The series “My Little Reindeer” has become a real phenomenon as only Netflix knows how. For several days, Internet users have been trying to find the real protagonists of the story, but at what cost?
Has Richard Gadd, the creator of the My Little Reindeer series, revealed too many details about his personal story? This is a question that arises following the numerous excesses caused by the popularity of the program on social networks.
If you missed the phenomenon, My Little Reindeer tells the story of a comedian whose career is struggling to take off. A bartender in his spare time, he meets a customer at his workplace and becomes the victim of harassment for years.
The author and actor of the series, Richard Gadd, recounts his own ordeal, the one he experienced until 2019. He also reconstructs his rape suffered during his career. Striking and difficult to watch, My Little Reindeer belongs to the genre of autofiction. The author uses his own life and draws a story sprinkled with fictionalized elements.
However, for spectators, the border between fiction and reality is not clear. Richard Gadd remains, rightly, very evasive about the identity of his stalker and his attacker, affirming that he changed many details so that they would not recognize each other.
Abuses on social networks
The success of the series has unleashed social networks and many Internet users are playing detective to find the real protagonists. Thus, the identity of a woman – presented as “the real Martha” – was revealed and thrown out to pasture on the Web. As for the attacker, many names from the creator’s entourage have circulated, to the point that the author himself had to post a warning message on his official Instagram account:
“Hello everyone, people I love, have worked with and admire – including Sean Foley – are being unfairly singled out. Please don’t speculate about who the real people are. This is in no way the point of our series.”
This process endangers people who see themselves associated with acts that they certainly did not commit, all without any verification or proof. Such accusations made on the Internet constitute defamation.
Responsibility of spectators and media
The media in turn participate in this mechanism, like the British tabloid Daily Mail who claims to have found the “real” Martha and publishes an interview to give her a voice. Again, without any proof of his real involvement in the story.
Did Richard Gadd, therefore, make a mistake by revealing too much information? If he takes a real risk by arousing the spectators’ interest in his life, the author remains completely legal. He altered names and changed many details to ensure the real people could not be found.
In an interview for GQ, he specifies that the first concerned might not even recognize each other. It is the public’s responsibility to stop at what they see, to respect everyone’s private life and not to cross the limit authorized by the author.
My Little Reindeer is available on Netflix.