Erdoğan’s Behavior is Much Closer to Gollum’s, not Sméagol
TMR Editor’s Note:
The two articles below provide an excellent photo-documentary of the remarkable comparison between Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the infamous Gollum of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Whoever found these photos did an outstanding job of matching up these two characters. After all Erdoğan’s conduct throughout the war in Syria is not too unlike the deceitful Gollum’s unseemly behavior.
The Syrian Holocaust: A Preplanned Genocide And Forced Exodus
However, the second article quotes Peter Jackson, the Director of the movie trilogy, in an apparent error of character identification. Surely he know Gollum as well as anyone does. Just as the rest of the world knows well the ill-doings of Erdoğan, the premier war profiteer of the Syrian War.
Erdoğan’s Turkey: A War Profiteer That Plunders And Pillages Syria At Will
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Turkish President insult case to decide if Gollum is goodie or baddie
By ELLIE ROSS
The Sun
A DOCTOR could be jailed for two years after he “insulted” the Turkish President by comparing him to The Lords of the Rings’s Gollum.
Bilgin Ciftci is accused of ridiculing hardline Recep Tayyip Erdogan by sharing snaps of the leader as he eats, expresses surprise and amazement alongside images of the JJR Tolkien’s character doing the same actions.
And the trial judge – who has never seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy – has called in experts to decide whether or not this was an insult.
The case will rest on whether the wiry, paranoid fictional character Gollum is viewed as good or bad.
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However is not known precisely what criteria the experts will use to arrive at their decision.
Lawyer Hicran Danisman said she was forced to argue in court this week that “Gollum is not a bad character” because she got “nowhere” with a defence case based on freedom of expression.
Ciftci was SACKED from his hospital and DETAINED in October for sharing images.
The experts will be a group composed of two academics, two behavioural scientists or psychologists and an expert on cinema and television productions, the Today’s Zaman newspaper reports.
The character of Gollum appears in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien and the film versions directed by Peter Jackson.
The case comes amid growing concern over the spiralling numbers of journalists, bloggers and ordinary people who are being taken to court on charges of insulting Mr Erdogan and other top officials.
The case has now been adjourned until February.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6780144/Turkish-President-insult-case-to-decide-if-Gollum-is-goodie-or-baddie.html
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Erdoğan’s ‘Gollum insult’ a mistake, says Lord of the Rings director
Tolkien film-maker Peter Jackson says images, which led to trial of Bilgin Çiftçi, depict only benign character Sméagol
The Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson, has offered a defence for a man being prosecuted for insulting Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, by comparing him to the creature Gollum in Tolkien’s epic.
The Oscar-winning director issued a statement saying the images posted by the defendant, Bilgin Çiftçi, a Turk, which compared Erdoğan’s facial expressions to those of the film creature, were actually of Sméagol, Gollum’s benign alter ego.
Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey. Erdoğan’s reign has been characterised by intense pressure on the media and the prosecution of many local journalists, who have decried what they call the worst crackdown on the press in the republic’s history, saying the president has little tolerance for mockery or dissent.
The trial of Çiftçi, a physician and civil servant, who was fired from his job over the affair, has been adjourned as Gollum’s personality is debated to determine if the comparison is indeed an insult. The group assessing the fictional character includes two academics, two behavioural scientists or psychologists and an expert on cinema and television productions, according to the Turkish newspaperToday’s Zaman.
Jackson and the screenwriter Fran Walsh, said: “If the images … are in fact the ones forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit, we can state categorically – none of them feature the character known as Gollum. All of them are images of the character called Sméagol.”
The statement added: “Sméagol is a joyful, sweet, character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate others. He is not evil, conniving, or malicious – these personality traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Sméagol. Sméagol would never dream of wielding power over those weaker than himself. He is not a bully. In fact he’s very loveable.”
Sméagol is described as a former hobbit, a race of short, peaceful humanoids who enjoy beer and large amounts of food.
The debate on whether Sméagol is a villain or hero is a contentious one for Lord of the Rings fans. The case has sparked much amusement on social media, with some joking that Erdoğan has managed to hold on to power in Turkey longer than Sméagol had hold of the ring. (However, that claim is inaccurate as Gollum possessed the ring for more than 500 years – as one of its effects was long life.)
The case involving Çiftçi is set to continue in February.