is generous, strong, intelligent, and loyal ... yet she is remarkably skilled at keeping secrets, even at the expense of others. Even though we find ourselves rooting for her to find love, freedom, and the diamonds, we also find ourselves cringing when she hides from those who care for her and are trying to help her. We watch with remorse as she guides Omer away from the truth when he has given up so much to help her free her sister. Yet we see the torment in her spirit as she struggles to know what to do, so we cannot find it within us to blame her.
Metin heads an evil, violent, oppressive gang, the very gang that has captured Nilüfer! Yet he shows gentleness, understanding, and compassion toward his own prisoner. He saves Nilüfer from rape and brings her sushi to cheer her in her misery. Yet he continues to relentlessly threaten Elif if she does not repay her father's debt, and refuses to free Nilüfer. Later, we discover that he is using uncle Tayyar's scheme to eventually overthrow and destroy him as an act of revenge for the harm he cast upon Metin's mother so many years ago. Thus, his violence turns noble, and his cause more understandable.
The only character we fully despise is Tayyar, but I have a feeling that even he will be given more depth as his story unfolds. Right as we find it within us to hate him and wish for him to be annihilated, I think we will be given reason to feel his pain and understand why he has become the violent man he is today.
I like that this series reminds us that every person has a history that is deeper, and sometimes darker, than we will ever know or understand. While an unfortunate past does not give anyone the right to be cruel, it can help us to understand their actions as reactions to past trauma rather than evil for evil's sake. I am intrigued to know what we will discover about each character as the show continues to unfold.
I think this is a really interesting concept that I haven't really thought about in the context of television shows. It's very interesting to think that the complexity of characters could be reflective of Turkish culture and the way that they view people. I think adding layers to characters hooks people more and helps them develop a deeper connection to the character and the show as a whole. It can become a little stale when you always know who is going to be behind everything.
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