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Sat, Nov 21 2009
Blewett revisited
Photo: mogilino.eu
I have to admit, watching Kate Blewett's Bulgaria's Abandoned Children Revisited when it appeared on YouTube, a few days after its original UK broadcast, left me in awe.
Transformations in people's lives make for truly breathtaking television.
But it was not the transformation of the former Mogilino inmates that impressed me most, as breathtaking as it was to watch.
Rather, it was the transformation that Blewett and her translator had gone through in the two years since Blewett's first film that deeply impressed me.
Blewett's 2007 film Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, which I thoroughly analysed elsewhere, does not deserve to be called a documentary. It was a work of poor journalism, bordering on propaganda, by an author determined to pursue an agenda and willing to go so far as to manipulate her audience by inventing entire sections of dialogue under the pretext of translation.
Blewett could only get away with this because Bulgarian is this wonderfully obscure language that only a very small handful of people in Blewett's target audience - the UK and Western Europe - would be able to understand to some degree, let alone catch finer points of terminology.
So when I sat down to watch Bulgaria's Abandoned Children Revisited, I was prepared for more of the same.
As it turns out, it appears that Blewett's translator has managed to significantly pick up on her Bulgarian in the two years that passed since the original film was published.
Where the original film was an endless chain of mistranslations that exceeded any level of incompetence, in the first half of Revisited, which is largely a re-cap of the original film, I have only spotted a few of the translation mistakes of the original film.
Of course it would be far from me to suggest that Blewett has taken the criticism from my little person to heart, just in case anyone is wondering.
At just over six minutes into Revisited, увредени (uvredeni) is again translated as "disturbed", when it is simply the politically correct Bulgarian term for "disabled" and should have been translated as such.
More worrisome is Blewett's insistence that Bulgarian doctors "label" their patients, rather than diagnosing them, and her repeated claim that oligophrenia is "not a diagnosis that is used in the West." According to Blewett, "it is a very broad label, created in the Soviet era. It ... was often used for the warehousing of dissidents in mental asylums".
The truth is that oligophrenia is a term used in Eastern European medicine where West European doctors would use mental retardation. The fact that the term, in a different country, at a different time and under a different regime, was abused to suit different purposes, was irrelevant to the story of the children of Bulgaria's Mogilino. Unless of course Blewett was counting on her viewers being unaware of the fact that Bulgaria and the Soviet Union are two different countries.
Blewett's continued problem is her politically correct bias. In Revisited, she repeats a scene from the first film in which a dormroom full of girls are preparing to take a shower in the morning. While the girls are on their way to the shower, accompanied by both male and female caretakers, Blewetts complains about the presence of the two male caretakers.
In Revisited, however, she has left out a second shower scene from the first film, in which the boys are showered by female caretakers, something that Blewett did not seem to mind. Clearly, in Blewett's view, all men are sexually deviant monsters, potential abusers and rapists, while women are archetypal loving and caring mothers.
In the second half of the film, where Blewett no longer needs to resort to manipulating the translation in order to make things look even worse than they are, she almost manages to keep herself from applying the same technique to make things look even better than they are.
Almost, but not quite.
When the new roommate of one of the film's main characters, Didi, says about Didi's early days in the new home; "she was very disobedient. She did not socialise with us. She did not want to accept us at all," that is translated as something much milder. "She was a bit wild. She didn't get on with the rest of us," is what we are told is the level of Didi's socialisation problems after moving into her new home.
Though the second half of Revisited shows a much better filmmaker than the Blewett we saw in 2007, she remains a poor journalist and a poor documentary-maker. Blind to any social, political, cultural or historical difference between the UK and Bulgaria, Blewett sees the world through her West-European, left-wing, politically correct, feminist glasses. There is no doubt that, in Blewett's mind, her morals are superior to those of anyone else. A common disease of the politically correct.
The inconvenient truth about children in Bulgaria's care homes is that the developments at Mogilino and many other places are part of much broader developments in Bulgaria.
Even before Bulgaria's Abandoned Children was first shot, Mogilino had already been put on the list to be closed. That process had already been started. Has the film changed this? Maybe, but no-one will ever be able to say if and by how much.
The one question that Blewett carefully avoids asking in Revisited is where all those new homes that Didi, Milen and the 75 other children from Mogilino went to, suddenly came from.
By not asking this very question, Blewett avoids having to acknowledge the efforts of thousands of professionals and volunteers, both locally and internationally, who for years have worked to de-institutionalise children in Bulgaria's care homes, and who have made a world of a difference to many more children than the 75 from Mogilino.
Part 1 of Bulgaria's Abandoned Children Revisited
Transformations in people's lives make for truly breathtaking television.
But it was not the transformation of the former Mogilino inmates that impressed me most, as breathtaking as it was to watch.
Rather, it was the transformation that Blewett and her translator had gone through in the two years since Blewett's first film that deeply impressed me.
Blewett's 2007 film Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, which I thoroughly analysed elsewhere, does not deserve to be called a documentary. It was a work of poor journalism, bordering on propaganda, by an author determined to pursue an agenda and willing to go so far as to manipulate her audience by inventing entire sections of dialogue under the pretext of translation.
Blewett could only get away with this because Bulgarian is this wonderfully obscure language that only a very small handful of people in Blewett's target audience - the UK and Western Europe - would be able to understand to some degree, let alone catch finer points of terminology.
So when I sat down to watch Bulgaria's Abandoned Children Revisited, I was prepared for more of the same.
As it turns out, it appears that Blewett's translator has managed to significantly pick up on her Bulgarian in the two years that passed since the original film was published.
Where the original film was an endless chain of mistranslations that exceeded any level of incompetence, in the first half of Revisited, which is largely a re-cap of the original film, I have only spotted a few of the translation mistakes of the original film.
Of course it would be far from me to suggest that Blewett has taken the criticism from my little person to heart, just in case anyone is wondering.
At just over six minutes into Revisited, увредени (uvredeni) is again translated as "disturbed", when it is simply the politically correct Bulgarian term for "disabled" and should have been translated as such.
More worrisome is Blewett's insistence that Bulgarian doctors "label" their patients, rather than diagnosing them, and her repeated claim that oligophrenia is "not a diagnosis that is used in the West." According to Blewett, "it is a very broad label, created in the Soviet era. It ... was often used for the warehousing of dissidents in mental asylums".
The truth is that oligophrenia is a term used in Eastern European medicine where West European doctors would use mental retardation. The fact that the term, in a different country, at a different time and under a different regime, was abused to suit different purposes, was irrelevant to the story of the children of Bulgaria's Mogilino. Unless of course Blewett was counting on her viewers being unaware of the fact that Bulgaria and the Soviet Union are two different countries.
Blewett's continued problem is her politically correct bias. In Revisited, she repeats a scene from the first film in which a dormroom full of girls are preparing to take a shower in the morning. While the girls are on their way to the shower, accompanied by both male and female caretakers, Blewetts complains about the presence of the two male caretakers.
In Revisited, however, she has left out a second shower scene from the first film, in which the boys are showered by female caretakers, something that Blewett did not seem to mind. Clearly, in Blewett's view, all men are sexually deviant monsters, potential abusers and rapists, while women are archetypal loving and caring mothers.
In the second half of the film, where Blewett no longer needs to resort to manipulating the translation in order to make things look even worse than they are, she almost manages to keep herself from applying the same technique to make things look even better than they are.
Almost, but not quite.
When the new roommate of one of the film's main characters, Didi, says about Didi's early days in the new home; "she was very disobedient. She did not socialise with us. She did not want to accept us at all," that is translated as something much milder. "She was a bit wild. She didn't get on with the rest of us," is what we are told is the level of Didi's socialisation problems after moving into her new home.
Though the second half of Revisited shows a much better filmmaker than the Blewett we saw in 2007, she remains a poor journalist and a poor documentary-maker. Blind to any social, political, cultural or historical difference between the UK and Bulgaria, Blewett sees the world through her West-European, left-wing, politically correct, feminist glasses. There is no doubt that, in Blewett's mind, her morals are superior to those of anyone else. A common disease of the politically correct.
The inconvenient truth about children in Bulgaria's care homes is that the developments at Mogilino and many other places are part of much broader developments in Bulgaria.
Even before Bulgaria's Abandoned Children was first shot, Mogilino had already been put on the list to be closed. That process had already been started. Has the film changed this? Maybe, but no-one will ever be able to say if and by how much.
The one question that Blewett carefully avoids asking in Revisited is where all those new homes that Didi, Milen and the 75 other children from Mogilino went to, suddenly came from.
By not asking this very question, Blewett avoids having to acknowledge the efforts of thousands of professionals and volunteers, both locally and internationally, who for years have worked to de-institutionalise children in Bulgaria's care homes, and who have made a world of a difference to many more children than the 75 from Mogilino.
Part 1 of Bulgaria's Abandoned Children Revisited
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Blewett cites highs and lows of Mogilino: The Sequel
Blewett has returned to Bulgaria to find out what has happened to some of the key characters from the original film and – for once - there is some good news.
BBC to show Blewett’s sequel to documentary about Bulgaria’s Mogilino
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I am a British volunteer and I am amazed at how strongly some people feel against us British.
We do not mean harm or offense to be caused when we highlight the problms in the orphanages. We only want to create publicity. This is what Blewett has achieved, she created an international stir which has motivated many people from all over the world to give up their time and devote it to your children. Has this had a detrimental affect?
Although i cannot comment on how correct the translations are from the film as i do not speak bulgarian, i can comment on how emotive it was and has caused lots of money to be raised to help with the closing of the institues and re-building of the new family like homes. Without the film there would not have been so much support and maybe what has currently been achieved may not have been achieved if it was not for the film and our kindness. So maybe bulgarians should be grateful for what the British has helped with instead of showing hatred towards their generosity and hope for the future of mankind.
After all i have been informed that the BG goverment has cut the funds for baby and child orphanages by 60% and 30% retrospectivly. This shows that there is less support from your own goverment than you think. If the funds are not coming from BG then where do they come from? The answer is from international charities which people such as the British have estabilished.
I personally plan to come out and volunteer at an orphanage in a few months but I am reconsidering after reading your opinions on us British, we just want to help the children. If that such a wrong and hateful thing to do?
I agree with you big brother I will double check but as far as the report was concerned funds had been taken. You are correct I do not know everything about BG only what I read and what I see on my visits. Its your newspaper that does the reporting are they wrong ?
i am likely to agree about having no words in the movie, buuut please check your info sources again! i next expect you to say that they are closing schools in less populated areas because teachers steal money, gimmie a break!are NO or insufficient funds for many of these places in first place.
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained foul, abusive or discriminating language.
oh, how much i love generalizations like these: "you people are cavemen, and treat others like this or that...", it reminds me a lot of the another dumb presumption "brown people are terrorists, lets bomb them!" how can it not be true, they only show bad brown people on tv, we should be cautious if see any of them around us or in our mature wise society...
omg @Cosmos. So what you are saying is any means are acceptable? In that case, enlighten me - what makes you any better than those you so vehemently reprimand? Or are those two words too hard for you to read given you find it challenging to differentiate between "there" and "their"?!
Manipulation has nothing to do with telling a story. Manipulation has nothing to do making a point.
And abusive language can bring the speaker no glory.
Do you people not have eyes to see with ? those kids looked like something from Belson concentration camp run by the Nazis. Blewitt brought it to the attention of the world and it does not matter about how it was televised she showed how you treat your children the ones that are thrown away by there Bulgarian parents. It is a well known fact that you treat animals the same go back to your caves.
Mladost 54,
the term caretaker is an accepted and generic term for primarily a one person or more, which is to be responsible for the care and management of one or more persons in some form of health needs. The term certaker reflects no specific training for those who are helpers, it could be a doctor, nurse, but also a person who has no formal training in this job.
@Stefan, your "comparatively" good command of both languages should have helped you compare better :) The first film was indeed full of misinterpreted phrases and words - either by design (ie to manipulate) or by sheer chance (ie incompetence). Do read Rene's first article on the subject to see some of the notions totally lost in translation.
I am a woman, a mother AND Bulgarian, and in no way a fan of either the poor state of affairs at social homes, or - at the exact opposite end of the spectrum - of witch-hunting.
The default position of the likes of Cosmos is to hand out prejudiced, wildly incompetent accusations and insults, most probably due to his/her own disappointing experiences. I feel for you, Cosmos, but do not let that get in the way of actually reading and understanding what the main points of this article are about instead of twisting and turning to suit your views.
For the record, I do not agree that all Brits are the same. Just as not all Bulgarians would have been "still in caves" had it not been for the "superior morEls".
@Cosmos: "not much progress there then" - just because Blewett did not include it in her film and no one else has found it worthwhile to report about this, that does not mean it does not happen.
Unfortunately, many media in Western Europe are still only interested in Bulgaria and other countries in the region when they can report about crime, prostitution, child abuse and illegal emigration.
Staying in front of the tv might not be the best way to find out what is really happening in the world ;)
@stefan: I am painfully aware of the reactions this film caused, because I do fully understand both sides of the debate.
I am also painfully aware of how this pressure can result in misunderstanding of and inappropriate adaptation of what is believed to be the west European model.
This is more than likely to result in more pain and suffering later on.
@Mladost54: I have deliberately avoided the use of the term "nurse" because it does mean two different things in the UK and in Bulgaria, a difference that Blewett and those who applaud her failed to grasp.
Bulgarian nurses are staff in medical institutions, which is exactly what the children had in Mogilino and was the reason why the staff there was helpless; there was nothing purely medically wrong with them - they had no diseases, no infections, no temperature, nothing like that (unless you consider a disability a disease).
In the UK, as in much of Western Europe, that term nurse means something different and comes with a different job description.
Good journalism is about a curiosity to understand and be able to critically examine despite this type of cultural, historical, contextual differences.
Thinking of a UK nurse when you look at the work a foreign (in this case Bulgarian) nurse does, is bound to get you into trouble.
Stefan, an excellant response. Renee has complained about bad journalism, when he cannot even get the English term for care/nursing staff correct. A caretaker maintains and cleans buildings and premises, such a person would not have anything to do with residents in a home. I worry how many homes such as this are still around.
Rene
You seem to be in total oblivion about the fact that the first film triggered an unprecedented amount of pressure for reform of child welfare from both outside and inside, from European governments and EU leaders to ordinary Bulgarians who had never before been confronted with the stark reality of the systemic abuse of disabled children in institutions.
Kate Blewett has allowed for this important debate to gain visibility.
I am sorry Rene, but your comments about mistranslations appear at best to be nitpicking, and at worst a conspiracy theory of which Emilia Maslarova would be proud. I speak both languages comparatively well and at no point did I feel that the mismatch between Bulgarian speech and its translation was problematic.
"There is no doubt that, in Blewett's mind, her morals are superior to those of anyone else. A"common disease of the politically correct
Not quite.
More like "a common disease for the British...." This is when Victorian colonialism, meets left wing activism .... time to change things around here for the Brits...
Cosmos, i think you are the one missing the point here, nobody here claims BG is paradise for the diasbled, the point is how a journalist reports an issue (obouvsly she didnt even make the effort to get good interpreter) let alone any objectivity as far as whats changed after her first move and more important WHO changed it and how. its just so convenient not to answer the questions we can give smart answers to or they dont work in her favor, like this one:
"The one question that Blewett carefully avoids asking in Revisited is where all those new homes that Didi, Milen and the 75 other children from Mogilino went to, suddenly came from."
Cosmos is a perfect illustration of why we in BG should start treating the Brits much worse than we do.
I've already started with my random insults when encountering them, but more needs to be done....
If as it states in the report that thousands of professionals and volunteers have been working on this for years why did Blewitt report this two years ago not much progress there then. O well back to the tv.
Well said guys but you are still full of crap, if it was not for reporting Bulgaria would still live in caves if you dont like it then stop it from happening. After spending time in Bulgaria it is plain to see that you need a lot of help from a mature country like the UK that has a caring society. Blewetts morels have of course got to be far more superior than yours i think you have missed my point she told the world of your failure to look after the weakest in Bulgarian society
Cosmos is just another victim of pop culture....
Cosmos, apparently you didnt pick a thing of what this article is all about, but ignorance is bliss, they say, so if you like Blewitt's films you can be happy you know everything about the BG society and live dumbass delusional. oh yes, and dont forget to watch more TV, its good for you.
You are full of crap you would not be writing this if this film had not been made, the reporting of the way these children in BG had been treated made us sit up and see what an inhumane society BG is. Bulgaria is a backward country that treats children that are different the same as the dogs they abandon all over the country well done to Blewett for bringing this to the attention of the world now is your chance to do the right thing so stop this moaning and do something.