A fantastic essay, Helen, that explains much more articulately - and generously - than I could why I have been banging on about Jill and Valerie over the past few weeks. Jill, in particular, seemed such a thin, barely-sketched character whose job was simply to be endlessly affirmative., The final scene in which she tip toes into a stranger's hospital room as he lies dying of Aids and holds his hand seemed really quite odd - possibly I am not a very altruistic person but it struck me as intrusive and quite needy on her part.
I was a child and teenager during the 80s and Valerie's attitude wasn't uncommon, it was mainstream so putting her on a pyre was unfair. As you wrote, it was more about creating a big final flourish than revealing a truth - I don't think we can blame Valerie for not being a social outlier, especially when her son chose to hide his sexuality despite infinite opportunities to explain why he and Jill weren't a couple, why he wasn't going to settle down with a nice girl soon etc. (I have teenagers in my life, however, and they are equally sure that Valerie really does bear the responsibility for all Aids deaths but, hell, when was a middle-aged woman not to blame for everything that's gone wrong?)
Thank you for your generosity in sending out the newsletter each week - I'm going to start rewatching QAF with one of the teenagers tonight.
I loved both of these programs too, I can't watch It's a Sin again as after the 1st and 2nd times I discovered that AIDS cannot possibly be a sexually transmitted disease as it is only correlated with frequency of receptive anal sex, in both genders. AIDs is an illness of oxidation and semen is highly oxidising and the anus cell layer is very thin. Then I found out that Kaposi Sarcoma and PCP are known to be caused by popper inhalation and that the initial treatment of AZT ,a failed cancer therapy drug, is highly oxidising and toxic and undoubtedly killed many people after they received a positive test.(and were locked away in wards on their own)- I am too upset and angry about this to be able to watch it anymore.
The (non-specific )HIV test is based on the proteins and antibodies (PCR cannot be used as there are billions of different sequences thought to be the HIV genome) which are also found in healthy people, TB and pregnancy etc. The test has to be confirmed by a doctor, based on patient history- blood transfusions ( though a virus would not survive the process intact), and whether the person is a Black African or a gay man. This is so far beyond the scientific method as to be mind blowing. Many people took their own lives on a positive result for a thing there's no evidence causes illness.
I watched an interview you did with Jordan Peterson. You claimed women raping men is non existent. My girlfriend of 7 years left me because of it, my mental health went to non existent, and now, a well known journalist has the audacity to claim women don't rape men. Invalidate my whole existence. Invalidate everything traumatic that happened to me. That's fine. I decided I'm going to Invalidate myself. Thank you for your push. Thank you for telling me my pain is a joke worth laughing at. I applaud your career, I always wanted to become a writer. If I would've stayed alive, maybe I could stand-up to people who are pushing bigotry, hate, and intolerance, like you. I was looking for some kind of help watching the videos I was; I was in a dark place. Hearing a famous writer tell me that my pain isn't real...you're right. It isn't any longer. Thank you.
This is a wonderful essay. Thank you for sharing. One parallel which occurs to me now is with the scene in QAF where Nathan's mum discusses Stuart's treatment of him with Stuart's mum and the scene in the hospital. There is something cruel in the deception of a hidden life, however justified as relationships can't function without honesty - but then there's an awful comedy in the idea of a completely transparent parent/child relationship (possibly - this is a not very developed thought). Anyway, great essay which has got me thinking. Thanks once again.
Great essay. I saw RTD say in an interesting LitSalon interview that he had conceived of a present-day episode where Jill returns to the Isle of White, meets Ritchie’s sister, for some insight into that very strange family dynamic that drove Valerie’s behaviour and into why Jill’s life is so consumed by caring for others, ending with her heading off for an actual date with a man as she comes to some form of closure. Which would address many of the criticisms of the show, but also I suspect blunt the knock-your-socks-off power of the anger and grief in episode 5.
I also heard him on the Vanity Fair Still Watching podcast mention that he feels people are shaming the Jill character for somehow doing life wrong precisely because she focuses on caring for others and not on having a boyfriend. He mentions that real-life Jill has dealt with that.
Perhaps if there were other central female characters with more nuance and complexity, then Jill's lack of a life wouldn't have been so jarring (to me)? But her capacity for kindness set against Valerie's bitter and judgmental final scenes did create a very stark contrast (I'm trying very hard not to say madonna/whore). There was too much of a split in this series - women can be good (selfless) or they can be bad (unsupportive) with nothing to explain what might make either of them the way they were - and surely the generational differences explained some of that? I'm tempted to say RTD can't write for women but I enjoyed his Years and Years a couple of years ago and that had some really interesting female roles so I think that would be very kneejerk of me.
A fantastic essay, Helen, that explains much more articulately - and generously - than I could why I have been banging on about Jill and Valerie over the past few weeks. Jill, in particular, seemed such a thin, barely-sketched character whose job was simply to be endlessly affirmative., The final scene in which she tip toes into a stranger's hospital room as he lies dying of Aids and holds his hand seemed really quite odd - possibly I am not a very altruistic person but it struck me as intrusive and quite needy on her part.
I was a child and teenager during the 80s and Valerie's attitude wasn't uncommon, it was mainstream so putting her on a pyre was unfair. As you wrote, it was more about creating a big final flourish than revealing a truth - I don't think we can blame Valerie for not being a social outlier, especially when her son chose to hide his sexuality despite infinite opportunities to explain why he and Jill weren't a couple, why he wasn't going to settle down with a nice girl soon etc. (I have teenagers in my life, however, and they are equally sure that Valerie really does bear the responsibility for all Aids deaths but, hell, when was a middle-aged woman not to blame for everything that's gone wrong?)
Thank you for your generosity in sending out the newsletter each week - I'm going to start rewatching QAF with one of the teenagers tonight.
I loved both of these programs too, I can't watch It's a Sin again as after the 1st and 2nd times I discovered that AIDS cannot possibly be a sexually transmitted disease as it is only correlated with frequency of receptive anal sex, in both genders. AIDs is an illness of oxidation and semen is highly oxidising and the anus cell layer is very thin. Then I found out that Kaposi Sarcoma and PCP are known to be caused by popper inhalation and that the initial treatment of AZT ,a failed cancer therapy drug, is highly oxidising and toxic and undoubtedly killed many people after they received a positive test.(and were locked away in wards on their own)- I am too upset and angry about this to be able to watch it anymore.
The (non-specific )HIV test is based on the proteins and antibodies (PCR cannot be used as there are billions of different sequences thought to be the HIV genome) which are also found in healthy people, TB and pregnancy etc. The test has to be confirmed by a doctor, based on patient history- blood transfusions ( though a virus would not survive the process intact), and whether the person is a Black African or a gay man. This is so far beyond the scientific method as to be mind blowing. Many people took their own lives on a positive result for a thing there's no evidence causes illness.
Anyway the two videos linked in my post are well worth watching https://georgiedonny.substack.com/p/the-importance-of-intellectual-freedom?s=w if you haven't seen them.
Really enjoying your posts I just discovered this morning
Jo
I watched an interview you did with Jordan Peterson. You claimed women raping men is non existent. My girlfriend of 7 years left me because of it, my mental health went to non existent, and now, a well known journalist has the audacity to claim women don't rape men. Invalidate my whole existence. Invalidate everything traumatic that happened to me. That's fine. I decided I'm going to Invalidate myself. Thank you for your push. Thank you for telling me my pain is a joke worth laughing at. I applaud your career, I always wanted to become a writer. If I would've stayed alive, maybe I could stand-up to people who are pushing bigotry, hate, and intolerance, like you. I was looking for some kind of help watching the videos I was; I was in a dark place. Hearing a famous writer tell me that my pain isn't real...you're right. It isn't any longer. Thank you.
This is a wonderful essay. Thank you for sharing. One parallel which occurs to me now is with the scene in QAF where Nathan's mum discusses Stuart's treatment of him with Stuart's mum and the scene in the hospital. There is something cruel in the deception of a hidden life, however justified as relationships can't function without honesty - but then there's an awful comedy in the idea of a completely transparent parent/child relationship (possibly - this is a not very developed thought). Anyway, great essay which has got me thinking. Thanks once again.
I admire your thinking and your writing very much. Thank you for sharing.
Great essay. I saw RTD say in an interesting LitSalon interview that he had conceived of a present-day episode where Jill returns to the Isle of White, meets Ritchie’s sister, for some insight into that very strange family dynamic that drove Valerie’s behaviour and into why Jill’s life is so consumed by caring for others, ending with her heading off for an actual date with a man as she comes to some form of closure. Which would address many of the criticisms of the show, but also I suspect blunt the knock-your-socks-off power of the anger and grief in episode 5.
I also heard him on the Vanity Fair Still Watching podcast mention that he feels people are shaming the Jill character for somehow doing life wrong precisely because she focuses on caring for others and not on having a boyfriend. He mentions that real-life Jill has dealt with that.
Perhaps if there were other central female characters with more nuance and complexity, then Jill's lack of a life wouldn't have been so jarring (to me)? But her capacity for kindness set against Valerie's bitter and judgmental final scenes did create a very stark contrast (I'm trying very hard not to say madonna/whore). There was too much of a split in this series - women can be good (selfless) or they can be bad (unsupportive) with nothing to explain what might make either of them the way they were - and surely the generational differences explained some of that? I'm tempted to say RTD can't write for women but I enjoyed his Years and Years a couple of years ago and that had some really interesting female roles so I think that would be very kneejerk of me.
Oh this is such a lovely essay. Have a good weekend