Richard Gadd, the writer and main actor of Baby Reindeer, is a significant factor in the film’s extraordinary success. In a tender semi-autobiographical portrayal of sexual abuse, harassment, and stalking, Gadd portrays Donny. Gadd’s narrative has provided a novel viewpoint on male victimization and has also empowered others to express their opinions.
In the meantime, the program has initiated a “horrible sequel” in which internet sleuths, with the assistance of pernicious media outlets, endeavor to reveal Martha’s true identity.
This public event is perhaps grimly predictable in the era of social media. However, it raises concerns regarding the ethical standards of the show is creators and underscores the fact that their portrayal of Martha aligns with the well-worn and frequently misogynistic media representations of female offenders, rather than challenging them.
A woman enters a pub.
The film Baby Reindeer commences with Martha, who is superbly portrayed by Jessica Gunning, entering the pub where Donny (Gadd’s fictitious character) is employed to support his stagnant comedy career.
The benign gathering that forms across the bar quickly escalates into a daily barrage of interaction. Martha infiltrates Donny’s most private quarters over the course of seven episodes, revealing the relentless and pernicious hold that stalkers can have on their victims.
The Netflix series has garnered international success.
In the field of criminology, feminist scholars demonstrate that the media exploits and exacerbates the deep-seated fears of deviant women, while simultaneously ignoring equally severe male offenses (if not more so). Baby Reindeer serves as an illustration in numerous respects.
The longest shadow in the series is cast by Martha’s character, as well as the subsequent repercussions and publicity. Gadd has even advised online sleuths to cease their investigations, as speculation regarding her true identity has been prevalent on social media for several days.
Donny is portrayed by Richard Gadd, while Martha is portrayed by Jessica Gunning.
I am angry, depressed, and sorrowful. Martha
“Monstrous women” captivate us as a society. Myra Hindley, who murdered five children with her husband in the early 1960s, and Lucy Letby, a former neonatal nurse who made headlines last year for killing seven infants, are two examples of the infamous feminine evil that we unconsciously fear.
Also, it may be disheartening that we incorporate masculine offenses into our expectations of masculinity. As a result, we regard male offenders as autonomous, rational, responsible, and independent. Conversely, women offenders are perceived as emotionally vulnerable, negligent, dependent, and not fully mature, as is the case with Martha.
Although Gadd has received praise for his compassionate treatment of Martha (in fact, Baby Reindeer could be interpreted as a critique of the mental health services in the United Kingdom), audiences are repeatedly reminded that she is “clearly unstable.”
As with other media representations of female offending, we are fast to remove agency and confine women within a caricature of “mad, bad, and sad.”
Netflix
By virtue of their relative rarity, women who perpetrate serious offenses are already of news value. However, they become even more newsworthy when their sexuality and/or appearance are further dehumanized.
They are entangled in media representations of sex-craved promiscuity or cold-isolating frigidity. They are either conventionally repulsive or a “femme fatale” who ensnares victims. The latter was evident in the media’s treatment of Amanda Knox, who was incarcerated in Italy as a result of a wrongful conviction for the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher. She was given the nickname “Foxy Knoxy.”
A promotional image from Baby Reindeer exemplifies a comparable form of pigeonholing. It depicts Donny being ensnared in a glass enclosure, with an oversize Martha standing behind him.
However, Donny is not depicted as being so “trapped” in the program. Instead, he repeatedly engages with Martha, occasionally in questionable manners.
A witch search commences on the internet.
Although Gadd has reiterated that this is a fictionalized account of true events, numerous aspects of Martha’s crimes were historically preserved in the public archive, including tweets, judicial documents, and media articles.
Reportedly, internet sleuths and journalists have been able to locate the “real” Martha by putting their fingertips to keyboards. If this is indeed the case, it is evident that the genuine Martha was not granted sufficient anonymity.
In the interim, Gadd asserts that the identity of the other perpetrator—the influential TV writer Darrien—who repeatedly sexually assaults and grooms Donny—is an “open secret in the UK comedy scene.”
Donny acknowledges in the program:
there was always a sense that she was ill, that she couldn’t help it, whereas he was a pernicious, manipulative groomer.
However, the genuine Darrien is granted a level of protection that is not available to the genuine Martha, whether it be through authority, means, or gender. Darrien resides in affluence, while Martha is “unwell” and struggling to make ends meet in a council flat on a weekly basis. Darrien is at the pinnacle of society.
Netflix
Martha’s agency is often diminished, and she is subject to increased scrutiny, while the larger crimes committed by a man fail to attract the same media attention, as is often the case.
Elevating the mirror
It is not a novel challenge to balance anonymity with autofiction, and Baby Reindeer will not be the last example of this. Fundamentally, however, this is less about the dichotomy between fiction and reality and more about the perspective we, the content creators and viewers, hold regarding female offenders.
Martha is not the individual who groomed, repeatedly sexually abused, and manipulated Gadd into a drug habit; however, she is the focal point of the show’s proposal and global promotion. This raises more concerns about our own ethics than anything else.
