What is it about?
The Club is a mainstream popular series regarding budget, its cast full of stars, its huge advertising campaign filling all digital plus walk-in outdoor media, and high streaming numbers. Nevertheless, the ground-breaking queer performance, extending the stereotypical portraiture of nonosh, points to a transformation in social tendencies. This transformation signifies the impact of the critical queer perspective that emerged within the dynamics of 1990s Turkey and eventually shaped the social tendencies. However, the public affirmation and admiration would stem from the character’s connection with Zeki Müren. The iconic queer star Zeki Müren was embraced, admired and respected by almost all layers of Turkish society. The close reference to Zeki Müren in the narrative of rising queer star in 1960s Turkey anchors society’s acknowledgement and identification with the character as an actual popular culture icon. Society’s respect and admiration for Zeki Müren certainly operates on public approval of the representation of the queer performance in the series. However, the open yet closed queer performance of Zeki Müren, along with his public identity, which is shaped in accordance with the standards of the ideal citizen as designated by the modernization process, deserves attention in its public affirmation of Selim’s character.
Why is it important?
The queer performance in the series undoubtfully extends the borders of "nonosh" by building up a queer character outside the stereotypical portraiture of popular culture products in Turkey so far. However, the comparison to Zeki Müren when representing queer identity in an ‘obvious yet still remained in the closet’ manner weakens the impact of the critical queer perspective in transcending the borders of nonosh in popular culture.