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fymagnificentwomcn · 5 years ago

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No, she isn’t. The whole „evil Kösem” thing isn’t played straight in MYKS2.

Kösem was in a role no woman was before her in Ottoman Empire – she was a woman who governed on her own and it wasn’t a role expected of a woman or one subject to any real legal regulations, and the fact that she often formed an alternative source of power in time of weak, tyrannical or mentally ill rulers just made people more to treat her as usurper, someone who made difficult decisions that she wasn’t entitled to make, since they weren’t traditionally within female sphere of influence in the Ottoman Empire, especially in minds of certain bureaucrats. If she had been a padişah, nobody would have given her such wank for them.

This is best exemplified in one of the conversations between Kösem and Murad where he accuses her of being “plague that entered their dynasty by deceit” and “sick woman”. He mentions that yes padisahs made numerous painful sacrifices for the state, but here he is the PADISAH, so he may do what he wants, while she is not entitled to do so just for the fact she’s not the monarch in what was always absolute monarchy. He’s the only person who can make decisions concerning dynasty, no matter what sort of decisions they are, even if destructive ones. He is, nota bene, proven wrong in about this when in his final episode he is criticised by the mufti Yahya Efendi (who for some time was his big supporter) for ordering to execute Ibrahim and Mustafa, thus placing the end to the Ottoman dynasty, which decision is deemed as impossible to carry out. Similarly, he is also called out by Kösem upon executing Ahizade because even the padisah couldn’t execute the Grand Mufti – Kösem calls it “similar unflawlufness that what happened to Osman that she will not allow” even after Murad’s argumentation that since the public killed the sultan, he might execute the chief judge because who he is next to a padisah.

Halil Inalcik in one of his interviews stated that the fact that the mere fact that a woman was ruling the Empire over a padisah (in this case he was talking about Ibrahim’s reign) was viewed negatively and was labelled in chronicles written by contemporary bureaucrats as tagallüb, that is unlawful tyranny, “unjustified taking power into her hands”

It generally shows position of many women that dared to rule, even Elizabeth I in England had to face criticism of people calling her reign illegitimate, and she was a crowned queen regnant.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND&TRADITIONAL POSITION OF WOMEN IN POWER IN OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Hürrem got criticism in Ottoman Empire for influencing Suleiman and yet she still pretty much moved around what was “acceptable” because she was dependent first and foremost on Suleiman…criticism of her stemmed that while she did what was expected, that is to lead her sons towards the throne, she also was thrust more in consort role similar to European queens than Imperial consorts before her, so influencing padişah representing state (and as such objective, non-partisan justice) for her personal interest instead for benefit of state was seen as crossing the boundary of what was acceptable. She wasn’t just a mother of princes, but continued to be also Suleiman’s consort.

Kösem obviously crossed even more boundaries. The chief difference between Hürrem and Kösem is that while they were both rule breakers, the rule breaking concerned a totally different sphere in both cases - in case of Hürrem it mostly concerned the institution of the harem and its rules, while Kösem was rule-breaker in matters concerning the political sphere. There is also huge difference in historical context between Suleiman’s and Kösem’s times. Suleiman inherited Empire after a string of good, successful predecessors and could only further work on its greatness (though, by the end of his reign first signs of decline appeared, but again it was also a sign of necessary transformation). When Kösem appeared on political stage, the decline was already quite advanced. This quote says it all:

This period, later known in Ottoman history as ‘Sultanate of Women’ occurred in the midst of period of transformation in Ottoman rule, many rebellions and neverending wars. This term is in Goffman’s view very often viewed in an unjustly pejorative light because women began to be heavily influential in the Ottoman palace when the decline had already started earlier and blaming them for problems that had existed before they began to have power is unjust and simply making them metaphorical scapegoats.

Taken from: Özlem Kumrular, Kösem Sultan - Iktidar, Hirs, Entrika (trans. mine)

Sultans now also began to often ascend the throne straight from the harem without any experience in province, sometimes spending their whole lives closed in kafes and living in fear. If not mentally ill, they often had other issues, like Murad IV’s anger problems or alcoholism. They were often dependent on their mothers and advisors, also often people their mothers surrounded them with. As such, they could make rash decisions after years of feeling powerless too.

There’s also issue of portrayal of women history, which also Özlem Kumrular mentions in her biography of Kösem Sultan: women in history [and not only lbr] are often seen as either angels or devils, there’s no middle-ground.. Not like complex personalities placed in particular context that also influences evaluation. For example, blaming on Kösem that Empire was not as grand as during times of e.g. Suleiman the Magnificent is pointless due to the factors I mentioned above – it was a totally different reality, and during her lifetime Empire and dynasty were on the brink several times.. The fact that she preserved them is already huge achievement. And the devil-angel dichotomy also is exacerbated in case of women that go beyond their prescribed roles, usually a motherly role. We can sooner forgive women who make sacrifices to protect their children, but not women-politicians taking care of whole state and dynasty, who “exceed” what is allowed for them in a male-dominated sphere, especially if people don’t see them as holding the relevant legal title, and even more especially if it means having higher authority than males in official power. And then also consider that it was traditional for woman’s power in this system to come from a male belonging to the dynasty and Kösem managed to have her own power outside of her spouse or son. She even stayed in power after all her sons were dead.

All of these issues are at play in MYKS2, which also plays with the way women like Kösem were perceived back then in history.

In Kösem’s monologue beginning the final episode she wonders how she will be judged and remembered and the following line appears “a woman who kept together a state and prevented it from ending or a woman who for her own ambitions killed her sons” - it again says the crux of problem – men make sacrifices for state, but women may be driven only by personal ambition, or at least one connected with her own family’s benefit – there’s no such thing like taking care of state and dynasty in general envisaged for women. She also mentions that people are often remembered for their deaths, so if they don’t die in their glory, everything that they did before may be forgotten. Following this we have Safiye’s quote famous quotes about women and her many roles, all different facets of complex personality that cannot fit into one label – and it is again summarised by the quote I mentioned at the beginning of her paragraph because this is what women in particular are in danger of (and Kösem does mention she fulfilled ALL these roles)

Let’s now look at the “metaphorical scapegoat” aspect – blaming women in power for everything was very common, and in general many things were blamed on anyone but the sovereign, it was even observed during the reign of Suleiman when many tried to put sole blame on Hürrem or his viziers. And again, women were easy to target because they began to cross the sphere of what is permitted by previously established, “godly” order.

Leslie Peirce mentions in Empress of the East about such critics that:

rather than directly criticizing powerful or popular individuals for their unpopular actions or breaches of conduct, they deflected blame onto their associates.

and

This tendency to assign responsibility to the sultan’s associates for unpopular actions or seeming breaches of proper monarchical conduct is typical of the attitude of Ottomans toward their sovereign. They preferred to see him as blameless, and if the author of harmful policy, then the victim of self-seeking and treacherous intimates. Sultans were more easily and comfortably judged misguided than unwise or cruel. the popular view of the fallibility and corruptibility of the sultan’s associates.(...) Exploiting satellites of the ruler as scapegoats for criticism and failure is a universal tactic of absolutist government (indeed, even of democracy).

Taken from: Leslie Peirce, The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire

Moreover, Kösem was a survivor and her continuing to have a political career following the demise of all her sons was also seen as something abnormal since there was clear connection between power and having a son in that system, it was motherhood that allowed her to have her share in dynastic power – it was again established order that mother’s career ends with her son’s demise, and after that all she has left is eternal mourning. Plus, since Kösem was seen as the holder of most power, but yet not a sovereign, we saw everyone expecting her to fulfil all their personal wishes, not striking for a solution benefitting state and as many members of the dynasty as possible. Compare and contrast it with what was often said to Suleiman in MY – “you cannot satisfy anybody, they must accept your will”.

Honestly, out of all major players in MYK Kösem is the only one willing to compromise, spare and try to work out to minimise damage and try to work out solutions that are least harmful for everyone, and without ordinary people not connected with the matter to suffer. I’d say her only opponents that weren’t worse than her were Handan and Derviş. In world where now everyone is “let the world Empire and dynasty be destroyed, if I/my son can’t be on throne”, she’s the only one trying to protect state, dynasty and nation, which was again something unheard of for a woman – her contribution traditionally was supposed to be charity and advising her son to get to the throne and manage the harem once he ascends. She was again “bound” to her son, her power was supposed to come from him and motherhood. The position of Valide has risen during the Sultanate of Women, but after Safiye co-ruled with Mehmed pretty unsuccessfully (he was almost deposed because of army having problems with her), Ahmed later found his mother’s involvement to be too much, even though as a co-regent she helped him to build his own network of people and get rid of the old one… yet Ahmed was determined not to let his mother interfere too much. The rumour about him poisoning her has never been proven as true, but he didn��t seem like a good son, willing to take advice from his mother. There was likely no Valide during Osman’s reign, which also contributed to his downfall because he wasn’t supplied with good advisers; Halime, while formally not a regent, ruled really badly for Mustafa, so that the country was on brink again… and Kösem stabilised the country again, and was the first Ottoman woman to truly rule for a longer period of time, obviously gaining her own strength apart from her son.

Again Kösem is the only person who thinks about bigger impact or consequences, not just to put her own son on throne, as evidenced by her introduction of anti-fratricide law – she could have easily put her own son on the throne with all her power, but she did want to introduce deeper changes to the system.

SCAPEGOATING

Let us now look at the scapegoat – Kösem always protects MUSTAFA even though his existence poses threat for Ahmed and her sons, she always encouraged Ahmed to spare Mustafa – putting Mustafa in kafes was Ahmed’s sole idea, and it’s not like Halime, Dilruba, and Safiye didn’t give him valid reasons. Then Kösem encouraged Ahmed to eventually release Mustafa. Even after Halime&Dilruba exiled Kösem and tried to kill all her children, Kösem spared them… but everything is Kösem’s fault, obviously. She even disobeyed Ahmed in arranging Halime’s meetings with her son.

Then, OSMAN. Kösem clearly didn’t treat him differently than her other children, he was actually indeed her favourite, which actually caused Mehmed’s bitterness because he felt that his own mother cast him aside for someone who wasn’t from her blood, so something that was again not typical of Ottoman system. It was clear that Kösem wanted to make the new law to be obeyed by setting a precedent - she undoubtedly planned for Osman to eventually succeed Mustafa, that’s why he was the only one she actually hid from Halime. Unfortunately Osman was young and listened to Lala Ömer working on Safiye’s orders – for him naturally Lala was the one preparing him for success according to tradition, while Kösem was after all still a mother of first and foremost her own blood and his rival – Mehmed. He didn’t understand her intentions of her setting the precedent, he read this as her doubting him because why such unconventional move instead of snatching the throne for at least her adopted son? This monologue is very poignant:

All he could say to her was accusing her of snatching his BiRtHright from him even after she put him on the throne, her explanations how she wanted to change order forever were ignored by him because why would a woman want such things? Her whole role is to keep only her own sons safe.

Even after Osman exiled her, she never planned to replace him with Mehmed – actually if she had wanted to do so, it would have been better for her not to do anything and wait for him to make mistakes instead of still trying to help him, even though behind his back. Even despite her (justified ) anger and bitterness, she never wanted to kill him, and any plans to dethrone him were short-lived, also once he put all blame on Mehmed’s death on her, continued to keep his brothers in kafes and also blamed her for the death of his young son, while welcoming e.g. Safiye with open arms (who killed both his mother & father). Despite all, she forgave him everything&again fought for his cause, but it was too late… Osman also understood and acknowledged his mistake, but fate had other plans, which was a pity because Osman was mostly young and he could learn from his mistakes that he acknowledged and regretted. Both him and Mehmed were such kiddos, and it’s sad how they fraternal quarrel put them at risk so early because it wasn’t such long-lasting conflict way into adulthood that Selim and Bayezid had, which was very hard to remove in adult princes.

GÜLBAHAR&BAYEZID – of course it was hard for Gülbahar to be in Kösem’s shadow and perhaps never going to Ahmed again, but again, Kösem brought her back to the palace when she heard she was pregnant, allowed the child to be born and didn’t intend to harm them… of course it’s natural she would crave for more, but if she had encountered e.g. Hürrem or someone else, she likely wouldn’t have been even allowed to give birth or live (remember e.g. Nazenin or even random concubine sent to Suleiman by Fatma, who was murdered on her way to Suleiman’s bedchamber on Hürrem’s orders simply for entering the Golden Path). When all the shit following Ahmed’s death happened, Kösem protected Bayezid as much as her own sons. Upon Murad’s accession, she never intended him any harm even though he was next in line for succession. Yet Gülbahar tried to dethrone child Murad…and not only her son was spared, but even she was merely exiled, which was truly an act of mercy in that situation. Likely it was mostly because Kösem didn’t want for Bayezid to become embittered with her and his siblings and to prevent any possible fraternal quarrels, so Bayezid got not deprived of his mother. There are no inclinations that he had any problems with his siblings and Kösem, and he was after all next in line after Murad. Moreover, Kösem did take care of him and he even called her mother until he began corresponding with Gülbahar. Again, all quarrels and squabbles in family began after Murad deprived his mother of regency, we saw brothers in good relations in first episode, even Kasim and Bayezid. Kösem again tried to warn Murad against inviting Gülbahar back and well… wasn’t she right? Nobody wanted to take his throne from him at that moment except for Gülbahar&Sinan. Even after Bayezid told Gülbahar about Kasim&Elanur, Kösem kept Bayezid’s involvement in this secret because she wanted to protect him and by extension his brothers and not to open door to fratricide again. Then, even after everything Gülbahar did, Kösem still hid from Murad that Bayezid had incorrectly released a person despite Murad’s order because she knew Murad would most likely have executed him. And when before that Kasim began talking how Bayezid wasn’t her son, so he might cause problems like Osman, Kösem defended him and insisted that Bayezid was one of them. Bayezid’s quarrel was with Murad and Kasim, not Kösem… she tried to be fair and didn’t even believe Kasim’s accusations against his brother or that he was ever involved in Gülbahar’s sceming. She only lost her patience after assassination attempt on her was carried out (with Bayezid’s approval). Still, it all ended on talking…. And it was sad he never felt any gratitude for her – yes, he was a prince, but he only had his birthright, while this woman had worked for Empire for many years, and the fact that he was a prince did not make the way he talked to her right after he had wanted to have her killed and had lied to her face many times… calling her a slave who will never have their precious Ottoman blood no matter how powerful she is.. really Bayezid? I’m so disappointed in you ☹ /still like you though, my poor boy/. And the last straw for Bayezid was when Murad ordered him to kill Kalika. He clearly committed treason and Kösem couldn’t oppose Murad’s order when she had two more sons that Murad would have wanted to immediately target if she had refused. And Bayezid himself was aware of the extent of Murad’s cruelty because he mentioned to Kösem that endings for all them (him, Kasim and Ibrahim) were going to be the same, and it truly hit Kösem hard because she began to be truly acquainted with the reality that going against one of her sons (Murad) would truly become a necessity. She was clearly heartbroken, so heartbroken she quickly run to balcony so he might not see her tears, and lamented that the switch to anti-fratricide system was again undermined. Bayezid implied to her that she wouldn’t have carried out the order if he had been her biological son… but earlier he had refused her as his mother figure. You didn’t want to treat her as your mother figure, but she was to treat you as 100% your son… ok, fine. Not to mention that Bayezid was himself aware there was no way out for him at this point – he mentioned the fate of Suleiman’s Bayezid and how he was caught after all and died in foreign land.. his only way out could have been a bloody civil war with help of Persians, and he rejected that. And following Bayezid’s execution, it was repeatedly often blamed on Kösem, and she even initially honoured Bayezid’s promise not to execute Gülbahar (which later caused a lot of problems) and she did leave Bayezid’s letter for Murad to read.

Now time for MURAD, pretty much the guy who took “blame your mother for everything” to new level and main creator of the “evil Kösem” concept. Frankly, we can see the switch of blaming your mother and “trying to put her in place” even back in S1 with Ahmed and Handan.Back in MY you didn’t see Suleiman, Mustafa and Hürrem’s sons behaving in this way towards their mothers, even if they disagreed with them. You can see that princes in MYK show different, more paranoid, more quarrelsome nature from early on to much bigger extent than in MY and have many more psychological issues - after all, Suleiman’s sons had a stable life until they reached adulthood and competition began. Ahmed’s sons were thrust into strife very early on. But back to Murad - Osman’s bloody deposition was an event that shook the Ottoman Empire for years to come – nothing could be the same. It wasn’t merely a deposition and execution of a ruler, but an occurrence of unimaginable barbarity and cruelty. Both Kösem and Murad developed some sort of paranoia following it – Murad being all anger, while Kösem tried to balance out state benefit with safety of her kids, something that was her problem throughout her life (following Ahmed’s death she stated that two things are most important for her – the safety of her children & the Ottoman Empire). Perhaps sometimes she wasn’t as strict with traitors as they deserved, but there was rationale behind it – she was still a single mother, who also couldn’t cross certain borders because she could be immediately labelled “usurper” or “tyrant”. She knew Murad was more hot-headed and angry than Osman could ever be, so yes she knew he would immediately go iron fist on large scale once he took all the power.You could see how she was practically in hysterics when he went missing or stayed all night in town – she reiterated multiple times how she was afraid of opening another hell like the one that took Osman and Mehmed from her. And Murad pretty much confirmed her worries with each step even with regards to his brothers, starting from locking Kasim up with their mad uncle, after which Kasim and relations between all brothers were never the same. Even after Kemankeş told Kösem to make Murad trust her&ask her for help by not doing stuff behind his back, and Kösem did actually follow the advice.... however during this time the Kasim thing popped up, and then she resumed holding clandestine meetings following Murad’s execution of innocent people in episode 10 because honestly it was clear at this point things were going out of hand. Later on she notices that not only he never listens to her, but he also purposefully does the opposite to what she advises him to do.

Similarly, Murad is hardly trustworthy, even his monologue in first episode of MYKS2 contains contradictions – he complains about being shouldered with responsibility at young age, but then also that he couldn’t be a proper ruler at young age because of his mother. We even see that he’s always there when decisions are made, he attends Divan etc. before taking Kösem’s regency, which only gave her right to intervene if she deemed it necessary. If anything, it seems that Kösem coddled him too much – after all the pain and mayhem following Ahmed’s death she wanted him to have as normal & careless childhood as was possible, but in a way thus precluded him from suffering consequences of his decisions (but then again it is understandable- she saw how Osman faced consequences – it was so disproportionate to mistakes he made), so it could also contribute in part to his shifting the blame on everyone else, especially his mother. Murad’s whole arc is about understanding that his biggest enemy is himself, even Yahya Efendi tells him the dude on horse appearing in his dreams is his biggest enemy, and failing both the fight and even the recognition of it (remember how he saw Bayezid approaching on his horse as the hooded figure from his dreams)… he fights with the whole world because he can’t contain his anger and once he gets Sinan’s letter he finally convinces himself fully his enemy is his mother, so he goes full-on destruction. But it’s made clear that no matter that while ironically Murad is throughout fixated on the issue of his enemies and eliminating them, his biggest enemy is himself. The big revelation comes during his visions in the forest (and mud :p), but following the revelation, instead to listening to voices of other people – Ahizade, Ayse, Kösem, Gevherhan etc. telling him how he is his biggest enemy and that his anger will destroy him and everyone else around, along with Empire, he chooses to listen to his Dark!self and allows it to fully drown him in mud while proclaiming that he won’t be like ordinary people governed by feelings&emotions such as mercy because he is the padisah above all of them, who answers only to God. From now on, even a darker Murad than before appears (he has several turns lol, the last one being after he spent time with Mustafa and then issued all his prohibitions), one that will not stop even from destroying his own dynasty. He completely loses it and wants to destroy absolutely everything, including his own state upon his death… which ruler before his death acts so that the state can be destroyed after his demise? When he gets the letter from ironically one of his biggest “enemies”, a dude who was the spy he was searching for his entire reign and who killed his sons, he convinces himself that his mother is his enemy, and once he convinces himself of it, he releases himself from any shred of scruples he still might have had left… and in yet another act of irony, he releases Sinan and believes him to be one of the few people who are still loyal to him (and it was Kösem who was conspiring now with Venetians, she caught Sinan to frame him of course because she was the one conspiring, not making a deal with them to hand over the Jesuit spy they were seeking for so long, while Murad planned to go and kill all Venetians in Ottoman Empire instead of searching for any deal, our king of diplomacy strikes again) and even orders him to execute Kösem. No one was a bigger enemy to him than he himself and his anger. As Kösem put it – his bans were an attempt to take out his anger legally on the nation for what happened to Osman, him and by the extension – the whole house of Osman.

They were never for reform or religious issues – Kumrular mentions in the Kösem biography that it was truly stark contrast – people were punished with death for things that Murad himself did, while he, in addition to parties with much alcohol and smoking apparently didn’t even practice Ramadan or go to mosque often. He himself stated in the show that it wasn’t about tobacco or alcohol, but drilling absolute obedience. And obviously while some fanatical groups (whose support he used, like the group led by Kadizade) supported his bans, we see other members of ulema criticising him, especially Sivasi Efendi, who openly calls his behaviour acts of cruelty. Murad tries to execute him twice for criticising him, but both times there’s divine intervention – first time a sick child is brought to Sivasi, who heals it – because that’s the true meaning of religion, not being “true death”. Second time Murad is interrupted by call for prayer [BASICALLY: EVEN GOD HATES U MURAD, GET IT]

Murad is also hardly reliable, he also imposes on his visions what he wants to hear in order to get rid of any scruples. When he encounters Osman’s vision in the forest, at first Osman calls him out on becoming cruel and “being more dead than he is”… Murad also tells him that yes, he’s killed many of his subjects, but now his decisions began to affect the dynasty. However suddenly we see Murad and Osman in different setting, inside a hut and Osman’s “ghost” changes its tune - ultimately Osman begins to talk in how Murad wants to see the situation, even going as far to Osman telling him with anger that Kösem abandoned him completely&she didn’t even avenge his death because she killed Halime&Co. only to protect Murad’s reign.. making Murad’s twisted mind jump to conclusions that she stopped caring about Osman and simply moved on to next son. However, suddenly Osman disappears and we see Murad talking to old man in hut, who tells him “I found you, it’s just me, you’ve seen now what you wanted to see”. The man again tells him that his mother will always be as close to him as he ALLOWS her (and lbr ALL of them pushed away Kösem first, except for Mehmed IV I suppose, though it was a totally different case as I discuss below) and that his biggest enemy is the man on horse, and this fight will determine who will carry on the dynasty. Once Murad faces his enemy aka himself, the fate of dynasty is sealed. Murad returns to palace only to impose further prohibitions and order Bayezid to kill Kalika – which is last straw for Bayezid and he decides to oppose Murad because he realised he either takes his fate into his own hands or will become his brother’s next victim. Once Murad is returning from Revan after Bayezid’s execution, he meets the man again, but this time he has a clear answer to him: fate of the dynasty was decided long ago because he lost the fight long ago, became the slave to Sultan Murad and his power, and one of his brothers will carry on the dynastic line against his will. Murad caused fratricide to occur again, killing Bayezid and Kasim, while abusing IBRAHIM so that the latter became mentally disturbed, and this sealed the fate of dynasty and whole state – Murad asked the guy precisely about dynasty because his behaviour began affecting it (death of his children), and then he lost the fight once he emerged as even more ruthless and often pretty much unhinged. In a way, Murad’s execution of Bayezid also led to his sons being killed in act of revenge (though this was not justifiable at all).

When Kösem intervenes and asks Murad’s viziers during the Divan to convince Murad to introduce other punishments for subjects than death penalty she mentions that the Empire loses daily as many people as if it were in state of war, it tells you all. It’s not a normal or natural condition and Murad’s only counter-argument was traditionally his BiRtHRight &being “shadow of God on Earth” allowing him in his mind doing what he wants i.e. instilling fear. As Peirce mentioned in Imperial Harem: during Murad there was a short return to Ottoman Empire’s military glory, the looting and booty from conquered lands brought everyone profits (and it was bloody too), but for Murad to go for that campaign thousands of his own subjects paid for it with their own blood.

Another part of Kösem’s tragedy was the changes in succession law she always fought for – once her sons ascended the throne and the threat no longer concerned them, but endangered their BiRthRight, including being the one to prolong the dynasty, they began to switch back to the cruel law, not even caring that it could affect their own sons.. Kösem told that to Murad that since he had two sons already and actually without even an age gap, one of them would kill another (and similarly Farya didn’t think how it would affect her sons, not only Murad’s brothers), but Murad just didn’t care. Moreover, after law was changed it was breaking the law by the padisah – clear sign of tyranny, this is why supreme judges&scholars always supported Kösem in this. Bah, during Murad’s reign judge Yahya Efendi was originally big supporter of Murad, but still told him that Murad was breaking the law when he introduced going back to old law. Murad’s only defence was: “You also got lured to my mother’s side” because he only sees matters in such light, as eternal fight between himself and his “enemies, real or imagined”; same situation was with Osman, who again broke all the rules when he decided to get fetva from a military judge to execute Mehmed. Breaking the law even by an absolute ruler like the padisah is sign of tyranny. As Kösem quoted Ebusuud “Unlawful can’t become unlawful even in padisah’s hand”.

The danger of Murad eliminating Ibrahim was a huge threat for the whole Empire and its people – a padisah, even a weak one, is still a guarantee of continuity of State that is inseparably connected with the Ottoman dynasty. End of dynasty there would have meant civil wars, rebellions and total chaos. No padişah meant for people no law and this is why when people suspected a padisah died and a new one didn’t take the throne, they felt allowed to rob, cause riots etc. Even after Suleiman died and only one of his sons was still alive, it had to be hidden from public that the padisah had died before the new one got crowned. No one would accept Crimean khan and Murad was undoubtedly aware of this (Kösem mentioned it to Kemankeş, that Murad does it precisely because he wants to destroy everything as he goes aka if I can’t be a padisah, nobody will, and you will all pay for this), but his anger was stronger. Murad ultimately becomes proud of his destructive nature. When he lies on the battlefield during the battle of Baghdad, he prides himself on such bloody victory and states that he’s now not afraid of being called cruel and bloody and remembered as such (and ironically he also sees his mother there, showing how she is always there and part of his life anyway). It is also interesting to make a call back to Kösem and Murad’s dialogue following him seeing her during Divan meetings with his Viziers – Kösem tells him that in the end both she and he will be gone, but the state will remain – well, now Murad out of spite tries to show her he she was wrong – he has the power to even destroy the state if he wants.this. At the moment when Kösem decided to switch Murad’s medicines for placebo,his fate had been already sealed – he was fatally ill due to cirrhosis and it was said multiple times it was impossible to recover from it and nobody survived having it. Kösem’s decision was cold calculation, even though a heartbreaking one – medicines prolonging Murad’s life could have given him more time to kill his brother and continue his cruel policies, while he was eventually doomed anyway. It was made clear that information about Murad’s fatal illness was here a game changer for Kösem.

“THE EVIL KÖSEM” CONCEPT LEFT BY MURAD

Murad’s another parting idea was to instill the “evil Kösem” image, in which he was supported by Yusuf, a Persian, who while he cared about Murad, did not care about the Ottoman Empire at all. Murad also used the fact that people to whom he told everything hadn’t been there all the time – and it was sometimes downright ridiculous, like suddenly he began blaming his mother for Osman’s death (which he had never done previously, only began so after he came back from mud, and in the same conversation he also threatened Kösem with lives of her and the remaining princes, after which she stated that he was becoming completely crazy), called his uncle Mustafa “his mother’s victim” in the same episode he executed him (and it’s no like he wasn’t the padişah all these years and couldn’t for example release his uncle from kafes). Yusuf also used the knowledge about Kösem&Kemankeş’ love to prove Kosem’s immorality. People they managed to convince were mentally ill Ibrahim, Atike, who also began blaming her mother for everything following Silahtar’s demise (while never admitting her sins) because she had made it to be the biggest tragedy of her life due to her continued belief in their happy married life, and Madame Margaret, who again hadn’t been there, but was jaded because of Farya and she was sooo in Farya’s camp she was totally rooting for Murad executing Ayse and seeing Murad’s lack of mercy as okay in this case, never gave a damn when Farya was hinting at Murad turning dark (and was repeatedly shown to be ignorant of Ottoman system, with everyone being ??? when Murad /with clear purpose/ made her a kalfa, while miraculously forgetting how much Farya had suffered because of her abusive husband.

Kösem stated plainly to Atike that Murad tries to poison her&Ibo before he goes – and he even manipulates certain information – he never tells Atike that he got cirrhosis due to wine addiction in the first place and even though he has a doctor’s assistant telling him that the medic was only relieving his pain, but not prolonging his life (not applying poison), he still writes to Atike that he was poisoned and doesn’t mention that he acquired a fatal illness first and that he even chose to completely disregard doctor’s recommendations and continued to drink heavily even with the knowledge he had cirrhosis and arrogantly kept dismissing what the doctor “told him to do”. Same with the situation after Kösem’s attempt to dethrone him and Kasim’s death - he himself knew the plan and was put to Uncle Mustafa’s place, but he told Atike their mother had lied to her and had tried to kill him.

He’s determined to paint his mother as villain to both the world and himself, even in his flashbacks he begins to frame her as villain, while never admitting to any fault in himself following his emergence from the mud. And the hard truth is that he was main source of destruction – there isn’t a person in his circle that he didn’t destroy – Gev, Ayşe, (and by extension his kids), Farya, his brothers and relations between them, Atike (because he should have tampered her behaviour as an older brother instead of all the time telling her how special she is and placing her in marriage that could never be happy at young age, without even chiding her for her behaviour ever + his injustice only further poisoned relations between the sisters), Silahtar, who pretty much lost his head out of grief and became obsessed with being the one closest to Murad when Murad forced him to choose between absolute loyalty to himself and Gev (and ordered him to marry Atike as a measure to test his loyalty, following forcing this on him also by forcefully affecting his mind due to putting him in praying cell), his mother, who until the end of show was a sad, more and more detached, guilt-ridden shadow of herself. And of course Ibrahim, who after all abuse, was irrevocably damaged. He damaged those who emerged alive out of his reign so much that dynasty’s fate was not easy after his death :what remained after his death was mentally disturbed Ibrahim and a bunch of people whose mind was poisoned, but it was his doing that it came to this that the throne was to go to a weak and mentally ill Ibrahim. Basically, what Ayşe had predicted turned out to be true - he annihilated everyone he loved.

Murad’s biggest supporter by the end of his life, Yusuf, also manipulates the narrative when he tries to have Murad be against his mother even more… when he tells the story of Sultana Khayzuran, he deliberately omits certain bits of information, like Musa intending to kill his younger brother. Following the story Murad declares he doesn’t want to be like Musa because he HAS TO WIN, even if it means destroying everything in the process. Even when he requests fetva for Kasim’s and Ibrahim’s execution after Kösem takes the princes to janissary barracks, he doesn’t inform the mufti that he’s fatally ill, so killing the princes would mean an end to the whole dynasty.

He doesn’t get the message why everyone step by step is betraying him. He tries to make himself feel better by for example having a foreigner praising him all the time, while failing to see why “his people” are against him, and completely enabling a dude who was the spy working against him from day one, trying to put another prince on throne via using Jesuits, Venetians and Persians, and later only wanting to destroy dynasty and state (and Murad himself) because of revenge. He died surrounded only by a foreigner from a country that is the Empire’s big nemesis and the spy he was looking for his entire reign – a tangible reflection of his blindness and how bizarre things turned out to be – Yusuf prides himself on being Murad’ most loyal subject while being a Safavid – yes, because being loyal to padişah does not mean supporting the Ottoman Empire anymore and what is good for it anymore. And Murad’s blindness surrounding Sinan is truly hilarious – if he had listened to Kösem first and hadn’t executed Topal without checking for whom he was working, he could have efficiently discovered “the Jesuit spy” immediately, but he preferred to instill fear& “make a show” instead. He learned from Farya’s letter that Topal worked for Jesuits, but he didn’t know which one, so he ultimately expelled all, but SURPRISE, the one he was searching for managed to stay, while a bunch of innocent people, including merchants bringing profits to Empire, were expelled for nothing. Murad’s anger&need to instill fear blinds him even in his favourite hobby of hunting down traitors and renders him ineffective.

ATIKE has become so jaded because of “evil Kösem” that her chief goal to protect her brother meant removing her mother&Kemankeş, even though these two ruled well and Ibrahim could instead chill after years spent in kafes. To use a famous quote (lol): he didn’t want it and it was better also for him that he didn’t rule. Atike’s delusions persisted, just as her frustration with her mother destroying her “happy marriage”; she couldn’t accept that her brother was irrevocably mentally ill and couldn’t be a “real padişah”, nor did he want to. Atike focused all her energies on removing her mother, but completely ignored Cinci&other hyenas and didn’t even offer Ibo any alternative – didn’t help with him ruling and didn’t find him a capable vizier to rule for him. The title of episode with Kemankeş’ execution – “Traitor to Faith and Nation” is ironic because while Kemankeş is accused of it, it’s Cinci who’s the real traitor, as is later directly stated in further episode. Again, the title shows how difficult it is to provide the definition of a traitor – is it a person who contests Sultan’s decisions if they are being wrong or the one who while in no way criticises him, but acts to his and state’s detriment? We know that later Ibo also feels guilty for “executing” Kemankeş as evidenced by his visions in which Kemankeş calls himself innocent and how he protected and supported him for years and Ibo tries to justify himself that he executed him because “he was angry and Cinci told him to”. I don’t know what Atike was doing during the period when Kösem was exiled when the country went to disaster and Ibo became even more ill. As always however, she played the morally pure and superior, without ever acknowledging any mistakes or fault of hers. She loved Ibo and wanted to protect him, but was too blinded by her own bitterness to truly help him. She even wanted to work with Turhan, who conspired against Ibo from start, only to be against her “evil mother”… ok. She accuses so many people of blindness, but she’s the most blind person in this whole show.

The fact that Atike only began truly caring about Osman being legitimised (same with Ibo) again shows what it was truly about – if Ibo had so wanted Osman to be his heir, he should have expressed this opinion and fought for it (and Atike should have supported it) when something could have been done (and he knew about Zarife being pregnant) because suddenly making an heir a boy not even listed in palace records was a huge risk, especially since there was all the talk about the padişah being mentally ill around. “Precious dynasty blood and 100% certain legitimacy”were too much of a deal there, after all we talk about court where even harem servants that attended ladies had to be castrated.

Zarife’s mistake meant a lot for Kösem because she was well aware that in light of Ibrahim’s mental illness selecting the right mother of his heir was crucial (because of course Kösem supported strongly the seniority succession law, even after her conflict with Turhan began, she never considered the option of putting one of Mehmed’s younger brothers on the throne first). She couldn’t allow the mother of Ibrahim’s heir to conspire behind her back and perhaps try to dethrone Ibo, this is why she offered Turhan so much power even as haseki. Zarife committed not only stupidity and act of disobedience, but also showed that she was willing to take rash risks for her own personal gain, instead of thinking about dynasty or Ibo, so for Kösem it was a big red flag. If you ask me, in light of prolonged Zarife-Turhan conflict (and no, Zarife and Osman didn’t live in kafes all the time, it was clearly stated it was only while Ibrahim was out of capital) that even amounted to threats and both of them very ambitious in having her son as eldest (including the famous “my son will get on throne, the fate of yours and you will then be in my hands”), removal of Osman to palace far away where they would live in luxury truly sounded like best solution for everyone. It was clear even Ibo would have eventually accepted it if Zarife and Osman hadn’t been kidnapped by pirates and handed to Christians, and we know that it was Turhan behind it, who later was all about being superior for “not killing princes” – well, you put a child at truly huge risk here (and she clearly stated she doesn’t care what it’s done to ensure Osman doesn’t come back just to make sure), but maybe you don’t count him as a prince. Actually, after talking to Kösem first, Ibo was willing to let the matter drop and was convinced by his mother’s arguments, but then Cinci saw the opportunity and seized it to wrap Ibo around his finger.

Atike’s behaviour was also determined by Yusuf’s words – she believes in these artificial rules now and makes similar assumptions that Kösem had made back in S1 regarding Handan – sultan’s widow falling in love again “betrayed” her sultan and it is a proof of immorality and treacherous nature. Atike’s character doesn’t really change following Silahtar’s death (how could she truly change when she never even acknowledged what she had done to Gevherhan and that she and Silahtar had never been and could never have been a happy marriage) – she matures to an extent, does not make scenes anymore and behaves in more dignified manner, (as also evidenced by changes in her hairstyle and dresses,) takes care of her nieces&nephews.. but while she now intends to focus on protecting her brother, her delusional nature that is based on perceiving the world in terms of what she wants to believe is present until the very end; her “change” is as illusory as her way of thinking&perceiving the world. Her contribution is only talking&complaining about others, not any real actions until it is too late and we may argue that her attempts to provoke rebellions to return Ibrahim to the throne in fact do not work in his favour at all either, though her desperation may be understandable here. It’s easy to play morally pure when you are passive&only criticise&put down others. She’s still convinced of her own special status, but while once she played it by chasing a guy she chose as her husband despite him not wanting to marry her, now she finds it in illusion of being the prudent, responsible and adhering to rules one, including chiding Kösem for visiting Kemankeş at night (and how she prided on visiting Silahtar whenever she wanted in the past lmao). Atike clearly relishes in the feeling of being morally superior and often she keeps parroting others instead of doing her own critical thinking.

Love this parallel showing how she didn’t change at all, for example:

https://youtu.be/ei2tqHg6WEs

Even in her last conversation with Kösem where it’s Kösem who is clearly upset, having tears in her eyes and feeling horrible with herself and whole situation, Atike stands before and keeps lecturing her as if reciting something, proudly exclaiming “you killed all your sons, all princes and sultans for your own ambition” (and again, she wasn’t even there when some of your brothers died, while you forgot about what your precious Murad did, but yeah he gave you Silahtar), and then when she leaves, she walks proudly and smug-faced (which hit me hard during rewatch because I recall that moment from fanworks and I was sure it was from another moment because how could she walk like that after her beloved brother just died?)

Atike is a character that never ever acknowledges any mistake or wrongdoing of hers in the course of the show. And first and foremost she’s the creator of her own misery – what she did to her sister was awful (and calling her weak afterwards was plain disgusting), she failed to perceive that what Murad was doing to her was not rewarding her but using her to drill absolute obedience into Silahtar (and the real triangle was Gevherhan-Murad-Silahtar actually) by placing her in marriage that could never be happy, and how Silahtar was destroyed and changed as result of being put into dungeons and later due to Gevherhan’s death and Atike demanding them still to be a normal married couple. Atike was really cruel for a person who never directly killed anyone or who even wasn’t power hungry. Her greatest tragedy was that denialism and blindness that made her fail to perceive her own situation – she mocks Kösem for “choosing to be lonely” or that “cruel people die in loneliness” when she herself truly ends up alone – maybe she decided against marriage for other reasons, but she always seemed to want to have husband and family, so her unmarried status likely indicates she decided not to move on from Silahtar, so by hanging up on her delusions in various aspects of her life, by her blindness of which she accused her mother, she put herself in endless string of misery because she never let her “dream” (or more like obsession) of Silahtar truly go.

Atike’s feeling of superiority can be traced back to first episodes even when she was still kinda cute. She repeatedly has small digs at Gevherhan, whom his sees as the boring one obedient to their mother.. she proudly states how she will marry the man of her own choosing, not like Gevherhan (to the latter’s face), but surprise the dude you chose preferred that boring sister of yours. She also looks down on Ayse (becomes totally and uncritically supportive of Farya/Murad romance, while failing to see how much harm it might do) and states that “Murad finally found a woman worthy of him, she can wield a sword like a man”! (yikes). She’s even bitchy to Gev when they sit with Kösem – yes, Topal was a traitor, but you didn’t have to talk to your sister in such a tone (as Kösem pointed out to her). Well, even her most beloved brother told Farya “how Atike is so daring, not like other sultanas”. It clearly got to her head, especially since she didn’t know any hardships in her life- she was a child when her father and her two eldest brothers died. After first hardships in life, she becomes eternally embittered. Kösem calls out Atike how she can accuse her of choosing loneliness when she keeps losing everyone, “what do you know of life and me? I keep losing everyone, you just lost Silahtar”. Even Kösem telling her she’s lost only Silahar is indeed true – she’s quick to forgive Murad killing Kasim, she quickly moves on from deaths of Gevherhan or Ayse’s kids, even Kasim, while making Silahtar’s death the tragedy of her life and the death she’s most hung up on, and even in this particular scene she’s all focused on Silahtar’s death, while completley brushing off the matter of Murad being a brother-killer.

Her later feeling of superiority is more based on being the one believing to bring order back, but to some idealised version… because based on her own reality. As such, she expresses her feeling of superiority via her judgmentalism, which makes her a very Walmart version of Beren!Kösem tbh. Her going against Kösem & Kemankeş has flashbacks to Kösem vs Handan&Dervis, with chief difference that Ibo wasn’t capable of ruling himself and needed the politically savyy K&K duo. Plus, Kösem was capable to support Ahmed in ruling, while Atike… well. Her wanting to make a real padişah of him ended with removing the K&K duo and once she does something it’s trying to poison the janissary commanders, who want to have a coup.. which in the end only incensed people more. The coup was happening anyway because everyone was fed up with Ibrahim’s reign and this move only made everyone more angry. She never got a clue how much people suffered under her brother, she was completely ignorant of why he couldn’t rule anymore and didn’t care about people other than Ibrahim. Even her making threats that once Ibrahim gets back to throne, he’ll kill everyone dethroning him… please, you are not helping in trying to preserve his life at all.

I once thought Atike’s blindness and denialism were unrealistic, but I have to say that by observing some people nowadays, she doesn’t seem so unrealistic, so many truly just “see what they want to see”. Same with her “white feminism” or “performative” feeling of superiority or doing something.

Again, Ibrahim didn’t want to be a real padisah and it’s not like he was locked up or forbidden to attend Divan etc. If Kösem so had wanted to have him unable to rule, she wouldn’t have searched for help to his ailments and wouldn’t have brought Cinci to court. Kemankeş even asks him to come to Divan and Ibrahim laughed him off. And there are also rules that even the padişah needed to obey, so it was Kemankes’ duty to tell Ibo that appointing Cinci as judge is... very, very bad idea, yet Atike of course had to jump at him for trying to stop Ibo from doing what he pleased, even if it was contrary to basic&fundamental rules of the Ottoman Empire.

Turhan’s backstabbing despite Kösem sharing her power with her &actually also offering emotional support, with cheering her up when Ibo was with other women or defending her before Ibrahim was a severe blow. Kösem also knew Ibo and Atike executed Kemankeş to make her suffer. While her approach to Ibrahim with bringing him to kafes where Murad killed Kasim was rather manipulative and not the right approach, it also showed her extreme desperation at this point. Ibo was her last son, after all. And again, Ibrahim completely disregarded how much Kösem risked to save him from Murad and only talked about his BiRtHRIGHT and how God wanted to see him on the throne, which was again sad.

After situation boiled to Empire being on brink again and people even starving because of Ibrahim&co.’s rule, Kösem had to face the hardest challenges ever – her son was again tyrant, but there was no e.g. military glory to balance it out like with Murad, and people were deeply frustrated and moreover she had another person who gathered significant political power and this person wanted to have Ibrahim killed as soon as possible, was unscrupulous and full of hatred towards Ibrahim. Ibrahim’s dethronement was a necessity and an occurrence improbable to prevent, and people’s frustration was higher than even towards Osman. Turhan being in charge of deposition could have meant not only Ibo’s death, but humiliation and torture similar to those experienced by Osman, of which even Ibrahim was aware as he saw no point in even trying to run away from the palace. Kösem joining coup against her own son was her opportunity to control what was happening, and it was made clear when Turhan came to Kösem and pretty much blackmailed her to cause a bloody coup if Kösem did not agree to co-operate, and later it all turned to reality when Turhan ordered to shoot despite Kösem’s orders not to and incited people to demand Ibo’s execution, thus making the coup take a violent turn. Even when Kösem visited Ibo in palace for wedding after years she told him she intends to keep her promise and not allow for his death.

It cannot be surprising that Kösem wanted to become big Valide considering she had already seen what Turhan was capable of, when there were also other princes and very much alive Ibrahim. Ibrahim was unfortunately in constant danger by both people trying to free him and put him back on the throne and those who wanted to have him killed out of anger. It was clearly stated Kasem sent Kemankes to accompany Ibrahim to kafes because he was the only person she could 100% trust since there was danger Ibo could have been murdered on the way to kafes. If situation had calmed down, he would have likely been transferred to Mustafa’s place, but it didn’t calm down and instead even fetva condemning Ibo to death was issued by the judge&Turhan urged Mehmed to sign his father’s death warrant… I just know I would never want to be in Kösem’s shoes… on the hand, the life of her last son, who had been through so much (and she also recalls his words he doesn’t want to live in constant fear in cages like his uncle and prefers death) and on the other lives of sooo many people&condition of the state (yes, she had promised to defend him at cost of HER life, which she had done when she had saved him from Murad, but at the moment there were so many other people that needed to be taken into equation), plus I’m afraid Ibrahim was already doomed at this point because even if he had been brought back to throne, I can only expect Turhan not resting until she had him killed, again probably even in similar way to what had happened to Osman.

Ibrahim’s execution is a beginning of Kösem’s downfall because it affected her mental state heavily. Even before she made the decision, she had confided in Kemankeş that she still can’t forgive herself the Murad matter and Ibrahim’s execution would only increase her burden. We saw that change in her following Murad’s death – a sadder, more distanced persona wearing black constantly as sign of eternal mourning. After Ibrahim is executed, we have Kösem scene with Ahmed’s portrait and Anastasia – in this vision Anastasia accuses Kösem of killing all her sons not because this is true, but because at that moment Kösem begins to believe in it and blame herself, she sees herself as total moral failure, she begins to believe all accusations people have thrown at her, Anastasia even repeats Atike’s words, or earlier Kösem hears Safiye’s voice, thus believing she’s like her now… so later she’s determined to at least manage to protect the state, at any cost. As she again confided in Kemankeş when she decided to dethrone Mehmed – she sacrificed Murad&Ibrahim for state, so at least she wants to ensure it was not for nought, even if she failed at everything else. Even after vision ends, Kösem still maintains the slave girl she knocked off was Anastasia, which shows she’s now pretty lost touch with reality.

As Kemankeş, the person who knew her best, said: “her soul was withdrawn and she became someone else” following Ibrahim’s execution.

She was desperate to eliminate whom she saw as threat to dynasty and state (and Turhan gave her very valid reasons, also to think she would kill other princes, her deciding not to kill Mehmed’s brothers was more of a plot twist actually). Anyway, Kösem using such methods clearly was uncharacteristic of her – killing a child was not unheard of in MY/K, but she never stooped to such methods before. Remember the Kösem who told Handan how no child would be killed from now on in this palace? Each time Kösem shared her power before or it slipped from her hands, bad things happened, so then she was just desperate and stopped playing carefully. She also committed a mistake that cost her life.

Good thing was that even after Kösem stooped to such a method, she still continued to protect innocent bystanders and secured harem. Turhan didn’t take such into attention and went on full, brutal power.

KUSCU AS SYMBOL OF SCAPEGOATING&PEOPLE SEE WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE

And there comes Kuşçu’s betrayal – many people are puzzled by the character and its sudden re-appearance and stress how his betrayal made no sense – after all, yes Kösem killed his father, but he was a confirmed traitor and danger to the state… and even after Kuşcu tried to kill Kösem, she spared him and supported him. It’s not that Kuscu decided to betray Kösem out of loyalty to current padişah, which would have been understandable.Kuşcu is in fact a symbol – he’s a symbol of scapegoating that Kösem had to endure all her life. After all, we haven’t seen him since Kösem pardoned him and as such audience has no emotional bond with him, so they can assess his behaviour in more objective way. It all depends all what you see – all Kuşcu see is a person who hurt him personally by killing his father, even though his father needed to be executed. Even Kösem’s mercy wasn’t enough for him to stop blaming her because he got fixated on that one thing. As Kösem said “People see what they want to see”.

CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE WHEN WE “SEE”

There’s also an important scene when Kösem talks to Mustafa after years – while he mentions that Kösem now reminds him of Safiye because of her trying to dethrone her own blood and how he sees no more innocence in her – has Kösem truly become Safiye, a woman who tried to dethrone (and kill) Ahmed where there were no reasons for it because he didn’t hurt his subjects or wanted to kill his brother, was no danger to dynasty or state? The answer is a bit later – Mustafa then expresses his grief about Dilruba’s and Halime’s deaths, something that I think nobody hates Kösem for – they both deserved it and it was a necessary move to protect Murad’s reign. The point is – which also makes Kösem cry – that while it was a necessary move in this political world, for Mustafa it was simply a loss of mother and sister because for him simply two people close to him died… So, no, she’s not Safiye, the comparison is superficial . but for Mustafa’s innocent mind there’s no such thing as necessary sin – sin is a sin, and innocence has been lost, no matter for what intentions it was committed. And once innocence is lost, there are always things that other people may use in an attack against you, even simply for their own self-interests, especially if you are a woman in Kösem’s position.

/(even look at their different behaviour during “dethronement of their blood” Safiye unceremoniously dodges all dead people not caring and just as nonchalantly happily sits herself on Ahmed’s throne... Kosem meanwhile is too busy ensuring everything goes with least harm for everyone, being torn and anxious for all her sons, also upset about not being able to see Ibrahim, who had just attempted suicide in kafes)/

That points again to different perceptions even concerning the same person – Beren!Kösem and Nurgül!Kösem are the same person, even if the latter is hardened and more disillusioned, but also more mature and wise -yet the core of her person stood the same – when she was young and victorious, she was hailed “an angel without wings” etc. even often with exaggeration. But once each her attempts to stabilise Empire were no victory for her since it was at cost of personal sacrifices, became a sad older lady with heavy burdens, later also dressed in black, she suddenly became ‘evil” (add to this also her even bigger power and stepping out even more from traditional role) for some. She was also more ineffective because sometimes she wasn’t fighting her enemies, but people close to her- see this exchange for example:

(and as we know she later she also did lose Kasim because she tried to dethrone Murad without killing him)

She’s no longer victorious slay queen, the illusions sunk and the fairytale image is heavily undermined by even showing a different side and perspective of her taking power at the end of S1 in S2 when meeting Mustafa. Because of what Kumrular mentioned – women, especially with power, are often seen as angels or demons, not complex, morally grey people… and Kösem has always been a morally grey person, not an angel or demon, and first and foremost – not an ideal fantasy from Ahmed’s portrait. It is also mentioned when Ibrahim asks Kösem whether she’s angel or devil and there’s no answer because she’s neither – she’s simply a human being placed in particular historical context.

The angel-demon dichotomy first appears when Murad begins questioning his mother and wondering whether she’s a demon who wants to destroy him for power (read as power for the sake of simply power and ambition) or the maternal angel who protected him… there’s no middle ground for him, unless she is 100% innocent and completely devoted to him (and only him, rest of dynasty doesn’t matter) or he immediately begins demonising her to the point of calling her Azrael. /And it’s interesting how he begins calling her Devil shortly after Nef’i calls him Satan and Anti-Christ... deflection again/. Judging by what he said, the moment he died, she should have laid herself in grave with him, not thinking about next step or the future of others. It was what always made me soo about Ottoman sultans – you have a system where there is no simple accession to throne, riots may explode at every piece of rumour sultan is dead or succession is uncertain, then one who gets the throne may execute you and your whole family, and then you are sooo offended by the mere thought that people think what to do after your death or make plans. No offence, but in this system there truly isn’t any time for mourning until situation is stabilised. Murad being butthurt that his mum didn’t believe he wasn’t dying just like he had when Ahmed had got small pox.. you realise that your mother is no longer a carefree Nasya without other children and a bunch of other obligations? And her deal with the old witch she had made in her rush of youthful love isn’t romantic in the hindsight – it truly doomed everyone around Kösem, no matter her efforts to prevent death, there was always something going wrong, despite all best efforts and intentions, as she stated expressly after Gevherhan’s death “No matter how I try, I cannot prevent death”.

“My father always said you cannot run away from date” says Nasya in one of her first episodes.. little did she know how her life would be determined by fate until the very end.

Short addendum because I couldn’t decide where to insert this small thought ;)

It is also interesting how Kösem and Murad have their breaking points at the opposite – Murad when he convinces himself that it’s the world which is cruel not him and his mother is his chief enemy, while Kösem when she convinces herself she’s a total moral failure, and their breaking point is expressed in also very different actions – Murad wants “to burn it all” and put destruction to state, while Kösem intends to do everything to save the state, even by a horrible act of killing an innocent child.

Murad and Kösem are juxtaposed multiple times (when he has his even darker turn in mud and she refuses to pacify the mob so as no blood is spilled and calms down everyone without violence, when Murad orders to execute Farya and watches without emotions until she begins to scream she’s pregnant vs Kösem putting her own life and reputation at risk and challenging the padisah to save Kemankeş from execution) - look at how after Gevherhan’s death when Kösem calls Murad out on what he did, he goes to Silahtar, whom he earlier had scared (and scarred) so much, and pretty much goes: my mum says it’s my fault, but she isn’t right? And Silhatar has to go my lord, how you can ever do something wrong, we always must accept your decisions yhy. At the same time, Kösem blames herself in front of Haci.

- Joanna

Links:

Translations of episodes taken from here

Some quotes about the Ottoman system

Some (selected) quotes about changes in Ottoman system in 16th and 17th century

Addendum 2:

I think I’ve found two quotes also relevant to the topic from the book Medieval Queenship by John Carmi Parsons (ed.), it is here used in context of medieval England, but I think it is very universal:

This allowed the public roles of women to emerge from their familial ones, but at the same time constrained the public woman with the idealized behavior of the wife, mother, and daughter. That idealization was conceived from a largely male viewpoint. It failed to recognize, let alone resolve, the contradictory expectations of wife and mother in a patriarchal family, or the specific problems of women as stepmothers and second wives in a polygynous society. It suppressed the tensions of familial and dynastic politics behind images of harmony. Family and court were mythologized, idealized, and paralleled as centers of harmony and consensus. Early medieval writers found it difficult to describe or accept the legitimacy of political conflict, even the conflict of interest that we would now take to be central to much of politics. In such family imagery women pass from the apotheosis of wifely counsel and motherly loyalty to the degradation of sexual seduction and self-seeking ambition.

and:

If any group of women are likely to receive a good press from interested ecclesiastics it is the powerful; if any group is likely to suffer the ultimate denigration of their transgression of the accepted female role, it is the same. The relationship of writer and subject, in time and place, as patron and client, can be critical here. Dead women may be treated differently from the living, more readily sanctified or vilified according to the needs and purposes of the writer; a patroness or powerful queen is treated more circumspectly. A powerful woman filled different roles at different stages of her life, and she learned from experience. Pictures of her created at different times should be separated, not just according to author and intention, but into those produced during and after her lifetime, in her youth, middle, and old age. All this seems obvious. But all too often such disparate sources are used and either reconciled into a composite character, or worse, read in isolation and generalized into a series of contradictory assessments in which the same woman is unrecognizable (Chibnalll988).

Taken from the following essay: The Portrayal of Royal Women in England, Mid-Tenth to Mid-Twelfth Centuries by Pauline Stafford

#magnificent century kosem #kosem sultan #muhtesem yuzyil kosem #muhteşem yüzyıl kösem #kösem sultan #ottoman history #history #long post #thank you to everyone who read it #for real ;)#mods opinions #answered

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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$2.2 Million Shelby Super Snake Makes Headlines at 2019 Mecum Kissimmee Auction

The first weekend in January might seem early to begin the 2019 event season in the muscle car hobby, but it seems to suit Mecum’s auction schedule quite well. The Silver Spur arena in Florida’s Osceola Heritage Park bridged the first two weekends of January with 10 days of sales. Hundreds of muscle cars were offered at this event, ranging from survivor-status machines and pristine restorations to drivers that were bought right. As always, this event helps provide a solid barometer for what is going on with market demand and values as we open the current year. Prices noted will include buyer’s premiums.

Snake Bit By far the most exciting sales moment of the event was Friday’s offering of the legendary one-off 1967 Shelby Super Snake Mustang. The fastback had been constructed using a GT40-derived 427ci racing engine for Goodyear to use in research tire testing. It had eventually been sold for $5,000 to the public through a Shelby franchise dealer after the tire job was completed and the company had returned the special pony back to Shelby American for refreshing. Well preserved, this Ford has been lightly restored to its as-released-to-Goodyear condition, and the one-of-one supercar had previously established the top price for any Mustang, selling for $1 million at a Mecum event several years ago. With changes in the market during the ensuing time, could the Super Snake strike again? Oh, yeah.

Bidding climbed rapidly to $800,000, then $900,000, and the reserve came off as the $1-million threshold was crossed. Two bidders then went hard after it at $100,000 a pop, finally settling at hammer time to a monster $2.2 million.

Indeed, Shelbys were strong at the event, with a 1965-to-1966 G.T. 350 carryover model bringing home $440,000, and a documented 1967 G.T. 500 dealer demonstrator going to its next home thanks to $330,000. In all three cases, provenance and singular-example conditioning was key, factors that tend drive the top of every established field of collecting. It was remarked to me by one Shelby-experienced onlooker that Shelbys are unique among American builders, with an international appeal thanks to Carroll Shelby’s racing prowess, AC relationship, and personality. Literally all competition Shelby cars have pushed up in value over the years, and cars produced by Shelby American before Ford’s takeover of the franchise seem to hold a special appeal regardless, though the 1968-1970 models remain in solid demand as well.

COPOs and Hemis: Reality is Selling Cars There is an adage about the skittishness of the stock market: When people sense it is unstable, it pushes up prices in other fields, including collectible cars. While the stock market has seen rapid gyrations during the past year, many still feel the fundamentals are solid, so money has remained there to an extent. For people who purchased top-dollar cars during the previous uncertainty, the current environment might, frankly, not be conducive to doubling your money like the past owner of the Super Snake did, and that fact is a result of market forces outside of the hobby.

Hemi E-body hardtops were all bidding up to somewhere under the $300,000 mark, and COPO Camaros were likewise. Selling prices were in the $160,000-$220,000 range here, with several nice cars changing hands and several others going home with their owners. The big exception was a beautiful ZL1 Camaro in silver, number 15 of the 69 built and once raced out of the Dick Harrell team stables by Jim Leatherman. It crossed the block late on Saturday to sell with a $495,000 final price. The top two Yenko sales were a Daytona Yellow 1969 Camaro automatic (one of 30 built) and a well-restored 1966 Yenko Stinger with a Phase III-style race engine, both at $220,000, the later at far over its estimate. Several other 1969 9561 COPOs were no-sales at $200,000-plus, with a 1969 SS/RS in Hugger Orange with houndstooth being our favorite.

Hemi B-bodies have also settled down, with a one-of-one loaded 1971 Hemi Charger in strong at $209,000 leading the pack. Engine expert Larry Shepard brought in his 4,200-mile, one-family 1971 Hemi Road Runner to see a $176,000 final sale, and a beautiful 1970 Hemi Coronet Super Bee, bronze four-speed with matched bronze bench-seat interior, brought $159,500, giving the market a real world price on these models when coupled to the $137,000 1970 R/T sale last year. And speaking of big Hemi cars, one of MCR’s mechanical alumni, the former Roy Badie Hemi GTX featured in the magazine’s very first supercar shootout during the 1980s, showed up here and hammered sold for $110,000. A number of other Hemi cars were under the $100,000 threshold, and some went into Mecum’s The Bid Goes On when block prices did not meet the expectation of sellers.

While these cars are considered blue chip models, we would say there does appear to be some softening in this area from the highs of previous years. While a quarter-million is never “pocket change,” for those who are well-heeled to play at this level, it is possible to buy some very good cars, keeping in mind that issues of provenance and condition are always the best indicators of future strength.

Fresh Air While big-block Corvette roadsters led the pack among the big dollar post-1960 sales, there were a number of valuable convertibles among the 816 droptop examples here in Florida. Top bid for any muscle version was $375,000 for a remarkable Berger-sold 1970 Chevelle LS6, which was turned down by the seller. That put a 1970 ’Cuda, U-code 440-4BBL with factory A/C and elastomeric bumpers, in as the top muscle-era sale at $165,000. Of the 36 droptops whose price topped $100,000 and sold, four were GTOs, two were Mopars, one an LS6 Chevrolet, and one more a Shelby; the rest were not muscle cars, though a number of Bid Goes On cars hit the $170,000 mark or over.

There were also some excellent deals if you have been in the market for “fresh air” in the cockpit. Top deal in our opinion was a scarce yet solid 1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme Indy 500 pace car edition, believed to be a small-block, that sold for $27,500. A number of other 4-4-2s, Chevelles, and performance Mopar 440ci converts were sold for less than $75,000. Topping $100,000 were two of the aforementioned GTOs, both from the special BMF Collection that ran on Friday, one a black 1969 Ram Air IV at $132,000 and the other a green 1971 455 HO at $110,000.

This is a marketplace that is perhaps a little more mercurial at the moment, and if you have been wanting one, shopping could prove productive. There are deals out there. One noticeable car that did not sell was a real 1967 SS427 Impala, maroon with matched red interior and a rare L72/four-speed/console combination, which climbed to an even $100,000 before rolling away unsold. In this case, we can understand why that owner might have wanted to wait. A very nice piece.

Competition – Hesitation Kills Tim Wellborn later joked his phone was ringing within moments after buying a 1971 Road Runner for $44,000. It was a Wedge-powered version in Petty Blue. With 43s on the doors and Richard Petty on the hammer in the announcing stand as it crossed the block, this display car from the Petty Garage was one of several vehicles from King Richard’s stables, which ranged from 1950s GMs to late-model machines, that sold at no reserve. If you want to buy a vintage race car, this is the season for it, as prices on factory specials and vintage racers alike are off of their highs of a decade ago. Top charger here was a documented 1964 Ford T-bolt that thundered to $247,500 on Saturday, while the top seller not considered among the “factory drag” models was the Chrisman Bros. legendary land speed car from 1954, which had raced up to a big $484,000 final total an hour later.

GM’s Other Guys and AMC Buick sales were led off by a classic from the 1950s at over $250,000, with a GSX from the BMF collection hammering home to a $126,500 finale. A 1970 Stage 1 was hammered “Sold!” for $39,600 on Friday, while several others did not meet reserves. In the Olds category, the top seller in muscle was lot S240, which garnered $99,000 for a 1970 4-4-2 convertible. A 1969 H/O hit $90,200; and the top 10 in the Olds category overall were mainly convertibles, led again by a big 1950s-era model at close to a quarter-million. A 1967 4-4-2 on Wednesday was well-bought at $17,600, and several nice 350ci converts under $30,000 were sold as well.

Pontiac, on the other hand, led with muscle, with an unrestored Ram Air III 1969 Trans Am at $165,000, followed by 10 other Ponchos at more than $95,000. A bid of $140,250 moved a 1-of-14 four-speed, A/C-equipped 1970 Judge convertible to a new home, while $101,750 was paid for a 1971 455 HO hardtop. A number of buyers did hold their reserves, but $18,700 was the magic number for a rebuilt 1970 GTO during the first day of the event. We also felt $34,100 for a truly beautiful 1967 428ci Gran Prix convertible in red and white was money well spent. Pontiac remains one of the better marques to have solid interest over multiple years between 1960 and 1980; top of the 1970s TAs was a 1976 50th Anniversary model with excellent originality and provenance that sold on Thursday for $110,000.

Of the 3,500-plus cars here, just 15 were AMCs, with the top three sellers being a 1970 Rebel Machine at $67,100 and two 1969 SC/Ramblers that sold back-to-back on Friday for $44,000 apiece. This is one area where it appears demand is not driving pricing at present.

Mopes and Mercs Of course, among the many muscle cars here were cars from Ford and Chrysler as well. Of 120 Dodges with results, 77 sold and probably one of the event’s best buys was a final Sunday morning no-reserve 1964 Polara 500 convertible, a solid mild custom with a poly-type 318, that hammered sold for $7,700. Two 2018 Demons and a rare 1962 Max Wedge joined Dodge Hemi cars in the $100,000 Sold! Club before the weekend ended. For Plymouth fans, with 55 sold of 83 results showing, it was a tie between a 1965 426 Fury and a lightly-modified 1967 Barracuda tying at $15,950 that we thought were well-bought muscle. With the exception of the blue ’Cuda convertible already mentioned, only multi-carb models were over $100,000 in the Mayflower tribe, with six 426 Hemi cars joined by one M-code 1969 6BBL ’Runner and a 1961 Fury convertible with long-rams.

If FoMoCo blue is in your veins, there were more than 600 to choose from here. Muscle came on strong starting with the T-bolt, followed by a prototype 1970 Boss 429 King Cobra NASCAR special at $192,500. If we had been shopping bargains, it was a 427-powered 1967 Ranchero at $11,000 on the first day that would have been our pick. Of the Mercs, the 428 Cougar we featured on a Facebook post ended at $110,000, then a big drop to $40,700 for a modified 1964 K-code Cyclone hardtop. A second 289 model, a 1964 convertible, was our buy of the week at $12,100. Rare pre-1960 Mercury models were stronger than muscle-era stuff this year, and Ford street rods built right were also in the top 10 from Dearborn.

Conclusion The year is young, and if any thing is certain for 2019, it is that nothing is set in stone. So long as the overall U.S. economy remains strong, Mecum and the other auction houses will continue to find new homes for cars of owners who want to sell. Moreover, there is no lack of buyers for either the rarest or the reasonably-priced vehicles. This modest level of adjustment is healthy for the hobby, and it will be interesting to see where things pan out as the year goes on.

A heated bidding war between two potential buyers drove up the price of the one-of-one Shelby Super Snake to a final selling price of $2.2 million.

The fifth-highest sales price of the entire sale was the $495,000 paid for this ZL1 Camaro, 15th of the 69 built and a former Dick Harrell team drag car.

A convertible LS6 is rare; one with Berger provenance is rarer still. This one was bid to $375,000 but did not sell.

This 1969 Z/28 was one of the last 427 Camaro conversions done by Baldwin-Motion. It was drag raced by its first owner until he brought it to Baldwin-Motion for conversion in 1974. It subsequently passed through several hands before being bought by Mike Guarise in 2001, who had it restored to its Motion glory. It sold for $93,500.

Formerly in the Tim Wellborn collection, this 1971 Hemi Charger R/T is believed to be the only one painted Plum Crazy and with a white top and interior. It sold for $209,000.

A relative steal: This King Cobra is one of what is believed to be three prototypes Ford built to compete with Chrysler’s aero warriors in NASCAR before the winged cars were banned and the Ford project was stillborn. The only one built with a Boss 429 and four-speed, it sold for $192,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $350,000 to $400,000.

Longtime readers will no doubt remember the 1984 “Supercar Shootout” that pitted a Hemi GTX against a Stage 1 Buick for dragstrip supremacy and bragging rights that have lasted for decades. This is the very GTX that represented the Mopar faithful. It went to a new owner for $110,000.

Shelbys are proving to hold their value well, particularly models made before Ford took over production in 1968. This 1967 G.T. 500, documented as a dealer demonstrator and the personal car of Shelby regional rep Ed Casey, sold for $330,000.

A three-ring binder of documentation came with this Thunderbolt, one of the real-deal T-bolts made by Ford subcontractor Dearborn Steel Tubing for drag racing. A high bid of $247,500 sold it.

Not just another Mustang, this is a rare (one of an estimated 340) German export T-5 convertible from the Wayne Davis collection. Ford couldn’t call its ponycars Mustang in Germany as the name was already copyrighted by a truck manufacturer. The subject of a concours restoration, the Nightmist Blue drop-top sold for $93,500.

The first owner of this Canadian-spec In-Violet ’Cuda was a drag racer who took its Hemi to replace the blown motor in his Super Bee. Years later the original engine was found, and it came with the car when it sold for $214,500.

The highest price paid for a Yenko car at Kissimmee was the $220,000 bid for this Daytona Yellow Camaro, a double COPO that received a body-off restoration in 2004.

Longtime road racer Don Yenko was turning Corvairs into hot Stinger models before his crew ever turned a wrench on a Camaro. At a selling price of $220,000, this example, the 74th of the first 100 built in 1966 and a nearly perfect MCACN Concours Gold winner, doubled its pre-auction estimate.

This flight of 1971 models had mixed results on the block. The Trans Am in the foreground, with its matching-numbers 455 HO and PHS docs, sold for $58,300. The ’Cuda in the background, its billboard announcing its 340 V-8, sold for $73,700. But $75,000 wasn’t enough to sell the unrestored, 15,000-mile Boss 351 Mustang in the middle.

Among the GTO convertibles on offer at Kissimmee was this one-of-45 1969 RAIV/four-speed from the BMF collection. Concours restored and carrying PHS documentation, it sold for $132,000.

There were 411 Chargers built in 1968 with a Hemi and a four-speed. This one retains its matching-numbers engine and unrestored interior, and is believed to have gone just 36,000 miles. The final $148,500 bid found it a new home.

Mecum called this the “Holy Grail of Cougar muscle cars,” a one-of-one (per the Marti Report) equipped with a 428 Super Cobra Jet, four-speed manual, and Drag Pack option with 4.30 gears and Traction-Lok. A high bid of $110,000 bought the cat.

Some 96 Twister Special Mustangs were made in 1970 as a promotion for Kansas City-area dealers. Half had 351 Cleveland engines, the other half, like this example, received 428 Super Cobra Jets. The $130,000 high bid did not sell the ’Stang.

Late of the Gast Classic Motorcars Museum in Pennsylvania, this unrestored 1969 Trans Am showed just under 31,000 miles and retained its original 400ci V-8/four-speed drivetrain. It changed hands for $165,000.

Hemi expert Larry Shepard has had this 1971 Hemi Road Runner in his family since new. His father drag raced the car after replacing the factory motor with a race Hemi and stripping out the interior. It then spent years in storage before Larry reinstalled the original Elephant and interior and resprayed the sheetmetal in its factory Tor Red. Larry parted with the car for $176,000.

This pair of ponycars landed in Mecum’s The Bid Goes On after crossing the block. The Camaro, a double-COPO car and one of 58 made with the Rally Sport option, failed to sell at a high bid of $200,000. Next to it is a Paxton-supercharged 1968 Shelby G.T. 350 that was a no-sale at $75,000.

One of the best deals at the auction was the $27,500 paid for this 1970 Olds Cutlass pace car.

Speaking of bargains, $29,700 was all it took to buy this 440-powered 1973 Dodge Charger, which had to be far less than the cost of the car’s rotisserie restoration.

Listed as having its matching-numbers engine and “extensive documentation,” this drop-top 1966 4-4-2 changed hands for $52,800.

Don’tcha just love the long intake runners on this 1961 Fury convertible’s Sonoramic 383 V-8? Part of the Wayne Davis collection, the Fury had been treated to an “extensive” restoration and sold for $121,000.

“Patina of authenticity” is how Mecum described the paint condition on this unrestored 1967 Coronet R/T. It’s one of 121 built with a Hemi and A833 four-speed. An $82,500 high bid sold it.

The post $2.2 Million Shelby Super Snake Makes Headlines at 2019 Mecum Kissimmee Auction appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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Gloria Allred on Suing Trump: Its Going to Be a Battle

PARK CITY, Utah This will teach you a lesson.

Those six words lit a fire under Gloria Allred, the renowned womens rights attorney, that burns brightly to this day.

To understand Allredher motivations, her fears, her single-minded pursuit of justiceyou have to know her story. Its an eye-opener, and one that few of her (mostly) male detractors, who have taken to dismissively branding her an ambulance chaser or media whore, have even scratched the surface of.

Im all about empowerment, she says. Words will never stop me.

In the mid-60s, Allred split from her husband after his bipolar disorder began posing a threat to their childs well-being. A single mother, she moved with her young daughter, Lisa, from Philadelphia to sunny California. Shortly thereafter, and needing to blow off some steam, she took a trip with one of her girlfriends to Acapulco. There, she met a striking physician who was to take her out for a night on the townbut first, he said, he had to make some house calls. He guided Allred into a house, only no one was home. The man brandished a gun. Then he raped her.

It gets worse. The attack left her pregnant, and it being the 1960s, a safe, legal abortion wasnt an option. So Allred was forced into a back-alley abortion. She went alone. The procedure left her hemorrhaging, and, losing considerable blood, she checked herself into the hospital, where she was placed in a ward with numerous other women whod received the same procedure. Many of them didnt make it. As Allred lay in recovery, the nurse tending to her looked her dead in the eye and said, This will teach you a lesson.

Allred has, in the decades since, became not just a champion for women, but for minorities, too. Shes taken on the Catholic Church, the Friars Club, the TSA, you name it. In 1995, she became a household name after representing the family of Nicole Brown Simpson during O.J.s murder trial; in 2004, she filed the first lawsuit to challenge the same-sex marriage laws in California, on behalf of her longtime pals Robin Taylor and Diane Olson. (The California Supreme Court ruled in their favor, setting an important legal precedent in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage.)

I represent numerous persons who allege they are victims of Harvey Weinstein, and some of them allege that they were the victims of inappropriate conduct here as well. At Sundance.

Gloria Allred

And at 76, she shows no signs of slowing down. In recent years, Allred, whos been dubbed the master of the press conference, has garnered headlines for representing 33 of Bill Cosbys sexual-assault accusers; several women accusing the director Roman Polanski, film executive Harvey Weinstein, and politician Roy Moore of sexual-assault; and three women whove accused Donald Trump of sexual-assault. Shes currently representing The Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos in a defamation suit against President Trump, after he called her a liar for claiming to have been assaulted by him at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007the same hotel where he allegedly rendezvoused with porn star Stormy Daniels.

Oh, and if that werent enough, shes the subject of an inspiring new documentary Seeing Allred, that debuted at this years Sundance Film Festival and will be out Feb. 9 on Netflix. The film, directed by Roberta Grossman and Sophie Sartain, chronicles Allreds journey from working-class Philly to celebrity attorney.

I sat down with Allred at Sundance to discuss the doc and her storied career.

Its interesting that this documentary is premiering at Sundance, because this is the place where Rose McGowan alleges that Harvey Weinstein raped her.

I represent numerous persons who allege they are victims of Harvey Weinstein, and some of them allege that they were the victims of inappropriate conduct here as well. At Sundance. But I cant discuss them further.

The McGowan episode is said to have happened in 1997. Its 21 years later. One of the major fest themes this year is courageous women, with documentaries on Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jane Fonda, and yourself, and the Respect Rally that you spoke at. There seems to have been a seismic shift both at this festival and beyond with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movementsit seems to have a lot to do with the election of President Trump?

I think this wave has been building for many years. Women have been speaking out long before the #MeToo movementalthough thats been importantand many of them have been speaking out with me because they want their voices to be heard, and because they demand change. But I think the wave has become a tsunami, and were never going to be the same again. Were not going to be silent anymore, because the cost of silence, they have assessed, is greater than the cost of speaking out. Its really harmed them emotionally in many cases, its harmed them economically, and in some cases they allege theyve been harmed physically as a result of trying to keep all that rage and anger about what theyve been forced to suffer within them. So I encourage them not to tranquilize themselves out of their anger and their rage but to take that as a source of energy and have it help them move forward in a positive, constructive way. It may be too late for them to sue or too late for law enforcement to assist them in any way, but its not too late for them to speak out, to demand legislative changes, to run for office, and to fight for change.

youtube

But the election of Trump seems to be the thing that lit the fuse, no? When you elevate a man to the highest office in the land whos been accused of sexual-assault by 19 women, and whos on tape bragging about assaulting womenand whos said very ugly things to you, when he said youd be very very impressed with his manhood…

Yeah, well, you might notice who prevailed in that battle. We demanded that [trans contestant Jenna Talackova] be put back in the beauty pageant and to remove the rule that you have to be a naturally-born female, and he did put her back and he did remove the rule, and of course ultimately said he was going to do that anyway.

And I meana year or two later, after we won that battle, I happened to see him at Fox News in the green room. He was on a show before I was. I was sitting there with another client and about to come on a show, and he comes in, and I thought, oh my goodness, whats he going to say to my client? So he says, Oh, Gloria. I heard you were here. He turns to my client and says, Miss so-and-so, I just want you to know: you have the best lawyer. This woman is relentless. She will never stop until she wins you the justice you think you deserve, so never, ever fire her because you will never get anyone better. I was astounded, given that wed just won that battle. And Ive never seen him since.

Whats the status of the fundraising for Summer Zervos defamation suit against President Trump? Id read that you were at $30,000 in donations at the beginning of this month.

Well, were actually not engaged in fundraising. What we have done is weve put on our webpage that if people want to contribute, they can. But weve done no fundraising activities, mailers or any of that. So many people have asked us if they can donate, and where they can donate, and we certainly welcome it because the costs of litigating a caseforget the fees, Im not charging for my feesagainst the President of the United States and his billionaire friends, some of whom may or may not be contributing to him, this is a huge endeavor. We need the support of the public, if they wish to provide it, but Im not going out actively soliciting [donations], because Im very busy with the cases.

What did you think about The New York Times piece late last month? It accused you and your daughter of partisanshipbasically, a left-wing conspiracyin receiving donations from prominent Democratic allies, like David Brock, in pursuing lawsuits against Trump.

I remember the piece youre talking about. It mixed up a lot of things that really werent related. Let me be clear: David Brock hasnt contributed one cent to us.

That money went to your daughter, Lisa Bloom.

Well, I dont know what shes received or what she hasnt received, but not one cent went to me or any of my clients. And thats all I can say.

How confident are you that Summer Zervos defamation case against Trump will go forward, and that youll be able to depose the President of the United States?

Were waiting for the courts decision. Ill say that I am hopeful, but there are very complicated legal issues involved. Weve made our arguments, hes made his motion to dismiss the arguments, weve made our arguments in opposition, theyve replied, and now were waiting to see what the court will do. The judge appears to be a very bright judge who asked the right questions from both sides. Its going to be a battle.

Trumps defense is interesting here. His team is arguing that what Trump says is protected by the First Amendment, and that the statements he makes at rallies to rouse people dont have to be entirely truthful.

Im glad you mentioned what you just said, because the reason we filed this lawsuit is because we believe the truth matters. Thats the reason. We believe truth matters, and we believe that if a person believesor has reason to believethat they were defamed, they should have a right to pursue the person that defamed them.

Has President Trumpor any of his intermediariessettled or attempted to settle with any of your clients?

Not to my knowledge.

What are your thoughts on Stormy Daniels reported $130,000 settlement with Trump? The whole situation is interesting, because Trumps longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, is alleged to have created a company in order to transfer the settlement funds surreptitiously.

Ill just say that I did not represent her in any settlement, and therefore I have no comment if there was a settlement. But its definitelyan interesting issue. But I will say, with the film, I hope that people who see Seeing Allred understand that they can take on in their own lives people who are powerful that have hurt them. Whether these people are celebrities in the political world, the entertainment world, the sports world, the education world, they religious world, they can take this as a teaching moment and say, wait, I can stand up and do something about the injustice that has been inflicted upon me by this powerful person. That, for me, is what its all about.

I wanted to ask about your daughter, Lisa Bloom. Theres a very brief scene in the film that mentions how she worked for accused predators Harvey Weinstein and Roy Price, and it was later revealed how she provided opposition research in response to Ronan Farrows queries in an attempt to smear Weinsteins alleged victims. What are your thoughts on her decision?

[Silence]

It seemed, at least to me, like she got blinded a bit by the Hollywood element. Harvey Weinstein was opting her book for a potential film or television project. A similar thing happened with Hillary Clinton, who was developing a project with Weinstein up until the sexual-assault allegations surfaced.

My daughter has her own law firm. She decides who shes taking on as clients and who shes not. I have nothing to do with those decisions, and she doesnt decide who I take as clients or dont take as clients. So all I can say is I love her, I support hershes a wonderful lawyerand I have no comment on that other than to say Im proud of my daughter, and shes doing what she can to help victims.

Once you learn the full breadth of your story, it seems extra insidious when you see powerful menand it is mainly mencriticizing you, a person whos been assaulted, for primarily defending women who have been assaulted, harassed or discriminated against by men.

I will say that I do want to give credit and recognition to many men who come up to me and say, I have daughters. Thank you. I know youre waging this fight for my daughters. I do think that many men who care about their daughters understand that, but look, its about education. Theres always going to be some individuals who are not well informed, who want women to be subordinated, who want women to be denied their rights, and who want women to live as second-class citizens. But Im about real change. Im about empowering persons who are victims and minorities who are denied their rights, so I just think of the brave suffragists before me who fought in the United States for 72 years just to win the right to vote. I know what herstory is. What they went through was far more of an act of courage than what Ive been engaging in for 42 years, and they were not deterred by being called names or being accused of falsehoods. That doesnt deter me, either.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/gloria-allred-is-ready-to-take-president-trump-to-court-its-going-to-be-a-battle

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