Bu makale Heretic (2024) filmini, post-truth çağda hakikat, inanç ve iktidar ilişkilerinin yeniden üretimi bağlamında sosyolojik olarak incelemektedir. Çalışmada Foucault’nun hükümet etme ve hakikat rejimleri yaklaşımı, Butler’ın toplumsal cinsiyetin performatifliği ve Baudrillard’ın hipergerçeklik kavramı bir araya getirilerek filmdeki temsil biçimleri çözümlenmiştir. Nitel söylem analizi ve sahne-temelli tematik kodlama yöntemi kullanılmış, bulgular dört eksende toplanmıştır: (1) dinsel söylemler bir iktidar teknolojisi olarak kurgulanmakta, (2) hakikat, simülasyon ve temsiller üzerinden askıya alınmakta, (3) kadın bedeni disiplin ve kontrol pratikleriyle yönetilmekte, (4) etik direniş ise kolektif özneleşme ve ötekine yönelim üzerinden şekillenmektedir. Sonuç olarak Heretic, yalnızca bir gerilim filmi değil, post-truth çağda hakikatin kırılganlığını, bedensel siyaseti ve etik özneleşmenin imkânlarını açığa çıkaran bir kültürel metin olarak değerlendirilmelidir. Çalışmanın önemi, sinema ile medya sosyolojisi alanlarına sağladığı kuramsal ve analitik katkıda ortaya çıkmaktadır.
This article offers a sociological analysis of Heretic (2024) by examining how the film reproduces relations of truth, belief, and power in the post-truth era. Drawing on Foucault’s concepts of governmentality and truth regimes, Butler’s idea of performativity, and Baudrillard’s notion of hyperreality, the study analyzes the film’s representational strategies. Using qualitative discourse analysis and scene-based thematic coding, the findings are organized around four axes: (1) religious discourses are constructed as technologies of power; (2) truth is suspended through simulation and layers of representation; (3) the female body is governed through disciplinary and control practices; and (4) ethical resistance emerges through collective subjectivity and orientation toward the Other. The study argues that Heretic is not merely a thriller but a cultural text that exposes the fragility of truth, the politics of the body, and the possibilities of ethical subjectivation in a post-truth context. The significance of the study lies in its theoretical and analytical contribution to the fields of cinema and media sociology.
Methodologically, the study employs a critical-interpretive design that combines qualitative discourse analysis, thematic coding, and scene-by-scene transcription. Codes were operationalized with clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, and analytic transparency was maintained in line with JARS-Qual standards. This approach ensures not only theoretical depth but also replicability for future research in media sociology. The findings reveal four central dynamics: (1) religious discourse operates as a technology of power that governs the subject; (2) truth is suspended through simulation and hyperreality, producing aestheticized effects of belief; (3) the female body emerges as a contested site of discipline and resistance; and (4) ethical alternatives are forged through solidarity and orientation toward the Other. Collectively, these insights demonstrate that Heretic functions as more than a thriller: it is a cultural text that exposes the fragility of truth, the politics of embodiment, and the possibilities of ethical subjectivation in the contemporary post-truth landscape.
| Primary Language | English |
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| Subjects | Radio-Television, Sociology of Religion, Communication Sociology |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Submission Date | September 23, 2025 |
| Acceptance Date | November 28, 2025 |
| Publication Date | December 31, 2025 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2025 Volume: 8 Issue: 2 |