Mixed with his frustration and impatience with Turkey as a whole, Baba is a big fan of rock and roll, with a particular obsession with Elvis Presley. Hound dogs sniff out their own tastes in the disgust of the newly enlightened. “I took a class with this crazy professor called ‘Sounds in the uncanny valley,'” she recalls of her childhood best friend Aise (Olivia Abiassi of Crackerjack, who also took making the most of the role she was given), mocking the “appropriation and commercial simplicity” of her dad’s favorite band.
Dogmatism is funny and to the point. It also contradicts what we hear from Hound Dog’s own music. Her folk-rock audition number “Only In Time” (performed live by her band, led by cool-composed singer Sahar Milani, like the other songs on the show) is Joni’s Mitchell pastiche. It sounds great and has vocal mannerisms. Who is appropriating what now?
But it’s hard to explain why Hound Dog writes in a particular style, or what drives her in general. Most of the time, Hound Dog bickers with Aise about some joints, argues with Bubba, visits her bonkers high school music teacher, Mr. Callahan (Matt Magnuson), and swears by her year-old mother. Mops trying to deal with unresolved grief over death.
Aker had the promising subject of a woman who is deeply ambiguous about her life vocation and, by extension, herself. The Hound Her Dog tries to navigate her notions of authenticity and identity while searching for her family and her place in the world. The last is evoked by a brief allusion to how social, political and cultural forces have long clashed with one another in Turkey. For example, an encounter with a policeman who asked Baba. “
Hound Dog’s soul-searching remains ambiguous, so Aker and director Machel Ross can’t see her excuses as convincing. (written as “I” in the script) is involved.