My dear friend Leslie alerted me to 'TurkLA,' a Californian-Turks news portal, where Alinur Velidedeoglu's interviews with Billy Hayes, the real-life author of the book Midnight Express is posted. Of course, you know the rest of the story. Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay, Brad Davis, who according to some is the first heterosexual actor to die of AIDS, (not true since he was bisexual, and may actually have died of a drug overdose,) starred in it, and Turkey was left with an image problem, as a by product of the movie, that still exists today equal to millions of dollars of anti-Turkish public relations.
As you'll see on the two YouTube videos on the bottom of this post, Billy Hayes refers to actually having Turkish friends, speaks Turkish due to his five years of incarceration, and criticizes the movie as being totally anti-Turkish and far from the truth about Turkey and its people (which by the way includes Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, and others.)
Obviously, prison life in any country is not pleasant, and Billy makes that clear. And he also appreciates the damage the film has caused at his expense and why he feels the need to clear the air and set the record straight if given the opportunity.
Shouldn't Turkey open its arms to this guy and use him as a star in its own public relations campaign to reverse the trend of years of wasted opportunities and dollars spent on dishonorable politicians, bad marketing agencies, Turkish-attendance-only parades with little or no news coverage, local stars with no international recognition and bad accents, and ill advised web sites with transliteration problems?
I can't help but comment on the interviewer's lack of insight, contrary to what too many think of him, as he is not really a good listener or a good opportunist evident from the follow-up questions he asks, and many he doesn't. One example is in the first video when Billy can't remember the major Greek town near the Turkish-Greek border he escapes to, and Alinur asks "Canakkale?" and another in the second video when Billy describes how 'Hamidu' or 'Hamidou' the psychopath guard actually got killed by a prisoner he once beat up so badly in prison. Obviously when telling the story Billy mentions that this happened after the prisoner was freed from jail and the killing occurred as Hamidu is having tea before going to work one day. Key facts since a few seconds later Alinur asks if this killing took place in the prison. Not paying attention to details buddy. A third is when Alinur can't differentiate between chess (even when Billy refers to it by its Turkish name 'satranc,') and backgammon. Strange!
However, overall it accomplishes its goal. And I am sure the Turks will and should use it to somewhat erase the smear campaign this movie has successfully spread on all Turks and Turkey, as well as anything Turkish for so long.
As once reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, "the message of 'Midnight Express' isn't 'Don't go to Turkey,' " he said recently. "It's 'Don't be an idiot like I was, and try to smuggle drugs.' "
A bit of trivia: Did you know that both Richard Gere and John Travolta were considered for the part of Billy Hayes. I wonder where their careers would've been today had they gotten the part. Then again, where are they now?
