Last episode was bölüm/episode 40, which you can find with all of the other episodes, linked at the end of this review:
First, the episode begins with Suzan being a bit child-like, wanting to have a girls night out, and then Taci behaves like a child with Dudu’s new love interest, Kendal Bey, telling her that the phone was left off the hook when he actually told her almost-new-boyfriend to go away. Then, the kids, Cem and Ceren, are being very childish in the bathroom, fighting, and finally, the littlest kid, Çilek, continues to be very childish by both pouting about wanting to play with the Magical Time Crystal Ball, a powerful and dangerous tool, which Perihan has forbidden anyone to touch, and then continuing to call Yavuz, the adult son of Kendal Bey, by his name, rather than adding the honorific abi, which is required of most kids in Turkey when addressing an adult of just the next generation older than they are (kids and even adults address older persons by Name+Teyze or Name+Amca out of similar respect). Even Yavuz is behaving like a child, in calling Sadık dostum, a bit like calling a co-worker ‘pal’ rather than addressing him by his name.
Naturally, Dudu is being child-like, insisting on going with Kendal Bey to the cafe, which is a young people’s meeting place. Of course this means that they run into Yavuz and Eda, both of whom end up being told off by their parents and sent home. Meanwhile, of course, little Çilek is busy looking for the forbidden Time Crystal Ball, even magically faking the voice of Firuze and thus lying to Betüş, and then playing with the tool, while neighbor Avni spies on her, in his child-like way, as usual. When the news of the littlest child’s mischief comes out, Suzan is at her most child-like, desperate to find out the news that has nothing to do with her.
One of the things I love most about this show is how it models, or rather how Betüş models good parenting. She never hits any of the kids, and as far as I can recall, never even yells at them. Even when little Çilek is at her worst, she never yells, even when she needs to restrain her from hitting or using her magic to do harm. Betüş always explains, sometimes more patiently than others, of course, but always explains, discusses, and works to get buy-in and agreement from the kids, even from little Çilek.
Another thing I love is the way looks are exchanged in order to communicate non-verbally, far more often among Turks, I think, than in Anglophone societies (at least in the US).
And I love how both kids give push back on their parents selfish behavior when Kendal Bey asks his son, Yavuz, why he couldn’t find another girl to fall in love with, and Yavuz tells his father not to tell him who he can or cannot fall in love with. Eda is not quite as firm with her mother, simply throwing a minor temper tantrum at Dudu, but following far more meekly. Taci, Eda and Betüş’s father, faces the risk of abuse from Dudu in order to tell her that she has no right to tell their daughter who to fall in love with. Fortunately, Perihan arrives just in time to protect both Taci and Eda from Dudu’s wrath.
I also love how Turks generally work to make peace with other people, both in families, as shown in this episode, and also as I saw in Izmir at work, when all of my colleagues gathered around for over an hour to comfort and support a weeping co-worker who was in tears over her credit card debt, something which shocked me both for the communal support at work, and also the very fact that they did not simply tell her that it was all her fault for spending too much. Likewise, here, this episode shows family members taking lots of time and patience to resolve disputes and problems between even the kids, where in most other societies, I think, the offending and/or offended parties would all be told to ‘get over it’ and “deal.”
Yet, while Dudu is childishly pouting about her punishment from Perihan, Taci manages to get through to her and persuade her to go to her hurting daughter, closed up in her room for hours. What they find shocks them: somehow little Çilek has managed to return her aunt Eda to a state of about 4 years old, which delights Dudu, but enrages a powerless Eda. Even Perihan is apparently unable to undo little Çilek’s magic, shocking them all. What I love about this show is that even with this wicked little act of rebellion, no one raises a hand against the little rebellious fairy child, nor even raises a voice (well, Dudu does occasionally shout at her, but Taci always reproves her for it). And of course, the powerless Eda threatens to cream the poor little kid, who merely laughs at her, and demands that in return for being returned to her adult state, she must not continue to date Yavuz! What a daring little creature our 5 year old Strawberry is!
6 Iyyar · Mon night, | מַּלְכוּת שֶׁבְּתִּפאֶרֶת Majesty within Beauty |
” -thanks again, Hebcal.
Shira
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Click on the ShiraDest site menu, above any post in your browser, for more ways to learn through Story, Lessons, or Reading:
Stories can help us learn: Babylon5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem/My Magical Mother, Lupin: Dans l’ombre d’Arsène, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist, El Ministerio del Tiempo Reviews Page,
And of course,
free GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans with connected readings Page,
But learning by reading, both
novels and short stories or short true narratives that read like stories, is an effective emotional experience as well as learning experience: My Nonfiction & Historical Fiction Serial Writing Page.
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Fellow Change Dreamers, does this episode, in your opinion(s), work as part of Project Do Better and the work of providing learning tools via reviews of shows like Sihirli Annem, and its idea for learning via story, as part of modeling emotional learning and maturation?
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