Jimmy Saville documentary on Netflix

[AlternativePerspective]

Have just watched this, obviously we all know what he did and the absolutely reprehensible individual he was.

But watching the documentary and all the clips they played, even if he hadn’t committed all those hideous acts, he was a really creepy repulsive bloke. So why did the nation love him so much?

I’m not talking royals and other celebs etc, but ordinary people. The people who filed past his coffin after his death, and mourned his passing, sent in hundreds of tributes etc. Why? He was just so repulsive. Or is it just me?

I remember one of my aunties telling me and another auntie when he died that it would all come out about him being dodgy and we were quite shocked . She had never met him or anything and none of my family particularly watched his tv shows .

Like Michael Jackson they hid behind a strange persona that we were blinded by

He wouldn’t have been able to get away with what he did now as we have a better understanding and are more aware but he would have still pull the wool over some people eyes not because they are foolish but because he was very manipulative

Many sexual abusers are and use what they can to hide the truth they think on a different level and they can sense vulnerability

I haven’t watched it but I’m going to today.

In the early 80's he lived at my local hospital near Woolwich.
My Sister was hit by a car and was admitted to the same hospital.

On one of the days she was in a nurse came to my Mum and told her that Jimmy Saville was due in the ward to visit the children.
She told my Mum to make sure that my Sister was not left alone with him at any time.
He was known for being a pervert even then.
It was common knowledge amongst all the staff.
But he gave loads of money to the hospital so senior staff did nothing about it.

People dropping hints about other celebs on here is not wise, unless you have absolute proof, in which case report it! Just saying "I get a creepy feeling about so-and-so" is not on.

There is nothing wrong with saying you find someone creepy.

I don't think Tom Cruise is a good actor, lots of people do. It's an opinion that's all.

And whoever said David Walliams "abandoned " his son? He and his ex share custody.

Yes Maggie Ofarrells book about her life experiences she was seriously Ill as a child and when JS came to visit a senior nurse sat with her and would not leave 😔. So sad that women were not listened to. That allowed this to happen.

@crepesncream

I found it strange that some of the royals depended on him for advice.

Yes... If you know a man by the company he keeps, the royals aren't doing very well, are they?

I used to see him out running in Scarborough or chatting to the man who stood painting on the esplanade but never anyone else. He seemed to keep himself to himself in Scarborough.

He was creepy though.

My friend went on Jim'll fix it, but her mother never let her out of her sight, perhaps a good job.

@WingingItSince1973

I've commented on this post earlier. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon, I really did think he was a pervert and when it started coming out about him after his death and yet people still defended him it made me sick. There's a clip in the documentary where a young girl lying in a hospital bed is shown with js next to her and she's drawn a picture of him as a monster and he says to her something like what have I done to you and she says 'everything' or something along those lines and you can see him working out how to divert this into something more lighthearted. My heart ached so so much for her as it seemed such a cry for help and yet she was in front of millions with this monster that she had drawn and it was just laughed off. I could be reading wrong things into it but I doubt it. Why I say that is as a young child myself I wrote a story at school about being chased by a monster and it was quite deep for my age, my teacher pulled me aside asking me if everything was OK at home. I lied and said yes. I wish I had told the truth. Like his other victim too was saying 'why didn't I cry out' when he was abusing her in the church in front of everyone there. It's bringing back so many thoughts and feelings of my childhood. Maybe I'm projecting. But there was so many alarm bells ringing it was deafening and yet these children and vulnerable adults were terrified of the repercussions. Its horrific. I just wish he was still alive to be stripped of everything and left to rot in his old age.

This particular part of the series chilled me to the bone too - it was awful - that poor, poor girl Just one of so many

I had no idea that Jimmy Saville was a predator and a paedophile. I was a child in the 70's and grew up with Jim'll Fix it. I wrote in once, but fortunately never heard back.

My opinion of him was that he was a strange, slightly creepy man, like so many 'uncles' in the 70's. Unwanted attention from older men as a child, for me, was an occasional event, trying to peck me on the lips, hugging me a bit too tight, a pinch on the bum etc. I didn't mention it.

I was as suprised as I think most people were to hear about the depths of his depravity. The Louis Theroux documentary was eye-opening. JS came across as pretty malevolent and stranger than I ever imagined, I was shocked. Not as shocked as when the accusations started though.

The media encouraged the love and hype of him.They did so because the media = part of the establishment, and the executive (the Police) and the legislature (the Gov and MPs) all knew that the man was a total nonce.

The media do the bidding of the system and the state, so the media allowed the hype and encouraged the worship of Saville, at the behest of the system, to protect him from people, many of whom knew on some level, in a way, he was a wrong one, from speaking out.

I mean, don't people get that? That's how it all works. The media tell you all what to think and how to feel and it works on most people most of the time

I found him creepy as a child. I didn't know why, I just knew I wouldn't want to write in to Jim will fix it as I didn't want to meet him.

I haven't watched the documentary yet. It really saddens me that so many were not listened to. And he died thinking he got away with all of that abhorrent behaviour.

Rolf Harris though had me completely fooled. Was shocked when the allegations started coming out about him. As a child I really loved his programmes. As small a consolation as it is, I am glad he was convicted whilst alive and knows the world now knows the truth about him.

I felt the same tigger1001

I was shocked by Rolf Harris but I do remember seeing him on This Morning years ago he was drawing and went to hug Judy and she moved away and stood behind Richard and had that nervous giggle. I recognised it as I’ve been there that creepy man makes you uncomfortable. It was very obvious how uncomfortable she was

He was found dead with his fingers crossed . He was a devout catholic so was hoping he would go up and not down because the hood would outweigh the bad . Wonder which way he went !

I always disliked Saville and certainly found him creepy but the true level of his vile behaviour hadn't occurred to me. My mother, who shared the same view as me and refused to watch Jim'll Fix It - she once warned a friend not to allow their child to write in to the programme - could never understand how he seemed to have free access to hospitals/Broadmoor which seemed inappropriate even by the culture of the day which had yet to embraced any sort of safeguarding.

As far as him operating in plain sight, it is difficult to underestimate how different things were back then. I'm old enough to remember when you were routinely warned to avoid being alone with certain, always senior, men at work because they were 'unsafe' with young women. I also remember asking why these men weren't tackled about their unacceptable behaviour but their seniority and perceived importance made them safe from question. The vulnerable were routinely disbelieved back then.

Saville had cunningly created an 'eccentric' personality that made him equally safe no matter that there were definitely people who knew some of what he was up to. However, he used his power and the sheer magnitude of his charity fundraising to threaten anyone who might get close to exposing him. But as he grew older I think he knew fine well that his time was up.

I can remember saying in the early 70s I could understand why he was a volunteer Porter at St James’s in Leeds, as it was a paid job. Of course now we know why.

He was a porter at the LGI, not St James.

His flat overlooks the children’s playground in Roundhay Park in Leeds - it’s really sinister when you know about it.

another one that got Child Cather vibes from him but times were different back then. I had an uncle who I found creepy and he once did something inappropriate-when I mentioned it to my mum as an older teen my mum dismissed it and said yes that is what he is like, he tried to get his tongue in my mouth one time I kissed him (in a niece greeting way), so the culture was different and people kind of accepted some men were perverts and just avoid being alone with them. This is interesting In The Psychiatrists Chair interviewwww.channel4.com/news/how-jimmy-savile-revealed-all-in-the-psychiatrists-chair

@Tdetfrgrgf

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1338776-Cult-of-Celebrity

Interesting thread. A very vindicated OP.

Very interesting. I wonder how many on there being outraged at the op now claim to have always known he was creepy.

I didn't, I thought he was ugly but I don't remember as a child thinking anything else when I saw him on TV.

I think that the BBC behaved disgustingly and it is unbelievable that they now want to make a bloody drama about it.

I hope they'll have actors playing all the execs and celebs who knew and did absolutely nothing.

@Shimmyshimmycocobop

Not sure why people think it's hindsight that makes him seem creepy, watching this now his behaviour, mannerisms, strange way of pronouncing things are off putting added to which he was unattractive, and badly dressed. I mean what's not to love ?

It was a mystery how he got to present major tv shows then, even more baffling watching it now.

Paedophiles are very good at grooming people to get what they want. Sex, power, money, fame…..

I pointed out to my husbnd [with hindsight] that he told the media several times what he did, they just chose not to hear it or were told to ignore it by tptb.

Unless you were a woman, you didn't have to be attractive in the 70s/80s to present a tv show!

I watched the first part of this documentary yesterday. As well as all the obvious clues he gives away, he was also clearly very at ease in front of a camera, readily able to ad lib and change the subject if it got tricky. All those catch phrases seemed to serve the purpose of helping him to keep talking while he thought of what he could say next. He was also highly confident, charismatic in a way even, and had a way of speaking to strangers as if they were his mates or family, which many current celebrities also do.

I did think him odd as a child and felt something was wrong, though never dreamt what exactly it was - but I can see why he was popular as a presenter and why people fell for him. Watching the footage now though, with the way they have been edited, you can see the darkness underneath (and the obvious psychopathy) but people who didn't know what was happening wouldn't have easily picked up on it at the time.

I remember Jim ll Fix It - wasn't that interested but as others have said, there was little else to watch in those days. Also the marathons- I used to go to watch the London one in the 80s and he'd be one of the celebs we picked out. Also listened to his Double Top 10 show on radio 1 in the 70s - it was on just before we had lunch. He also did those seat belt ads - clunk click for every trip.

Other than that, didn't take too much notice of him.

I agree it could happen now. I was a Lostprophets fan back in the day; could never listen to them now after what the leaf singer did (on a pare with Saville).

Apparently people tried to warn the police about Watkins but no one listened.

I was a part of the indie groupie scene and there were plenty of young teenage girls hooking up with bands - no one blinked an eye (say 20 years ago).

What he did and got away with is utterly disgusting.

moita I was a LP fan too, can't listen to them at all now. It's sad for the other members how it all suddenly ended, although I sometimes wonder exactly what they knew. It was well known at the time they often had underage girls on the tour bus. And the 'Town called Hypocrisy' video was Ian Watkins telling us exactly who he is.