Television is largely an ephemeral medium. In fact most television barely attains a sell-by-date which is twenty four hours after its initial broadcast; the soaps, the 'reality TV' style programmes (Big Brother, I 'm a Celebrity), any TV programme broadcast between the hours of 9.00am and 7.00pm, any programme which purports to showcase 'new talent etc, in other word 90% of TV
Occasionally a programme or series of programmes fetches up our screens which cause you to think again about the insubstantial nature of television. The reasons, which will be blindingly obvious to most, to wit the programme must be considered (preferably) good at the time of its original broadcast but more importantly must still be considered good now, is that a certain time must elapse before a programme might be considered worthy of the accolade 'classic'.
Programmes that spring to mind, in their entirety, are: Loach's 'Cathy Come Home'; Attenborough's 'Life on Earth'; Bochco's 'Hill Street Blues' (first 4 series); Jacobi's 'I, Claudius'; Larbey and Esmond's 'The Good Life'; LaPlante's 'Prime Suspect'; Bronowski's 'The Ascent of Man'; Clarke's 'Civilisation' to name a few. Of those which are more patchy in nature: 'Monty Python'; Gelbart and Alda's 'M*A*S*H'; Charles, Burrows & Charles' 'Cheers' and its spin-off 'Frasier'; Gerald Wiley's work for Ronnie Barker*. Of later series or serials perhaps Straczynski's 'Babylon 5' and Moore's 'Battlestar Galactica'; Ryan's 'The Shield' and Simon's 'The Wire' might grab a place in that august list of 'classics' in the next decade.
I was reminded of this by a mini-series (2 x 2 hour episodes), which was first broadcast in October 2004 and is currently being shown on 4oD, Channel Four's on-line service**, and which both highlighted a very real problem in Europe at the time (and it still is a major problem) and which garnered a shedload of BAFTA's (the UK's equivalent to the Oscar) including Best Drama and Best Actress.
The problem highlighted by the drama, the trafficking of women (girls) from Eastern Europe into the sex industries in major western European cities, including London, where I live (!), was both realistic, in much the same way as 'Saving Private Ryan' is realistic, you might bend the story but the facts underlying it remain just that, facts, and in its graphic nature in not shying away from the reality of the women's or girl's situation or circumstances.
The obvious allure of the major centres of population, London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and the slightly lesser cities, Manchester, Rouen, Frankfurt-am-Main, Rotterdam do attract women, girls, some of whom are genuinely attracted by the lure of 'easy' money plying 'the trade' on the street, out of illegal cat houses, or legal brothels. However the evidence suggests that large numbers of women, or girls, are lured it into it by the need to feed a habit, acquired when they were at their most vulnerable, ie just off the train; because they become trapped by the eternal dilemma of no home, no job and no job, no home, merely feeding yourself becomes a major concern.
What the drama showed in almost, but not quite, too much detail, was how the women were physically intimidated by those males (in the main) responsible for effectively trading in human beings for money; we used to call it slavery, which it is, but we have managed to 'downsize' the term used to 'sex trafficking' *** in much the same way as we have demoted 'genocide' to 'ethnic cleansing'. I do wonder why the word 'slavery' is no longer used; I do not think the women or girls represented in the drama would deem their experience better then that experienced by the plantation slaves of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.****
Of course, the Director, David Yates, responsible for the last four Harry Potters, although I have stopped holding it against him, actually did a REALLY fine job and was ably assisted by the Director of Photography and the performance of the actress, in what I believe was her first English language role, Anamaria Marinca*****, for which she won the BAFTA. As a master class in tearful, vulnerable Eastern European young females, who are as hard as nails, sort of, she knocks the pants off Mira Furlan, although that just may be the material; I have not seen Furlan's 'Medea' so would not want to do her a disservice. Even though at twenty five, she was perhaps slightly too old to carry off the ingénue at the beginning of the film, by the end she shows sufficient maturity to carry off the women embittered by the events of the previous years but still retaining her compassion for the child and the man that 'befriends' her. (John Simm - famous in the UK for his role as the Master in the rebooted Dr Who)..
In the end, I suspect that the problem is not going to disappear down one of society's plugholes anytime soon. As long as there is a demand for sex for money, and that does show any signs of slowing down, there will be prostitutes, whores, ho's, slatterns, doxies and a myriad of other names testament to man's (and I mean men's) fascination with that most curious of sub-species; those people that think it is a good idea to trade that most basic of biological and emotional imperatives for money. We do it for food and basic shelter, so why not?
The essential thing to do is to wring the control out of men's hands. The first step along the way if to legalise and tax it; so that the women themselves have a least the same basic rights as the rest of us. In a number of countries, ie the UK, they do not; they engage in illegal activity and therefore are not accorded the full protection of the law. The second step is to form co-operative groups, whether self governing or 'controlled' by a madam, whichever suits; they would be policed and protected by their own employees, not pimps.
Step three is to make it preferable to go to a legal brothel or sole trader rather than an illegal one; do not let us kid ourselves, the illegal activity will still go on providing a healthy profit can be turned. Make it uneconomic, the repeal of the prohibition laws in the US, which made booze largely not worth the risk of bootlegging, is a case in question and the illegal activity will largely cease. Finally, and the biggest hurdle of all, make men not want to engage in pointless, loveless, passionless, perfunctory sex for money.
I do not know, or have ever known, anybody who has used a prostitute, and use is probably the right word here, on anything but a one-off basis; the first time; as a treat on your birthday with someone who really knows how to pull all of the strings. I mean really; no kissing, no touching, except for two body parts, no fondling, maximum time allowed fifteen minutes, no cunnilingus (not that you would necessarily want to), no bring your sexual partner to orgasm. Really, you might as well go fuck a hole in a tree, or your fist!
Your average King's Cross bunk up? I would not touch them with yours; no disrespects to the ladies trawling King's Cross. So, what is the difference between me who does not****** and the people that do?
Pointless factoid #607: The Swedish versions of the films based on
Henning Mankel's 'Wallender' books are being broadcast (again) here with
English sub-titles. Curiously the title and end credits are in German
not Swedish! I must confess to preferring the Swedish versions with Rolf Lassgård as Kurt Wallender to the British version with Kenneth Branagh, who does actually play the character in broadly similar fashion. She Swedish versions are over twice as long (4 hours as opposed to 90 minutes) and this must surely make for a more satisfying adaptation.
* Gerald Wiley was of course Ronnie Barker. If he did nothing else, and he did so much more than that, the four candles/fork handles sketch will surely go down in history as the best, or worst, play on the English language and how she is spoke. (HERE if you have not seen it)
** Which incidentally is also showing the very hit and
miss comedy sketch show,, Smack the Pony, which when it does hit, really
hits and which is worth seeing for the wonderfully versatile, talented and staggeringly attractive (Sarah-)Doon Mackichan.
*** The drama is entitled 'sex traffic' and 'pandering to the prurient interest' it does not.
**** And I have already had my rant on the so-called 'Atlantic triangular trade'.(See HERE)
*****Also famous for giving that other Eastern European, Marinca is Romanian, Olga Fedori, who is Ukrainian, a run for her money in the acting as well as the weirdly attractive stakes, in Holby City's episode set in Kiev.
****** No, I am not swimming in a glorious sex crazed orgy of licentious lust.
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