Gently with the Women


A cracking start to the new series.

Emily Woof stole every scene she was in.

Gently's illness is a downer though. Does this signal the last series? I hope not ...

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Excellent episode, you are correct! Correct again on Emily Woof, a fantastic performance. The attitude toward women made my skin crawl, and even though it's 46 years later, some of that sexism is still with us, unfortunately. The road to equality is a long and bumpy one but we are making progress.

Very glad to see Gently back again and I also hope this is not the last series, but at least we have the rest of this one to look forward to. :)

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I was in my early to mid twenties during the time when this is set. I don't remember being too aware of the, now obvious, inequality.

If this is set in '68 I'd been married, was separated and heading for an amicable divorce. Needless to say I married far too young.

I was in Australia in a small town called Leeton, NSW at Easter when a young school teacher called Steph Scott was murdered. The incident caused widespread dismay amongst the local population. But I was amazed to discover that 30 women had been murdered in Australia THIS YEAR and it is only April. This statistic didn't seem to worry too many people. It seems that the attitude to women in Australia is lagging somewhat behind that in UK. Though that may be a rather harsh judgment based on my superficial assessment of attitudes.

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I'd be interested to know how many men were murdered in the same period. men are generally much more likely to be murdered than women.

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But a murdered woman is far more likely to have been killed by a man who purports to have loved her; a 2013 World Health Org study shows that about 40% of all murdered women worldwide were killed by their partners. The stats for men are nowhere NEAR that, and it's bc women are still regarded as subordinate to men in many societies.

Even in industrialized nations, where women ostensibly are equal, they ain't equal, which is apparent from the degree to which they're still objectified. (In the US, roughly 35% of all murdered women are killed by their partners, so it's not like we're so much better off than, say, a tribal culture that is keen on "honor" killings.)

This is why we're commenting on the stats for women. Many many many complicated issues surrounding women's safety and well-being.

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."

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[deleted]

I'm not sure the attitude is lagging, it is more that the media does not report the cases, unless there is something they deem "newsworthy" about them. Maybe they are so obviously open-and-shut domestic violence that there is no investigation to report. But when they smell a story, the Aussie media go for it.

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[deleted]

I like George Gently but that first episode was appallingly written. I know they want to make a point of how badly rape victims were treated at the time and how badly police women were treated in the 1960s but this had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.



Its that man again!!

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Did you even stop to think that what may have seemed subtle back in the late 60s would ring like a sledgehammer on a tin roof today? So of course it would seem to lack subtlety when it was just showing the prevailing attitude of the day.

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I wonder if Gently's diagnosis DOES signal the end of the programme. Perhaps Martin Shaw feels it's time to move on. It would be great if it DID continue, but I don't see how the character could remain on active police service in those circumstances.

And I agree about Emily Woof - amazing actress.

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I think what made the ep sledgehammer-y, tho, was the intense/repetitive reinforcement -- every woman shown was having some kind of problem with a man, plus Bachus reformed so quickly. I'm old enough to know that the men's dismissiveness and insults/belittlements were right on target -- but what *wasn't* accurate was the implication that by 1969, every woman had become politicized to some degree. Sad fact is, many weren't; cripes, many women *today* reject the word feminist even tho they have no intention of giving up any of the rights that were secured by women who proudly used the term.

I just didn't buy it that the woman sgt's consciousness had been raised such that she was sensitive to the treatment of rape victims; many women back then were still brainwashed by the societal "good girl/bad girl" nonsense and thus also uneasily regurgitated the party line that women who were raped had somehow been asking for it (for ex., by dressing provocatively).

And the medical examiner insisting on Ms? In 1969 in Durham? I don't think so. (Plus, the show hasn't consistently used a medex, nor has it ever -- that I can think of -- given so much air time to a medex. Heavy-handed.)

The ep would have been much more effective if it had been subtler -- if the sgt and the medex had been ambivalent (ie, somewhat sympathetic to the rape victim's plight while still somewhat echoing the party line). Because that's how it *was*; that's why women *didn't* report rapes. 1969 was still the relative dark ages re: rape awareness -- not as bad as 1960, but far less advanced than even 1975.

Annoying that a once-well-written show deteriorated to such a degree; annoying that the producers didn't trust the audience to be smart enough to *get* it unless they drew a Big Road Map To The Message.

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."

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[deleted]

I was doing office work during the time this story is set and I can assure you the sexism was appalling and we (female workers) basically had to grin and bear it. "Can't you take a joke?" was often the response if any female dared to protest at the sexist treatment we received, such as constant sexual suggestions, innuendo, pats on the arse and direct comments about our appearance. We were also paid less than men for the same job ("Women don't need the money as much as men as men have families to support and women don't" is an actual quote of an answer I was given when I inquired about unequal pay).

"Don't you worry your pretty head about that", "Just sit there and look pretty", "You're pretty smart for a girl", and on and on is the kind of crap I heard on a regular basis.

This episode of George Gently did an excellent job of showing how awful it was for women back then.

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We were also paid less than men for the same job ("Women don't need the money as much as men as men have families to support and women don't" is an actual quote of an answer I was given when I inquired about unequal pay).
Amen. And: Imagine how shocked I was to be told that as late as 1989 -- by a woman manager, no less ...

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."

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i think this one is very loosely based on an inspector gently novel called 'Once a Prostitute' which was published in 1984 and so has nothing to do with the sixties. but they've altered it a lot to make it fit in with their agenda.

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Yes Quatermouse...That did jar with me too...."A riot in my heart" ? Errrr? What?

And yes, you were a lass...I was a bloke back then, not from your neck of the woods, but absolutely...No Way....would either of us ever say that!

But overall. Love the series. Martin Shaw. Enough said. A class act.

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Somehow I lost track - was the murder victim a prostitute or did she actually miss the bus?

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I think the episode's point was, "Did it matter whether the female murder victim was a prostitute or not?" Is one's life worth more, or less, than the other? There are risks that come with the trade. Should death be one of the risks? Should LEO treat them as less than citizens endowed with rights and protection?










________

Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum Goldilocks

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Agree again. Great start to season 7. And, yes, "Tina" was amazing. Previously I thought that Bacchus might be the natural heir to this series when Shaw packs it in. But now I am wondering if Rachel Coles might deserve that honor.

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Great opener for season 7, I agree. Gently's diagnosis was a shocker! I hope this is somehow resolved. . ...must have been because there is a series 8, with only 2 episodes however.

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[deleted]

This must be one of my favourite episodes, thanks to Emily Woof and the rapport she builds with Gently. Lee Ingleby is so good at being an obnoxious prat you can't help feeling sorry for.

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