IN My stuffed reindeer, Netflix’s surprise hit miniseries, tackles several troubling themes. On the one hand, persecution, which is shown from the point of view of the victim and how The type of violence that is little talked about can become a real tragedy.
Donnie (Richard Gadd) isn’t the only one suffering from this. At the same time, you must consider the possibility that no legal or police agency will be able to help you. So you will have to confront the aggressor yourself, fearing that the whole situation could quickly escalate. Despite his attempts to avoid it.
The other extreme is a very harsh and honest look at sexual violence. The production’s protagonist is attacked, and the series explores the physical and mental consequences of such an event. Moreover, showing an exceptional male point of view on this topic.
Little by little, Donny must find a way to heal his wounds and overcome the rape he suffered. At the same time, understanding the extent to which this journey will lead you to find a way to cope with the suffering, fear and confusion from which he suffers.
A painful and true story
“My stuffed reindeer”
All of the above could be twists in a particularly dramatic plot. What is this. Just yet, My stuffed reindeer It is based on a true story. And what’s even more surprising is the main character. Richard Gadd, who not only directs the cast, but also produces and writes the script, decided to bring two of the most difficult events in his life to life in a work of fiction. This is for the purpose of analyzing similar events from the public sphere.
Also provide victims with the opportunity to discuss violent events that often do not reach the big and small screens in the same way as the miniseries does. We tell you what’s real and what’s not real about Netflix’s productions.
It all started on the theater stage
The series began as a one-man play. The fawn was presented for the first time at the festival Edinburgh Fringe (Edinburgh), in 2015. At that time, the story was already based on the fictional alter ego of Richard Gadd named Donnie Dunn. He was harassed and harassed by a woman named Martha, whom he met at the bar where he worked. The character described how, after a chance interaction, he found himself on the receiving end of thousands of emails and hours of voice notes from a stranger. Finally, at all times and in all places he is surrounded by his persistent presence.
Little by little, what seemed like a comedy play became darker and denser. This is when the stalking escalated into an attack that ended with the character on the verge of insanity and so scared that he avoided leaving the house. By the time the press became interested in the work, the real background surprised the public. Gadd himself experienced all this. In fact, he barely recovered from it. But in fact, it was exactly the same as shown in the tables.
After a chance meeting and a few informal conversations at the bar he was courting, Gadd found himself receiving hundreds of emails daily. Moreover, the voice recordings and finally the woman followed him until she had a depressive and anxiety crisis. By that time four and a half years had passed, during which he received approximately 41,000 emails and 350 hours of voicemails.
A terrifying situation that has become uncontrollable
By that time, the stalker Gadd’s behavior had become more aggressive and dangerous. Added to all the online monitoring, covering 44 tweets and 46 Facebook posts, were what he did in his daily life. She not only sent him gift bags containing strange and often dangerous objects, but also followed him in all his daily activities. Finally, and at the most difficult moment of the situation, He even stalked Gadd’s family and partner.
As painful as it may seem, it took time for the victim to convince his circle of friends and family of the seriousness of the situation. As he said in an interview with the publication Time, the majority downplayed what was happening and called it a funny anecdote. But things got worse when the attacker began to often attend concerts of Gadd, a comedian from get up — and threaten him publicly.
When he finally went to the police, he was reprimanded for “allowing” something like this to happen to him. As he told The Guardian, he only began to be taken seriously when the circumstances became so serious and frequent that they became a danger to his life. By that time, he was mentally exhausted, scared and did not know what to do to move on with his life. The most alarming thing is that by that time Gadd suffered another brutal attack that left his physical and mental health in check.
A type of aggression that is not talked about much
In the midst of the persecution he faced, Richard Gadd also suffered physical and mental wounds as a result of rape. The comedian was the victim of an attack by a TV journalist who offered to help him with his career and ended up supplying him with drugs. The fact is that My stuffed reindeerThis also manifests itself in all its rudeness.
It was important to Gadd that the event be presented as frontally as possible, which makes this episode of the miniseries a rarity among different narratives. The episode shows not only the attack, but also all the consequences that the victim suffered, including guilt and fear. In an interview with The Independent, Gadd explains that the experience left him overwhelmed with self-hatred and self-punishment. Which also pushed him into a depressive state that took him years to recover from.
Ultimately, the miniseries is a combination of the intent to bring a difficult story to life into fiction and the expertise of its producer, writer, and protagonist. Which led to a strange and jarring vision of two of the most brutal evils of our time. Also the healing process of the victim using fiction as a way to heal wounds. The most powerful message of the proposal.
Source: Hiper Textual
