jpundercroft:Let’s talk about The Fall. (SOME MINOR SPOILERS)Gillian Anderson’s performance as Stell
jpundercroft:Let’s talk about The Fall. (SOME MINOR SPOILERS)Gillian Anderson’s performance as Stella Gibson is mesmerizing and thought provoking. She forces the individuals around her to face reality and recognize it. She is strong, eloquent, brilliant, determined, and unfaltering. Yet the character remains grounded in reality - she isn’t a superhero. She experiences fear, loneliness, physical limitations, and pain. She is human. Every character in this show is very, very human. Which is what makes it so hard to watch.This show forces the viewer to face the realities of violence, particularly violence perpetrated by men upon women. If you have any triggers, you shouldn’t watch this show. I think this show is incredibly made and deserving of an audience, but the violence feels very real.This show depicts women being assaulted and murdered. A man attempts to rape a woman in her hotel room. An abused wife finds shelter in a women’s home, but her husband tries to find her so he can either take her with him by force or kill her. A young girl becomes infatuated with an older man who manipulates her and takes advantage of her.So why the fuck would you watch this? Because none of the violence is glorified. Far too often in movies and television, the work of serial killers is depicted as artistic. Sexual assault is treated as titillating. This show confronts the audience with the brutality of crimes which are actually committed in this world - far too regularly. We should be horrified watching this.The other reason you should watch this is because it displaces men as the heroes, as the mentors and sources of wisdom. The many of the men in this show are depicted as abusers, as weak bureaucrats, as thugs. Some of the men are well-intentioned, but ultimately sexist, patronizing buffoons. The men aren’t all bad, of course. There are some very good cops who demonstrate nothing but respect for the women they work with and the people in the community they are working to protect. There is a brother who dies trying to save his sister from an assault. But the show is dead set on making the audience face the uncomfortable reality that men kill women. Men abuse women. Men rape women. Abusers explain away their behavior and claim that it is acceptable. Other men (sometimes even women) will make abusers feel comfortable with their actions by affirming that those actions are acceptable. The show also forces the audience to face the reality that while there may be good men in the world, women cannot expect them to be there to save the day, because they will not be there.This show does not shy away from something because it might make you uncomfortable. It will not shy away from making you question your attitudes and beliefs.Gillian Anderson’s Stella Gibson provides a strong, feminist perspective on a lot of the issues confronted in the show. But she also has flaws and she herself uses her own strength to take advantage of others - and she is forced to face the ramifications of what she does. Everyone is forced to face the consequences of the decisions they make in this show. If your constitution can handle it, you should watch this show, and see it through to the end. The final few episodes are some of the best writing and best television I’ve ever seen. -- source link
#media literacy