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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Jimmy Savile - A British Horror Show

94 replies

NotAGirl · 07/04/2022 00:15

So much that could, should, must be said about this documentary

Something that really struck me was how people who ignored what was in front of them were happy to be interviewed and still didn’t take any responsibility for not saying anything and how heartbreaking it was to see one of the victims even knowing how protected he was blame herself for not saying anything when she was a frightened child.

OP posts:
Coconutmeg · 07/04/2022 15:26

The Steve Coogan thing is bbc apparently.
After seeing him as Stan Laurel, I think he’ll pull it off really well. He’s so good at impersonating.

BusterGonad · 07/04/2022 15:23

The lady who was telling us about the abuse she suffered in church made my heart bled. Its as if she was a child again. I just wanted to hug her and tell her that it wasn't her fault. He was such a bastard. The lives he ruined. I wonder what happened to him when he fell out of the pram? Does anyone know more.

AnastasiaRomanov · 07/04/2022 15:18

The groping women thing.. I remember seeing a photo of Prince Charles which I had never seen before. They were sitting side by side and he was reaching across and grabbing her breast and laughing. It’s a whole endemic attitude in men of that generation that women are property.

AnastasiaRomanov · 07/04/2022 15:16

Very!!

AnastasiaRomanov · 07/04/2022 15:15

@veronicagoldberg

We're walking into a very similar (and potentially more far-reaching) situation by allowing men to identify into roles such as Brownie leaders with no questioning permitted.
Wet true
Bananalanacake · 07/04/2022 15:10

Thanks for explaining OP, Steve Coogan is a good looking guy So I'm intrigued to see how he will pull off portraying a nasty creep, with the right hair, outfits, good acting he'll probably do a good job of it. Wonder if it will be on Netflix.

Ormally · 07/04/2022 14:33

Many people knew, in his life 'compartments' that seem separated at first glance, but it seems that there was a real sense of almost everyone else being 'little people' whose testimonies would have counted for nothing whatsoever against the powerful.

The late 80s-90s rumours that I'd heard and thought they were so far fetched that they couldn't be credible (until they were), were through his charitable and 'local fame' connections to Leeds hospitals, not surrounded by TV people as such. He visited patients and regularly chipped in on hospital radio. He would notoriously be able to obtain, perhaps never return, a key that would get him anywhere, wards, kitchens...and especially student nurses' accommodation. People told me they were instructed to block up the door at night with furniture etc., it was common knowledge, and yet it was still him who kept his caring glitter and gloss facade even in a huge hospital??

Ereshkigalangcleg · 07/04/2022 14:21

I've told this story before on here, but in the early 2000s I met a young woman (late teens) as part of my work and she had been publicly sexually assaulted by Savile at a work event while everyone in the company laughed it off. I always remembered this, especially after he died and everything came out but it was only recently that I read an account of a woman who recounted the exact same thing happening to someone else, which was apparently a thing he liked to do. (I won't say what he actually did but it was really grim). In Plain Sight. The humiliation of these young women and the fact that they couldn't speak up was clearly a big part of it.

Deliriumoftheendless · 07/04/2022 14:19

Bough apparently continuously sexually harassed Selina Scott. Constant remarks, offensive questions, etc.
She wasn’t e only one he harassed apparently and let’s not forget how his career ended.

Not so hard to understand why so many said nothing about Savile really is it?

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/04/2022 14:13

@greyinganddecaying

It was awful how much he got away with.

The little girl he abused in church, still seeming to blame herself for not shouting/telling her mum, many years later.

The bit in TOTP where he was obviously groping a young girl and she kept jumping away but he clearly didn't stop - all live and in front of the cameras for everyone to see.

Hiding in plain sight.

Not even hiding. It was awful, wasn't it?
greyinganddecaying · 07/04/2022 14:10

It was awful how much he got away with.

The little girl he abused in church, still seeming to blame herself for not shouting/telling her mum, many years later.

The bit in TOTP where he was obviously groping a young girl and she kept jumping away but he clearly didn't stop - all live and in front of the cameras for everyone to see.

Hiding in plain sight.

ragdoll700 · 07/04/2022 14:09

I remember watching him as a child and remember thinking Id love to be on Jim'll fix it but also thinking but I don't want to meet that man so a quite a young child I could tell there was something not right about him

MermaidEyes · 07/04/2022 14:03

@pytheon completely agree. The 80s were so different. I remember constantly being warned not to get in cars with strangers who might have sweets or puppies, but I don't think I realised there could be any kind of sexual element to it. These days children are so much more aware from a much younger age, and that can only be a good thing. We didn't even have sex education lessons until we were about 15, and I can remember my mum giving me a book about bodies, puberty and sex when I was around 10, but saying nothing about it - and to be fair, my parents were always pretty open about most things. I was probably well into my teens before I really realised sexual abuse was a thing.
Also agree with the having to sit on relatives knees and give them a kiss and you couldn't be rude and say no. Although as an adult my mum has told me there was an elderly uncle who we visited occasionally, and she would never let me sit on his knee because she just felt something was 'off'.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/04/2022 13:42

Definitely not entertainment. The woman that was interviewed talks about her abuse which is upsetting but it's all very factual.

NotAGirl · 07/04/2022 13:40

@52andblue

Can I ask those who have watched this about the presentation please?

I understand that some of the content will be triggering for me as a survivor of CSA but I wanted to ask if it is presented factually and respectfully, rather than as 'entertainment' before I attempt to view?

I don’t know how it will affect you, there was an interview with one of his victims that made me want to cry for the frightened little girl you could still see in the woman in her 50’s talking Sad

But it didn’t feel like entertainment.

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/04/2022 13:35

I wanted to write in to Jim'll Fix It as a child but didn't actually want to meet him as I thought he was weird ,thank God!

Maireas · 07/04/2022 13:28

@Deliriumoftheendless

I really felt for Selina Scott, with his grotesque behaviour and Bough just smiling away.

I remember when it all came out there were people saying “oh we all knew what Jimmy was like...” yet you all kept quiet.

(I played the Jerry Sadowitz Savile sketch to a friend the other day- he was shocked that no one else was saying anything).

We will continue to see predators like this. Bottom line is there’s not enough concern for abused children from those in power. (I wonder why not? Hmmm)

Bough apparently continuously sexually harassed Selina Scott. Constant remarks, offensive questions, etc.

52andblue · 07/04/2022 13:22

Can I ask those who have watched this about the presentation please?

I understand that some of the content will be triggering for me as a survivor of CSA but I wanted to ask if it is presented factually and respectfully, rather than as 'entertainment' before I attempt to view?

veronicagoldberg · 07/04/2022 13:21

We're walking into a very similar (and potentially more far-reaching) situation by allowing men to identify into roles such as Brownie leaders with no questioning permitted.

NotAGirl · 07/04/2022 13:15

It’s interesting that there were quite a few ordinary people who saw through and said something but were ignored also a small number of famous people like John Lyndon who were effectively cancelled as a result.

I thought he was a weirdo and a bit embarrassing with his hair and clothes but too young to pick up anything else, I was a bit annoyed that we couldn’t watch the same tv programmes as the others in school so couldn’t be part of those conversations

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MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/04/2022 13:11

I watched it yesterday with 20 years old ds. I think his jaw was on the floor the entire time. He kept saying he couldn't believe people laughed at his disgusting 'jokes' and where was the safeguarding ...had to explain it was the 70s/80s and we didn't have it back then! When you watch the footage he is telling us who and what he is, plainly!!

NotAGirl · 07/04/2022 13:08

@Bananalanacake

Is this different to the thing that Steve Coogan is portraying him in?
Yes this was a documentary using footage from the time and interviews with people who knew him. Looked at some of the correspondence between him and Prince Charles
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Bananalanacake · 07/04/2022 12:38

Is this different to the thing that Steve Coogan is portraying him in?

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/04/2022 12:37

@EmbarrassingHadrosaurus

I saw a comment about how jaw dropping it was to see the infamous trio of Jimmy Savile, Frank Bough, and David Icke all in the same morning show.
Also Gary Glitter and Savile on Jim'll Fix It.
MichaelAndEagle · 07/04/2022 12:35

@Pythian

I was struck by memories of how little awareness kids in the 80s (of which I was one) had of the possibility of sexual abuse by people we knew. It was all about stranger danger back then - and I only had the vaguest idea about what it was I was actually being warned about. I didn't really understand what molestation was or what I was supposed to do if it happened. And you were constantly being told to ignore your boundaries and let family members and friends of your parents touch you when you didn't really want them to. Even if it was just "give Uncle Dave a kiss" or "go and sit on Granddad's knee" you didn't feel like you were allowed to say no. It came as no surprise to me that Savile got away with it for so long, because that was the culture back then - you were made to feel like you were being "silly" or unkind if you didn't want to cuddle eccentric Uncle Jimmy, who was a bit creepy but it wasn't nice to say so.
Agree with everything you've said. I had a vague notion that I might be kidnapped and taken away from my mum and dad, didn't know anything about sexual abuse at all.