Representation and transformation of the family institution in turkish cinema

The family has taken an important place for the Turkish communities throughout history and the Turkish family has evolved over time in certain periods of time. The proclamation of the Republic has been an important turning point for the Turkish family to gain a modern family structure. Because the steps taken in the name of the modernization of the society have reciprocated from society in time and the transformation towards the modern family structure has been realized. The transformation still continues today. In this context, the family which is a social institution is represented in Turkish cinema with its various qualities. Therefore, it is important to understand how the Turkish family is represented in cinema as both a branch of art and a means of mass communication. Because cinema is a tool that has the power to influence and direct the masses. The ability of cinema films to influence and direct societies naturally increases with films that reach particularly large spectrum of audience numbers. It is necessity that such a period, which may be considered as a turning point in the increase of the number of spectators in Turkish cinema, should be within the scope of research. In this context, the main focus of the thesis is on 1996-2000. The Turkish films, which reached a million and more viewers in this period, were asked to answer the question of whether the Turkish family was represented by their characteristics by considering the filmic time. The basic assumption of the study is that the Turkish films are represented by the general characteristics of the Turkish family; however, it is evaluated that some of the situations or events may show incompatibility with the Turkish family due to the story in the movies. Determined films were analyzed by using descriptive analysis method and the basic question of the study was sought. It has been concluded that all the films analyzed can be represented by the general characteristics of the Turkish family according to the filmic time. However, in one of the films analyzed, it was concluded that there were some cases that did not comply with the Turkish family.