Maybe it’s been asked here before - but does anyone have any insight as to why he would want to act as himself where he is essentially reliving trauma from his past?
Why would Gadd want to play himself in this series?
DiscussionWhat about Kevin hart
Meryl Streep
Tbh Meryl or Tilda Swinton could pull it off.
Alec Baldwin. He’s the greatest actor in the world. No one can out act him.
Chris Pratt?
He’s so cool!
Ha ha
Denzel. Duh.
I was thinking Dave Chappelle as Rick James as Gadd
Reliving trauma through art can be helpful in the healing process. I've made an exhibition out of my father's struggles with suicide after he died to understand him better as a person and all the stuff we've been through since my childhood. It enables closure because it attracts people who have had similar experiences.
As someone who's also been through sexual abuse, I can imagine how cathartic this experience must have been for the writer, considering it has already been very cathartic for me as a viewer.
That's it exactly, it's his way of healing.....God bless you too....x
reliving your trauma on a television screen can also severely exacerbate ptsd.
That's very true. Which is why my gf didn't watch the series. She's still in the process of healing from ptsd and she can't watch anything with explicit violence because it triggers flashbacks.
That was his choice to be the star. Let’s trust he knows himself best.
All these people saying ‘he likes attention’ - like he’s a comedian and actor who gets up on stage in front of audiences, no shit he likes attention! If no one ever enjoyed performing, the world would be a very boring place
He’s an actor. This is his story. I bet Freddie Mercury would have watched Bohemian Rhapsody and thought, “I could have done it better.” He’s one of the few actors who will get to tell his own story through film.
This makes no sense btw
Right? How have 86 people liked this?
Majority doesn’t prove it’s right.
Maybe it makes sense to the rest of us and you disagreeing and not understanding doesn't make you right...
some from interview (2019)
here
It can’t be easy reliving the experience in the present tense every night on stage – particularly given the knife-edge intensity of Gadd’s performance. Surprisingly, he says that (as he did with Monkey See Monkey Do) he finds it therapeutic – with the exception of the moments when his parents speak (“I struggle with the massive toll this has taken on them”). It’s certainly a far cry from his days as a comedian, when laughter rather than terror was his stock-in-trade.
Given the success of the serio-comic Monkey See Monkey Do, I wonder whether Gadd considered making Baby Reindeer as a comedy show. The answer is a resounding no. It was hard enough with his award-winning one, he says: “I remember feeling daunted as I was making it, thinking, ‘I’m going to have to make the ramifications of sexual abuse funny.” With Baby Reindeer, “where are the laughs, really? Am I making fun of her? Am I making fun of the situation? I just thought it was a layer too far if I tried to put jokes in this.”
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/sep/10/richard-gadd-stalker-baby-reindeer
I liked he played himself, it made the whole thing more realistic. My only negative was this happened when he was younger and I think seeing someone at the age he was would have hit harder.
Actor, writer. Director
He feels like the story means too much for him to give away. I say that as a person who wrote a record about a trauma bond relationship. I’m not a good singer, I can play some instruments but never was trained in that way. I could have given the record off to a friend to sing, but felt it would be weird to have someone else present my story. So I tracked vocals on it. Gadd probably felt like no one could tell his story better than him self.
I couldn't do it. But he seems to have a need to replay it. I am in recovery from OCD and PTSD and I used to comb through my memories to make sure it was all real or to find a new meaning or lesson or something to assign value to it, because if the abuse/assault didn't teach me something, then it was just tragic and I am just a damaged person and not a strong survivor. Now, I think it was only tragic with no value AND I am a strong survivor AND I do not need to revisit what happened. I don't know why he did it but I'm glad he did. I just hope the attention of this is not harmful to him and his family.
Most survivors feel the same, in my experience. They want to process the trauma, but not stay stuck in it. That's what works for myself and most people I've assessed in my career. The last thing they want is to share their experience repeatedly. They already relive it, unwillingly, in thsir head all the time. Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks/dissociation already pull survivors into a past-oriented pov, or a future-oriented perspective. The one place we avoid when we have an injured stress response system? The present moment.
This is why mindfulness can help. The more we can remind our hippocampus (important brain structure in memory) that we're no longer in danger (our amygdala), the better we can get our hypothalamus to calm down. Our hypothalamus is a central part of our immune system and connects directly to our gut (cortisol).
Staying present is attention, and attention is memory. From a scientific standpoint, I'd question how beneficial it really is to perform one's trauma narrative, repeatedly, on the stage.
Once is cathartic. Over and over risks worsening of any dissociative symptoms, which then worsens any memory issues related to ptsd. That coreelates with immune functioning issues. PTSD causes many new medical conditions, most being chronic.
When our stress response system is stuck in freak out mode, our traumatic memories often pop up without our control and cause real intrusion in our day-to-day tasks.
Source: trauma therapist who isn't currently practicing and a published researcher on memory functioning and PTSD from SV. provides exposure therapy, namely cptsd and pe. exposure therapy is evidence based and is based on the premise of reliving the trauma narrative with a therapist in a safe setting for a limited amount of time as ptsd treatment, including decreasing intrusive thoughts so you stop revisiting the trauma memories without a desire and healthy purpose
Thank you. ERP and ACT were very effective for myself. I wish others found the same relief and freedom from it.
Most survivors feel the same, in my experience. They want to process the trauma, but not stay stuck in it. That's what works for myself and most people I've assessed in my career. The last thing they want is to share their experience repeatedly. They already relive it, unwillingly, in thsir head all the time. Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks/dissociation already pull survivors into a past-oriented pov, or a future-oriented perspective. The one place we avoid when we have an injured stress response system? The present moment.
This is why mindfulness can help. The more we can remind our hippocampus (important brain structure in memory) that we're no longer in danger (our amygdala), the better we can get our hypothalamus to calm down. Our hypothalamus is a central part of our immune system and connects directly to our gut (cortisol).
Staying present is attention, and attention is memory. From a scientific standpoint, I'd question how beneficial it really is to perform one's trauma narrative, repeatedly, on the stage.
Once is cathartic. Over and over risks worsening of any dissociative symptoms, which then worsens any memory issues related to ptsd. That coreelates with immune functioning issues. PTSD causes many new medical conditions, most being chronic.
When our stress response system is stuck in freak out mode, our traumatic memories often pop up without our control and cause real intrusion in our day-to-day tasks.
Source: trauma therapist who isn't currently practicing and a published researcher on memory functioning and PTSD from SV. provides exposure therapy, namely cptsd and pe. exposure therapy is evidence based and is based on the premise of reliving the trauma narrative with a therapist in a safe setting for a limited amount of time as ptsd treatment, including decreasing intrusive thoughts so you stop revisiting the trauma memories without a desire and healthy purpose
Most survivors feel the same, in my experience. They want to process the trauma, but not stay stuck in it. That's what works for myself and most people I've assessed in my career. The last thing they want is to share their experience repeatedly. They already relive it, unwillingly, in thsir head all the time. Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks/dissociation already pull survivors into a past-oriented pov, or a future-oriented perspective. The one place we avoid when we have an injured stress response system? The present moment.
This is why mindfulness can help. The more we can remind our hippocampus (important brain structure in memory) that we're no longer in danger (our amygdala), the better we can get our hypothalamus to calm down. Our hypothalamus is a central part of our immune system and connects directly to our gut (cortisol).
Staying present is attention, and attention is memory. From a scientific standpoint, I'd question how beneficial it really is to perform one's trauma narrative, repeatedly, on the stage.
Once is cathartic. Over and over risks worsening of any dissociative symptoms, which then worsens any memory issues related to ptsd. That coreelates with immune functioning issues. PTSD causes many new medical conditions, most being chronic.
When our stress response system is stuck in freak out mode, our traumatic memories often pop up without our control and cause real intrusion in our day-to-day tasks.
Source: trauma therapist who isn't currently practicing and a published researcher on memory functioning and PTSD from SV. provides exposure therapy, namely cptsd and pe. exposure therapy is evidence based and is based on the premise of reliving the trauma narrative with a therapist in a safe setting for a limited amount of time as ptsd treatment, including decreasing intrusive thoughts so you stop revisiting the trauma memories without a desire and healthy purpose
This series is based on a play he also played himself in. So the entire reason it got made is because he played himself already.
Hes gotten help for his trauma already. For some, reliving traumatic events in a safe environment can be a way to overwrite associations on certain things with less stressful emotions. Its sort of explained in the show already when Donny tried making heads or tails out of the abuse with reckless sex.
No one else would play it better
People deal with traumas in different ways, I think this might be part of his healing process
I mean if you watch the show, he was desperate to become famous. No judgement on him for that. But televising his show on a huge platform like Netflix, of course he'd want to play himself given the chance. It's his best chance to become a household face and name and fulfil his dreams, regardless of the personal cost.
He is desperate for fame but he’s also desperate to figure out “why me.” He listens to the voicemails of Martha after the trial, he tries to map out why she followed him, he is desperate for an answer as to why this all happened to him and where he went wrong and to find meaning from it so he obsesses over the story. And for that reason, I’m not convinced he did it for only fame
I'm not trying to judge the guy here, and I only know him through the character he portrayed, which was based on him, but may not fully be him
He looked up who Martha was before accepting her friend request. Despite the fact that she was obviously overly attached, he said he'd do anything to get a laugh out of her, something that can obviously be seen as flirtatious. He wasn't trying to get a laugh out of people and she just happened to be in the group. He actively wanted her to laugh.
I think his hunger for fame is his primary driving force. I also think, possibly uncharitably, that he put himself in these bad situations because his hunger for fame was greater than his wish to have a life without the horrible situations he found himself in.
I'm not trying to pass judgment on him for any of this, it's just the person I experienced while watching the show. His end goal was fame and he was willing to do just about anything to receive it, in my opinion.
It is kinda interesting wish fulfillment. Like “ha” I got what I wanted but not the way I thought. Also, kinda a triumphant FU to the TV producer guy who insinuated he would help with his career, make him a star, but then never really did, other than offering him a writing gig very late into the saga, after all the abuse
When he said they changed Martha so much in the show she wouldn’t recognize herself, that all went out the window when he played himself. Of course if she saw the show and saw him playing himself it’s safe to assume the story is about her.
Edit: I also want to add that the real life “Martha” looks VERY similar to Baby Reindeer Martha. The claim that Gadd made, that he tried to change her as much as possible, is just an outright lie.
Even if he wasn’t playing himself, he is credited as the writer and she knows his name, so I’m not sure what difference that would make
She may not have even watched it if she didn’t see him in advertisements. It takes a lot more effort to notice who a writer is than see an actor with your own eyeballs. There’s a big difference.
Then there’s the way he didn’t protect her identity at all. He even used the fact she was a lawyer and a woman that looks just like her. Who knows if he actually used the exact pet name she used for him as the title of the show since he didn’t change very much to do with “Martha”, which would’ve been a big flag for her to notice it. Not sure why he said he attempted to protect her identity and that she wouldn’t recognize herself in the show. It’s pretty obvious that isn’t the case at all.
I heard she was thin and somewhat attractive
Where did you hear that? The real life Martha has outed herself as such and while she is a bit thinner than the actress portraying her, it is a pretty close portrayal
I just saw it on one of the many posts here! I have not bothered trying to look for the real Martha to fact check
She’s already been named and has shown herself and she looks very similar to Martha. Heavy set, same length and style of brown hair, similar face.
Could be a way of confronting his demons as well.
Why in such a complex story, where you yourself are painted as a morally grey, "bad" victim, would you want anyone else to apply their own interpretation of your actions to their performance?
I like to think it would have been healing to kind of rewrite his ending, or get to say the things he always wanted to but never could. In therapy a lot of trauma survivors are asked to rewrite their stories and I feel like this could have been similar in a way for him.
it was probably a highly cathartic experience for him taking a traumatic experience that was out of his control and turning it into something completely under his control, as well as being able to fully analyze and understand how it's affected him in a holistic way.
Creating this show was probably better than any therapy could ever be for him, I would imagine.
Yes. In fact he said as such in interviews. Personally I think it took a lot of guts to do this and it couldn't have been easy
It was a similar British show about the girl who played herself in the show about her trauma.
It couldn't have been more masterfully played than by the man himself. It delivers a uniqueness and truthfulness that couldn't have possibly been portrayed the same any other way. I think. It's an absolute masterpiece series
I read somewhere that he started the one man show Baby Reindeer as a way to heal from the trauma. He said after all that happened to him it felt weird playing the funny man and that he wanted to bring his truth to the performance. By the time Netflix picked his show up as a series, he had acted out his story for audiences many times. It was probably an easy transition and exciting performance challenge to take it to the screen.
Plus as others have said I don’t think anyone else could’ve portrayed him better than himself.
Many actors saying acting is therapeutic as you get to like cry about your trauma on stage, and there’s points where you cried over the same thing so many times you can’t anymore because you’ve grieved it and moved on since
I went to school with him and while i congratulate him on his success and recognise what he went through was awfull, we where not friends and it is not surprising he played himself given what he was like back then, he constantly seeked attention and was generally just one of those annoyingly irritating people i had to spend 6 years of my life with.
Coool story bruv
Acting school, high school, college?
High school
I’ve seen another mention of someone on a YouTube review who grew up in his area and said that he was a nasty bully who was really not a nice person.
It's personal and it's cathartic.
Prob just to showcase the raw emotion
I’d like to play myself only because my jacked up life can’t be portrayed as well by anyone else. I think it would be therapeutic too
I assume it was therapeutic
Catharsis and empowerment probably.
Catharsis?
I really think it is either revenge or deeeep therapy.
Role play is a highly beneficial therapy in some therapies!
I'd think it could possibly be therapeutic and validating for the right person. If I'd written my abuse story as a screen play I'd probably want to play myself too.
Authenticity?
I thought that too at first, but then I remember everyone processes trauma differently.
I think the same reason Michaela Coel played herself in I May Destroy You. l I think art helps you process your trauma. If you think about it, it does seem a bit like therapy.
Unpopular opinion but to me he gives off humiliation kink vibes.
Fame?
I appreciated his honesty hugely in this show but did explain what he wants/needs.
He was immense and did the right thing ...he deserves all his plaudits warts and all he was (past tense hoping) a very troubled person.
And gone through quite allot both as victim and enabler.
either because it saved money on a tight budget or he's too personally attached to trust an actor? I think his choice to play himself inevitably leads to other characters being found online and I also think he's smart enough to have known that when he made the decision
I’m sure he paid himself
Because he craves attetion, admiration and fame more than anything else. He made that very clear in the show. In fact, his need for attention made him more vulnerable to abuse (Matha's stalking and Darien's predation). His need for attention outweighed his need to be safe. And most likely, his insatiable need is why he wrote and starred in this show. Comedy wasn't working for him.
He hates himself. Attention and fame give him validation. It takes the edge off his self-hatred (momentarily, like a drug.)
He really likes attention.
Says the person posting their nudes on Reddit 💀
Yep. Takes one to know one.
Thanks for looking at my ass and letting everyone know it's there! Free advertising. ♥️
This!
Undercover narcissist
To be famous
Write the feem choon, sing the feem choon
It kind of tracks with his narcissism
Yes, very much so.
Think he likes the attention
He’s still chasing the fame
Hes a narcissist thats wht
Is every young hungry performer who seeks/enjoys the spotlight a narcissist? interesting
Probably a bit
Dunno but he's so bad I couldn't make it past 10 minutes
One less actor to pay -- more money to keep for himself!
Yeah I think that must be it. /s
I don't think anyone could have portrayed his character as well as he did.