Exploring the True Story Behind ‘Baby Reindeer’ – A Deep Dive into the Netflix Series

2024-05-13 13:20:25

When the trailer for the new Netflix series was released “baby reindeer”, in early April, seemed like it would be your average comedy-drama, a light-hearted tale of a comedian with an annoying stalker. And therein lies the first masterstroke of Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, the writer, producer and star of “Baby Reindeer.” With the audience subconsciously primed to expect one thing, when people watched the series it took their breath away like a punch to the stomach.

“It’s brutal, disturbing, disturbing and probably one of the best series Netflix has produced in a long time,” someone commented under the English trailer on YouTube.

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Between its launch on April 11 and 21 of that month, it reached number one on Netflix’s most viewed lists in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Spain and Chile, and accumulated 63.2 million hours watched throughout the world. world.

Since there was not much publicity for the series beforehand, many viewers came to the story for the first time, unaware that the seven-part series is actually autobiographical and based on true events from Gadd’s life.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Baby Reindeer,” as well as references to sexual assault.

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The real story behind “Baby Reindeer”

In 2015, a woman walked into the London pub where Richard Gadd worked and, following offering her a cup of tea, struck up a conversation with her. From then on, for three years, she harassed him, going incessantly to his work and then to all of his comedy shows. She later got her email, sent her more than 41,000 messages, and once she got her phone number she left her 350 hours of voicemails.

She sent him unwanted gifts (she called him “baby reindeer” in reference to a stuffed animal from her childhood that it reminded her of) and made false criminal reports once morest his family to the police. When Gadd went to the police, they initially did not help him.

Martha, as Gadd names the stalker in the series, and played by Jessica Gunning, is shown to be a malevolent presence as she suffocates Gadd’s existence virtually and in real life. She appears to abuse him while he is on stage, she brutally attacks Teri (Nava Mau) – the girl she is dating – and sexually assaults him while she is walking home one night.

Richard Gaad and Nava Mau in “Baby Reindeer” scene.

Martha is never portrayed as a caricature, but rather in a more nuanced way as a person who is clearly struggling with mental health issues.

“Stalking and harassment is a form of mental illness. “It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she is not well and the system has failed her,” Richard Gadd told “The Independent”.

Donny, Gadd’s name in the series, shows compassion for Martha for this reason, but also seems intrigued and almost flattered by her interest at first, which begins to explain some of his strange initial interactions with her.

He invites her out for coffee, follows her home, and sometimes seems to indulge her fantasy that they will one day be together.

Gadd acknowledges that he actually made mistakes. “I did a lot of things wrong and made the situation worse,” he told The Guardian”.

Who is Darrien in “Baby Reindeer”?

In one of the most powerful and brutal moments on television this year, episode four goes back in time and reveals the main reason for Donny’s confrontational behavior towards Martha: he is just as vulnerable, having previously been raped by a man he considered a friend.

The episode unfolds with growing dread as they introduce Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill), a television industry writer who offers to help Donny reach the highest levels of the comedy world but instead, He fills him with drugs.

As Donny passes out in his apartment, Darrien sexually assaults him for the first time.

In another shocking scene, Darrien rapes him.

Tom Goodman-Hill is Darrien in “Baby Reindeer.”

The shame and disgust Donny feels seep into all areas of his life, and the rest of the episode chronicles his vivid descent into sexual recklessness caused by PTSD.

Once once more, this story comes from Gadd’s own life.

The followingmath of sexual assault has rarely been shown so raw and visceral on television, and Gadd is bravely open and honest regarding the devastating experience, and skilled at translating the complexities of the situation for a television audience.

In some ways, “Baby Reindeer” is reminiscent of Michaela Coel’s genre-defining 2020 series “I May Destroy You,” which also fictionalized her real-life rape at the hands of a stranger, and the terrible psychological cost of that fact for her.

Both series offer a uniquely powerful perspective by presenting their writers with a story based on their aggression.

“Sharing traumatic experiences in a supportive environment can facilitate ‘cognitive processing’ of the event, allowing people to make sense of what happened and integrate it into their autobiographical memory,” says psychologist Emma Kenny regarding this form of creative expression.

In both shows the characters’ journey with their trauma ends on an ambiguous note.

Arabella, Coel’s alter ego in “I May Destroy You,” imagines the different ways she would react if she came face to face with her rapist, but ultimately she never gets that chance.

Donny visits Darrien toward the end of “Reindeer Baby,” presumably with the intention of confronting him regarding the rape.

Darrien pretends nothing is wrong and quickly reasserts his control over him once more.

“Abuse leaves a mark. Especially abuse like this, which is repeated with promises. “There is a pattern where many people who have been abused feel like they need their abusers,” Gadd told GQ.

What happened to Martha at the end of “Baby Reindeer”?

In the Netflix series “Baby Reindeer,” Martha is sentenced to nine months in prison, although Richard Gadd has not revealed exactly what happened to her in real life.

“It’s solved. I had mixed feelings regarding it; “I didn’t want to throw someone who had that level of mental distress into prison,” he responded to The Times.

Certainly, Richard Gadd has used his trauma here for the most notable purpose: to create four hours of harrowing television, in which he has unpacked and analyzed his horrific life experiences in a way that is deeply illuminating and moving.

Jessica Gunning as Martha in “Baby Reindeer.”

As Kenny says, the popularity of “Baby Reindeer,” like I May Destroy You before it, can have positive effects when it comes to other people facing harassment and aggression in real life.

While at many points it becomes very difficult to watch, it is ultimately a privilege to accompany Gadd as he attempts to make sense of who he is, through what must be the most extreme form of therapy imaginable.

THE DATA

Recently, Martha’s real identity was revealed. The woman responds to the name of Fiona Harvey.

Fiona Harvey inspired Martha in “Baby Reindeer.”

The woman recently offered an interview to British journalist Piers Morgan.

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