Mrs Angry’s TV Rant ~ Eastenders and complaints
My rant today is about the number of complaints that Ofcom and the BBC have received about the Eastenders storyline between Whitney and Tony. I absolutely cannot understand why these people felt it necessary to complain? Do they complain if there’s a car crash or if someone steals or if someone gets drunk? No! And why not? Because those things aren’t taboo, that’s why not.
Despite the fact that interfamilial abuse is every bit as common as those other things, we mustn’t mention it because it’s just too unpalatable. Well tough boobies. Child abuse takes many forms and none of them make pleasant watching, none of them are fuzzy cuddly stories and all of them have real victims who really think – a lot of the time – that it’s their fault.
Ordinarily we see abuse in the context that the victim of the piece is a terrorised child who is literally forced into acts of a sexual nature and yes that’s horrific and yes, it happens. The other side of the coin is that the victim believes she is in a relationship with her abuser and – as is the case with Whitney – is in some way ‘complicit’ to the abuse. Now what if you were Whitney? Would you think you were being abused? No, you probably wouldn’t and as things stand with her right now, she doesn’t either. She just thinks she’s got a boyfriend who’s older than her.
She thinks that her abuser is in love with her and she plans a whole life with him. We of course know that Tony is a paedophile and is only going along with the fabricated notion of a long-term relationship in order to get what he wants from Whitney. Should this complex issue be dealt with by a soap? And should it be shown before the watershed? Yes, I believe so, because the chances are there are girls out there who are in Whitney’s shoes and those girls may well watch this primetime soap.
There are thousands of young girls – and boys – in exactly this situation in Britain and they are every bit as deserving of help as those children who are violently raped by family members or anyone else for that matter. It would have been far easier for Eastenders to go the accepted route of portraying Whitney in the role of terrorised victim but instead, they’re bravely tackling the even more hidden issue of ‘consensual’ abuse. I use that word cautiously and of course realise that Whitney isn’t of an age or emotional state to truly consent – and it’s still statutory rape anyway – but I use the word in order to make my point about Whitney’s role.
If just one girl can recognise her own situation as being like Whitney’s and seek help, then the programme has done more than its job. I can’t help but think that those who complained would have done better to contribute the cost of the phone call or stamp to the NSPCC who don’t have the luxury of tutting and turning off the real-life drama of abuse that they see every day.
Rant over – for now – but I’ll be back! Next time however, I’m sure it won’t be such a serious subject but Mrs Angry had to get that one off her chest!
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Oh god! you do make me laugh, you go girl! give it some welly …
hey people get over it, its only a soap
Well I wish people would get a grip with the story line with Whitney on East Enders its real life and it goes on every where.
I think East Enders were very brave to show these story lines and I will lay money on it that they are reaching many children out there with out even knowing it.
Some children might be scared to act on these issues but recognising it is half the battle. This may be enough for them to take precautions to prevent it happening further until they can get there head round things.
I should know I was one of these children who were abused many times and I loved watching East Enders when I was young and still do. If I had of seen this I would have tried to do something about it. I just didn’t realise it or understand that I was being abused I thought it was the norm and all families went through this.
I am very pleased of how East Enders is dealing with this sensitive subject and I’m not offended in any way shape or form and I have been abused and my view counts too.
It is hard to watch mind and it chokes me up at times but if it helps save the lives of children out there then im all for it. I don’t want other children going through all that pain like I did and after all that’s what this story is all about.
This is real life and weather we like it or not it happens, just like murder and rape and burglars.
You can’t change the past, but you can change the future and if we all work together we can make it a better one for all. By bringing important issues to our attention and protecting the vulnerable we can do something about it.
One person can’t change the world, but together we can.
The point is that violence and social evils like child abuse is being showed to a large number of children in this country. The humour and good writing in Eastenders makes it accessible to children who may not understand the full plot but enjoy the comic characters. My kids (6 and 10) absolutely love Eastenders and its one of their favourite programmes.
Parents know the content and can turn it off say the BBC but the fact is like me they do not. They think it’s on at 7 o’clock and its a soap so it must be ok.
We’re subjecting children to a form of abuse by continuing to show this program to children before the 9 o’clock watershed.
[...] think this was a very wise decision on the part of Ofcom… After all, as I pointed out in an article at the time – when the whole debacle was at it’s height – of course the abuse of children happens in real [...]