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So, Ertuğrul has entered our household, but though everyone sings its praises without fail, I know it is not for me. I admit that I wasn’t watching it, as I was engaged in something else, so perhaps taking in the gory sound track without following the dialogue or watching the picture skewed my feelings unfairly. In any case, my heart hurts, so I have left it. Further evidence of my heresies: that I cannot watch these dramatic reenactments of a semi-imagined mythical past, without seeing it as propaganda for modern regimes seeking to give legitimacy to their grand aspirations. I don’t think anyone who follows contemporary politics, with its focus on strong, seemingly pious leaders concentrating power in their own hands, could fail to appreciate the message of these international blockbuster productions, taking Muslim audiences by storm.