the Baby deer (Reindeer baby) is an account of one comedian's trauma: Is there something funny about being followed for almost two years, receiving 100 emails a day from the same person in your archive, and harassing your relatives and friends? Richard Judd was inspired by his own life for this dark, educational story.
Stand up is kind and honest. At the very least, those who do it well can reach the deepest recesses of their soul. It takes a lot of courage for someone to stand on stage in front of dozens, hundreds, thousands of people every day – with every risk of falling – to delight them. Or better yet, make them think about something. Some people use this platform to open up and open up to others. For this reason, it sometimes happens that a night of stand-up turns from comedy to tragedy, even though the viewer has not sat down with the aim of gaining an insight into some big, high-stakes, but very personal topic.
The really great stuff in this genre can make you think and laugh at the same time.
Countless comedians have perfected their specials on stage and in motion pictures, and by turning their characters into tragedies, they've been able to take them to a new platform. It's Ricky Gervais After life He ventured into more serious waters in the self-titled Netflix series as well; It's Bo Burnham inside– The song jumped to his fears; At that time Louis C.K.A LouieHe presented his small and often miserable life. So there was a source of self-examination, as strict a commitment as Netflix's current premiere, but very little was offered.
the Baby deer It was created by treating the cruelty and absurdity of reality with psychoanalytic skill. Its hero, Donnie Dunne (played by Richard Gadd, the series' writer and real-life victim), shares with viewers how an overweight Scottish woman in her 40s, who lies to herself as an influential lawyer, clings to lying to herself as an influential lawyer. It – and more importantly: how the sculpted figure tried to scratch it, or keep the bully by your side.
In seven episodes, the story of this man whose simple act of kindness led him into trouble that lasted nearly two years is revealed. Martha (Jessica Gunning) entered the bar where Donnie worked as a clumsy and pitiful woman, and all she needed was a gift of tea for another motive: she had become her benefactor. Later, the bistro visits were supplemented by regular emails, amounting to hundreds a day, and then unexpected personal appearances. Martha took every opportunity to get close to the man, and her letters were full of misspellings, unpleasant nicknames (hence Baby deer title) can also be experienced by spectators, who all have a red light in their heads, indicating that they should run from here. Donnie no.
The archetype of the female bully, who is initially overly smiling and gentle, and then becomes hysterical and aggressive, is a stereotype.
A notorious liar, in constant contradictions, his home is as chaotic as his spiritual world. Martha is emphatically so. He keeps the phone numbers of Tony Blair and David Cameron on his push-button device, but his emails always say, inexplicably, “Sent from my iPhone.” Naturally, after these small hints, the inevitable parasite is released, which is constantly becoming more and more dangerous. the Baby deer One of his struggles is to resolve this situation and get rid of the discomfort that characterizes daily life. However, the incident also begins a more comprehensive process for the hero, who is forced to confront his past as well.
Donnie does not act like a normal person in the story. And here strange things happen not only because of the comedic elements – a quasi-social relationship develops between the bully and the bullied, and the reasons for this are deep-rooted, only our central character was not ready to reveal his repressed traumas. Since Donnie is an aspiring stand-up artist, in addition to his work as a waiter, we can see in his performances that he is constantly searching for his own voice, but is unable to find it. Something is already broken in him, but it is not clear whether the world has turned away from him or whether he finds himself in it. However, the appearance of an ardent “fan” suddenly puts his life to the test, and Martha's positive affirmations inadvertently affect his self-confidence.
the Baby deer Among other things, it is interesting to watch because it attempts to approach the topic of abuse from many angles.
It cannot be understood as blaming the victim if the author criticizes the role he played in his abuse, often making him the butt of jokes. He's lame, he lies, he's silent, he communicates poorly, he's probably secretly attracted to her – series creator Richard Gadd introduces us to many aspects of what was going on at the time these events happened to him. In some places, he engages in embarrassing and brutal scenes Baby deer, and this is not just an improvised joke, because revealing Donnie's sexuality will definitely lead to unpleasant moments. It's indeed a very personal matter, and harsh in places – but fortunately, Richard Gadd knows exactly when to smuggle humor into work that's also suited to thrills.
There are comedians who became famous by revealing their deepest problems. This was the case with Hannah Gadsby, who spoke on her show about why she gave up her career as a comedian, because there was nothing funny about her traumas. With his stance, he criticized the genre of improvisational comedy itself, denying its liberating nature. Richard Judd also became known in this way: on one occasion his cheerful theatrical persona could take no more, and a lot of pent-up frustration, anger and tragedy came out of him. That's when he found his voice. Gad only rejected this type of offer after Hannah Gadsby abandoned stand-up comedy as she wanted, and then returned to humor. Moreover, the Baby deer — who now recounts the most important events of his life in series form — also uses the power of laughter in therapy.
Because what a person can smile at, he can overcome and overcome.
the Baby deer I wasn't really interested in his silly moments and nonsense at the end. Richard Gadd wants to teach and show how much power there is in accepting vulnerability. In this way he overcame his own experiences, of which self-examination and self-criticism were an important part. Although Martha is a typical antagonist, the author does not pass judgment on her: from this you can tell that this does not define her daily life anymore, and she no longer suffers from sleepless nights because of it. He can now live as a free man, turning tragedy into comedy.
Baby Deer is available on Netflix.
