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[Jasper]

Christian Bale Armenian Genocide film gets 55,126 1-star ratings on IMDb off just three public screenings

Armenian communities have long been campaigning for recognition of the genocide

Either there are some absolutely enormous cinemas out there that I’ve somehow never heard about, or IMDb users are voting politically on The Promise without having seen it.

The Terry George-directed film stars Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac and is set during the final days of the Ottoman Empire, leading up to the Armenian Genocide that killed 1.5 million.

At the time of writing, it has 86,704 ratings on IMDb, 55,126 of which are one-star and 30,639 of which are 10-star, with very few ratings falling anywhere in between. The majority of votes were cast by males outside of the US.

The Promise is believed to have only been screened to the public three times (we have contacted production company Survival Pictures for confirmation on this).

Armenian Diaspora communities have long been campaigning for recognition of the genocide by governments around the world. In 2010, a US congressional panel narrowly voted that the incident was indeed a genocide, a decision the Turkish government criticised, saying it had been accused of a crime it “had not committed”.

It is IMDb’s policy not to interfere with user ratings, but many have called for the database to step in following the tide of negative ratings.

We have reached out to IMDb for comment.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...enocide-imdb-turkey-oscar-isaac-a7378881.html

 

[Discotheque]

bunch of dumb twats. anyways I wasn't even aware there was a movie about the genocide starring Bale and Isaac. both hella dope actors.

news definitely put it on my radar now.

 

[Branduil]

What kind of pathetic piece of Nazi shit do you have to be to obsessively downvote a movie just because it tells the truth about what your country did in the past.

Good work invoking the Streisand effect, though! I'll be sure to watch this now.

 

[Jasper]

Movie trailer below for those interested....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwut1DUXaZc

 

[Nibel]

Thanks for making me learn about this film actually existing, Turkey

 

[His Majesty]

Didn't know this existed, definitely interested.

thanks erdogan

 

[RocknRola]

...huh....does anyone actually care about IMDB scores though? I mean....seems kinda like a weird way to sabotage a film.

 

[nekkid]

Do IMDb ratings and reviews actually have any effect? I know I ignore them, just like Metacritic user scores.

Edit: ^^^ well there we go.

Thanks for making me learn about this film actually existing, Turkey

Also this.

 

[Litan]

What kind of pathetic piece of Nazi shit do you have to be to obsessively downvote a movie just because it tells the truth about what your country did in the past.

Good work invoking the Streisand effect, though! I'll be sure to watch this now.

This kinda stuff happens with holocaust movies too. Not surprised to see with this one considering how many still deny it happened.

 

[SigSig]

Remove all ratings from Turkish IPs and blacklist all of them, fuck your "don't interfere with user ratings"-policy.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

What kind of pathetic piece of Nazi shit do you have to be to obsessively downvote a movie just because it tells the truth about what your country did in the past.

Good work invoking the Streisand effect, though! I'll be sure to watch this now.

There is a massive denial about the genocide. Even Obama has had problems speaking out against it due to the problems with Turkey- A key ally of Turkey; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvJyxKh6aK8

 

[Aztechnology]

Didn't even know about the film. Definitely seeing it now.

 

[Darkwater]

I hadn't heard of this film yet. I will go see it in a theater now and pay money to do so. Thanks for being a bro, Turkey.

 

[Jasper]

Also note that Movieclips Trailers (which is the most popular YouTube account featuring movie trailers) had to deactivate all comments for this particular movie after literally tens of thousands of genocide denying Turk started posting nasty comments about there not being an Armenian Genocide.

And also note there absolutely is a Twitter moment across Turkey asking for Turks to actively try and sabotage this film.

 

[hohoXD123]

As much as Turkey refusing to acknowledge the Armenian genocide is shitty, there are also the 30k+ 10 star reviews so both sides are voting politically even if there are more people on one side

 

[John Dunbar]

funnily enough that score is pretty much in line with the reviews.

As much as Turkey refusing to acknowledge the Armenian genocide is shitty, there are also the 30k+ 10 star reviews so both sides are voting politically even if there are more people on one side

that happens with pretty much every movie (though perhaps not at these numbers?). fans of the people involved vote 10 before even seeing them. this one has bale and oscar isaac so you know there's some rapid fans.

 

[Discotheque]

funnily enough that score is pretty much in line with the reviews.

trailer doesn't look remotely good either honestly but i'll see it one day just because the topic is relatively untouched in film and i like the actors.

 

[Sai-kun]

As much as Turkey refusing to acknowledge the Armenian genocide is shitty, there are also the 30k+ 10 star reviews so both sides are voting politically even if there are more people on one side

Yeah? Is 10 starring a movie you haven't seen out of support for telling a largely unheard story (or because you're a Christian bale fan?) just as shitty as 1 starring it because you're a racist sack of trash?

 

[chaobreaker]

I never get the insistence of denying the Armenian genocide by Turkish people. That's like 3 generations detached from the average Turkish person. What's the downside? What do you have to gain from denying it? The Germans acknowledge their ancestor's atrocities and look at how fine they are.

 

[Jasper]

As much as Turkey refusing to acknowledge the Armenian genocide is shitty, there are also the 30k+ 10 star reviews so both sides are voting politically even if there are more people on one side

True, but it first started with tens of thousands of Turks giving it one star. Like I said there is an active movement on Twitter where Turks are being asked to sabotage the film...even linking to the movie's page on IMDb.

I assume it's the Armenians who then in retaliation started giving it 10 stars after seeing what was happening on IMDb.

 

[18-Volt]

Didn't know this existed, definitely interested.

thanks erdogan

Well, his biopic "Reis" was sitting on 1,1 score on IMDb (#2 worst of all time) before film's production company delayed the film's premiere just to delete all those 10k something votes.

His other propaganda movie, however is currently is THE WORST movie on IMDb. They can't delay "Reis" forever, it's bound to take the crown.

 

[Carcetti]

That Streisand effect.

Considering there's a Turkish Erdogan defence force on GAF too, this thread should get interesting at some point.

 

[Acidote]

This movie wasn't in my radar. I have to watch it know. Thank you for the heads up Turkish IMDB users for giving me the chance to learn from this movie a little bit of the history of that genocide.

 

[hohoXD123]

Yeah? Is 10 starring a movie you haven't seen out of support for telling a largely unheard story (or because you're a Christian bale fan?) just as shitty as 1 starring it because you're a racist sack of trash?

Way to miss the point, no their levels of shittiness from a political point of view are not equal. The article only highlights one side "voting politically" and ruining the poll when the data shows that's clearly not the case, just pointing that out...

True, but it first started with tens of thousands of Turks giving it one star. Like I said there is an active movement on Twitter where Turks are being asked to sabotage the film...even linking to the movie's page on IMDb.

I assume it's the Armenians who then in retaliation started giving it 10 stars after seeing what was happening on IMDb.

Fair enough then

 

[YourMaster]

Yeah? Is 10 starring a movie you haven't seen out of support for telling a largely unheard story (or because you're a Christian bale fan?) just as shitty as 1 starring it because you're a racist sack of trash?

Politically no. But in poll-fucking yes. People using the score to determine if the movie is any good are only helped by voters who've seen the movie.

Politically, this is not really interesting as it is well known that on the whole the Turkish population believes the Armenians had it coming and believe that the retaliation after the genocide(which gets much more attention than the genocide itself) was the cause for the genocide.
Every single instance of the Armenian genocide getting attention, every monument, protest, movie or book, is in some form attacked by Turkish protesters for a long time now.

 

[Jasper]

Also back in the 1930's MGM were going to make a big budget epic movie about the Armenian Genocide called The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.

That was until the Turkish government got involved and put an end to it. Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson have both expressed interest in recent years of reviving a Forty Days of Musa Dagh movie project, but both have caved under Turkish pressure.

Before The Forty Days of Musa Dagh was published in English, Irving Thalberg of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) secured the film rights from Werfel's publisher, Paul Zsolnay Verlag and had the novel translated for the studio scriptwriters.

Despite reservations on the part of legal counsel, who felt such a film would offend the Turkish government, MGM started pre-production work in 1934 and tentatively cast a rising young star named Clark Gable to play Gabriel Bagradian. When reports surfaced in the Hollywood press about the film late in 1934, Turkey's ambassador to the United States, Mehmed Münir Ertegün, was ordered by his government to prevent it from being made.As the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey was intent on suppressing any mention of the Armenian Genocide.

Ertegün turned to the U.S. State Department and told it that he "earnestly hoped that [the movie studio] would desist from presenting any such picture, which would give a distorted version of the alleged massacres." The State Department tried to assure Ertegün that the film would not include any material that would offend Turkey but Ertegün remained adamant. The State Department attempted to mollify the Turkish government by presenting it with the final script, although this did not satisfy it either.

The scriptwriters offered several watered-down versions but the Turkish government refused to budge.

MGM's production chief was astonished by this level of interference by a foreign power, declaring, "To hell with the Turks, I'm going to make the picture anyway." The fact that MGM planned to move forward with the production further enraged Turkey.

Speaking to an MGM official, Ertegün threatened that "If the movie is made, Turkey will launch a worldwide campaign against it. It rekindles the Armenian Question. The Armenian Question is settled." Ertegün's threats were soon being echoed across the Turkish press. In a September 3, 1935 editorial, colored with anti-Semitic overtones, the Istanbul Turkish-language daily Haber opined:

We will have to take our own steps in case the Jewish people fail to bring the Jewish company (MGM) to reason... The Forty Days of Musa Dagh presents the Turco-Armenian struggle during the World War in a light hostile to the Turks. Its author is a Jew. This means that MGM, which is also a Jewish firm, utilizes for one of its films a work by one of its companions... Declare a boycott against pictures by MGM... Jewish firms which maintain commercial relations with our country will also suffer if they fail to stop this hostile propaganda.

In the face of this pressure, Louis B. Mayer of MGM, conceded to Turkish demands and the film was scrapped. Michael Bobelian, a lawyer and a journalist, observes that the "Musa Dagh incident is critical in understanding the evolution of Turkey's campaign of denying the crimes committed by the Young Turks. . . . The standoff with MGM revealed that Turkey would pressure foreign governments to go along with its policy of denial."

 

[paradise_circus]

Bale acted in another politcal controversial movie about the chinese rape victims in WW2.
I'm curious if he chooses these kind of movies out of his own interests.

 

[TheOddOne]

Also back in the 1930's MGM were going to make a big budget epic movie about the Armenian Genocide called The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.

That was until the Turkish government got involved and put an end to it. Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson have both expressed interest in recent years of reviving a Forty Days of Musa Dagh movie project, but both have caved under Turkish pressure.

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Movie trailer below for those interested....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwut1DUXaZc

Thank God the comments are disabled.

 

[Razorback]

Very effective strategy for silencing this movie. I'm sure they'll silence it all the way to a best picture nominee at the Oscars.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

Very effective strategy for silencing this movie. I'm sure they'll silence it all the way to a best picture nominee at the Oscars.

Erdogan has already said he'll release 5,000 Syrian refugees into Europe for every movie theater that screens this in the EU.

 

[Accoun]

What kind of pathetic piece of Nazi shit do you have to be to obsessively downvote a movie just because it tells the truth about what your country did in the past.

Good work invoking the Streisand effect, though! I'll be sure to watch this now.

Also happened with Russians spamming Metacritic with negative Company Of Heroes 2 reviews because of the portrayal of the Red Army being far from what's official there.

 

[SeanTSC]

Putting this on my list of things to watch. Thanks, Turkey.

 

[NoRéN]

...huh....does anyone actually care about IMDB scores though? I mean....seems kinda like a weird way to sabotage a film.

There's no way you are new to the internet.

Anyway, thank you Turkey. I'll be sure to watch this and follow up by visiting the newly erected Armenian Genocide memorial in my city.

 

[Retsudo]

Fuck those that try to silence the atrocities of the past.

Thanks for making me aware of this movie. Turkish government and people need to accept what happened in the past, and hopefully grow from such a tragedy. Just like the German people have done.

 

[ROUGE_BLOCK]

Nearly 100 years later and they still don't acknowledge the genocide they commiteed? Why are we allies with these countries that wont even mention their sins? Hell even the Germans answered for the holocaust yet this gov't to this day wont make light about a well documented and pointless massacre?

 

[RocknRola]

There's no way you are new to the internet.

Anyway, thank you Turkey. I'll be sure to watch this and follow up by visiting the newly erected Armenian Genocide memorial in my city.

Thanks for the non-answer there buddy.

Does anyone actually care about IMDB scores? Audiences, film companies, anyone at all? Does it have any real impact? Why is it so important to sabotage the user scores on IMDB?

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Why are we allies with these countries that wont even mention their sins?

Turkey's membership in NATO is based on mutual rivalry with Russia or the USSR historically. Turkey is in a strategically significant location, bordering the caucuses region and controlling the Bosphorous straights, the choke point that controls everything going in and out of the Black Sea.

 

[Sad Affleck]

Fuck those that try to silence the atrocities of the past.

.

 

[Piccoro]

Yeah, this pretty much guarantees that I will be watching this movie day one. I will also publicize it among my friends, so we can all better understand the Armenian Genocide that was perpetuated by the Turkish.

 

[18-Volt]

Erdogan has already said he'll release 5,000 Syrian refugees into Europe for every movie theater that screens this in the EU.

That would be really ironic if he actually does that. Because it's not illegal to accept or apology for the Armenian Genocide in Turkey and there is a high chance movie will be shown at Armenian operated movie theaters (Istanbul and eastern Turkey have lots of them) in Turkey. And since they have changed the Article 501 which once prosecuted anyone who insulted "Turkishness" (they have changed it to Turkish and Anatolian culture) nobody would commit any crime by doing that.

They should look out for angry conservative mob, though.

 

[HazySaiyan]

I had no idea this movie even existed, I'm going to make sure to watch it now. Thanks crybaby Turkish IMDb users!

 

[spineduke]

Same, I'm so thankful for Turkey for letting me know about this movie! Will be going to the cinemas and bringing my friends along!

 

[Tecnniqe]

I had no idea, I'm gonna have to watch it now.

 

[Pantaghana]

Like many others in this thread, I had no idea this film even existed, thanks Turkey for letting me know.

 

[Weckum]

Oscar Isaac is in this? Okay, I'll watch.

Thanks for making me notice this, Turkey!

 

[EYEL1NER]

I've mellowed out a lot on Christian Bale in recent years but I didn't know this existed. The Armenian Genocide is a great topic for a film. This movie is making Turkey mad? Most things that piss off Turkey are okay in my book, so I'll definitely give this movie a shot.

 

[jett]

Pieces of shit.