Global hit stalking series: “Reindeer baby” grows and thrives
Published: Wednesday, May 8th 2024, 04:01
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The psycho mini-series "Reindeer Baby" by Scottish comedian Richard Gadd (34) has become a surprise hit on Netflix. In just over three and a half weeks (until Sunday, May 5), the British seven-part series has already achieved 56.5 million views worldwide, 18.6 million of them last week alone, as the streaming service revealed on Tuesday evening.
So-called views are hours watched divided by the total running time - which in this case is just under four hours. The thriller series with black humor was released on 11 April. It is number one in the Netflix charts in many countries, and has also been number one in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Even thriller veteran Stephen King has outed himself as a fan ("such a cool show").
When an unsuccessful comedian who works in a bar gives a sad customer tea and a smile, she develops an obsession with him that takes on destructive traits - this is how Netflix describes the series with the original title "Baby Reindeer". It stars Gadd as the main character Donny, Jessica Gunning as - outstanding - stalker Martha and Nava Mau as Donny's transgender friend Teri.
The story behind the series, which also includes a failed love affair with a trans woman, is said to be based on true events - "this is a true story", according to the opening credits. Author and main actor Gadd relentlessly describes traumatic experiences.
In real life, Gadd was drugged and sexually abused as a young comedian by an influential man from the culture industry. He was then stalked by a woman between 2015 and 2017. According to Gadd, he received more than 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voice messages, hundreds of tweets, dozens of Facebook messages and pages of letters from the stalker.
"Reindeer Baby is about the inner chaos of my early twenties," Gadd told British magazine GQ. "I had fallen in love with a person who was trans, but that brought with it a lot of questions and all that shame you have when you're young." Back then, there wasn't much talk about trans identity. The series doesn't gloss over anything, Gadd emphasizes. He learned a long time ago that shame is useless. "The only way to overcome these negative emotions is to tackle them head on."
The comedy-drama series brushes clichés against the grain by having the stalking victim be male and helping to ensure that the harassment goes on and on. The obsession of the female stalker, who gives her victim the nickname "Reindeer Baby" - only explained at the end - also somehow attracts the man. The mini-series explores the consequences that unprocessed trauma can have. And it shows how victims of crime can remain silent for a long time and not confide in anyone.
Gadd told GQ: "Abuse doesn't just cause physical damage, it also causes psychological damage." There is a pattern, he said, "where a lot of people who have been abused feel like they need the person who is abusing them." The secret of his series' success? Everyone is trying to be perfect these days, says Gadd. "It's interesting when someone holds their hands up and says: I've made mistakes."
However, Gadd does not seem to have assumed that "Reindeer Baby" would be a global success and the surprise streaming hit of this spring. Although the series does not reveal who the real perpetrators behind the characters Martha Scott and Darrien O'Connor are - this is precisely what is now prompting some viewers to want to investigate, so to speak.
A well-known British television writer, who allegedly looks similar to Darrien actor Tom Goodman-Hill, has already been targeted. However, Gadd was quick to emphasize on social media: "Please don't speculate about who the real people might be. That's not what our show is about." The allegedly "real Martha" also spoke out and made accusations against Gadd, claiming that she was now the victim of death threats on the internet and was being "bullied" because of the series and his fame-seeking.
In the streaming market, there are always unexpected successes like "Baby Reindeer", especially when stories are surprisingly drastic and told in a differentiated way. Probably the most prominent example in 2021 was the South Korean Netflix thriller series "Squid Game", which achieved 265 million views within three months.
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