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Harlots (Season 1)
Another show I'd been hearing good things about, and have now managed to watch the first season of. (Consisting of eight episodes.) Not least because it's set contemporary to the 18th century goings on which have been occupying a lot of my time this last year, only in Georgian London. What had intrigued me ahead of watching was hearing that on the one hand, the main plot of the first season was driven by a rivalry between two (female) brothel owners, and most of the characters were prostitutes, but on the other, supposedly it avoided the obvious male gaze trap as well as the two extremes of prostitution presentation - either it being prettified into a non stop glorious romp, or it's basically Jack the Ripper time, with additional relentless exploitation.
Now that I've watched it: yes, Harlots, season 1 (can't say anything about s2 yet) delivers. It's as female centric as they come - all the leading and the majority of supporting characters are women. We're told that in the early 1760s, every fifth woman in London supported herself by prostitution (which I vaguely recall was mentioned in the introductions to Boswell's diaries as well as in at least one biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton that I've read), and the attitudes and reasons for the characters towards sex work are pleasingly individual, instead of generalized. Some hate it, some are indifferent but it's a way to survive, some do enjoy (most) of the sex; the show also does a lot with class differences, as one of the madames, Lydia Quickley (Lesley Manville), prides herself on her upper class clientele, and when the other, Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton), in the pilot moves her establishment from her previous more working and lower middle class surroundings to Mrs. Quickley's neigbourhood, war is declared. Though we soon learn the two have backstory galore; Margaret was sold as a child of ten to Lydia for the price of a pair of shoes by her parents, and this impacts her to this day. It also impacts on Margaret's relationships with her daughters, Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) who is supposed to embody the upwards move of the family by being a high class courtesan living exclusively with her rich patron, and Lucy, whose introduction to prostitution Margaret has very mixed feelings about, which makes for one of the season's plot threads. (Margaret also has a son who is still a child by her common law husband, Mr. North; the two are two of several characters of color in the series, because Georgian London isn't treated as a whites only city, and yes, the issue of slavery is squarely addressed. Mr. North is a free man, but Harriet, who arrives in the show with another character Margaret has backstory with, is a slave, and this becomes increasingly important as the season continues.
Mr. North is also one of the few significant male characters and by far the most positive one. Most of the johns don't have much screen time, and those who do tend to fall more in the villainous department, as one of the main threats of the season is a secret cabal of ruthless aristocrats and the corrupted law officials who aid them. But the show doesn't make the "women = good, men = evil" mistake; Lydia Quickley is a first calibre villainess of the Livia in "I, Claudius" or Servalan in Blake's 7 type. Mind you, it's also not so simple that Margaret is the good bothel keeper to Lydia's bad one; how far she's willing to go in her war with Lydia is one of the questions the season keeps asking, and when an old friend tells Margaret she's "a powder puff and a wig away from becoming all you've despised", you can see her point.
While the majority of the sexual relationships in the first season, both mercenary and romantic, are m/f ones, we also get two male prostitutes, one of whom is gay, and three, arguably four of the (female) supporting characters clearly prefer women; one of them starts a tentative romance with a character who when introduced seems to be the least likely candidate, and yet it makes perfect sense. Speaking of things that make sense: the show also covers what happens when you get pregnant despite 18th century prevention methods, as well as cases of STD. I'm expecting the small pox to make an appearance at some point in the future, simply because so many people did get it in that century.
Language: Scriptwriter John Thorne - the last work of whom that I've come across has been Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - has fun with 18th century bawdiness and witty verbal sparring. The language is far more explicit than the on screen scenes, because I wasn't kidding about the lack of male gaze. (For example: at one point, Charlotte has hate sex with *spoiler*; they're both fully clothed and doing it against a wall, which strikes me as way more realistic in terms of the type of relationship these two have.)
Acting: top notch. Also you have actresses of different body types cast. (Actors, too, but that's far more the norm.)
Cameos by historical celebrities: haven't spotted any yet, which doesn't mean they weren't there, just that I missed them. Every Scot's least favourite Hanoverian, the Duke of Cumberland, gets mentioned but doesn't show up. Also mentioned: the Prussian Embassy. No on screen Prussian yet, though.
Violence: some, but we mostly see the after effects (which btw makes it way more chilling).
All in all: I enjoyed the season a lot, and will continue with the show.
Now that I've watched it: yes, Harlots, season 1 (can't say anything about s2 yet) delivers. It's as female centric as they come - all the leading and the majority of supporting characters are women. We're told that in the early 1760s, every fifth woman in London supported herself by prostitution (which I vaguely recall was mentioned in the introductions to Boswell's diaries as well as in at least one biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton that I've read), and the attitudes and reasons for the characters towards sex work are pleasingly individual, instead of generalized. Some hate it, some are indifferent but it's a way to survive, some do enjoy (most) of the sex; the show also does a lot with class differences, as one of the madames, Lydia Quickley (Lesley Manville), prides herself on her upper class clientele, and when the other, Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton), in the pilot moves her establishment from her previous more working and lower middle class surroundings to Mrs. Quickley's neigbourhood, war is declared. Though we soon learn the two have backstory galore; Margaret was sold as a child of ten to Lydia for the price of a pair of shoes by her parents, and this impacts her to this day. It also impacts on Margaret's relationships with her daughters, Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) who is supposed to embody the upwards move of the family by being a high class courtesan living exclusively with her rich patron, and Lucy, whose introduction to prostitution Margaret has very mixed feelings about, which makes for one of the season's plot threads. (Margaret also has a son who is still a child by her common law husband, Mr. North; the two are two of several characters of color in the series, because Georgian London isn't treated as a whites only city, and yes, the issue of slavery is squarely addressed. Mr. North is a free man, but Harriet, who arrives in the show with another character Margaret has backstory with, is a slave, and this becomes increasingly important as the season continues.
Mr. North is also one of the few significant male characters and by far the most positive one. Most of the johns don't have much screen time, and those who do tend to fall more in the villainous department, as one of the main threats of the season is a secret cabal of ruthless aristocrats and the corrupted law officials who aid them. But the show doesn't make the "women = good, men = evil" mistake; Lydia Quickley is a first calibre villainess of the Livia in "I, Claudius" or Servalan in Blake's 7 type. Mind you, it's also not so simple that Margaret is the good bothel keeper to Lydia's bad one; how far she's willing to go in her war with Lydia is one of the questions the season keeps asking, and when an old friend tells Margaret she's "a powder puff and a wig away from becoming all you've despised", you can see her point.
While the majority of the sexual relationships in the first season, both mercenary and romantic, are m/f ones, we also get two male prostitutes, one of whom is gay, and three, arguably four of the (female) supporting characters clearly prefer women; one of them starts a tentative romance with a character who when introduced seems to be the least likely candidate, and yet it makes perfect sense. Speaking of things that make sense: the show also covers what happens when you get pregnant despite 18th century prevention methods, as well as cases of STD. I'm expecting the small pox to make an appearance at some point in the future, simply because so many people did get it in that century.
Language: Scriptwriter John Thorne - the last work of whom that I've come across has been Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - has fun with 18th century bawdiness and witty verbal sparring. The language is far more explicit than the on screen scenes, because I wasn't kidding about the lack of male gaze. (For example: at one point, Charlotte has hate sex with *spoiler*; they're both fully clothed and doing it against a wall, which strikes me as way more realistic in terms of the type of relationship these two have.)
Acting: top notch. Also you have actresses of different body types cast. (Actors, too, but that's far more the norm.)
Cameos by historical celebrities: haven't spotted any yet, which doesn't mean they weren't there, just that I missed them. Every Scot's least favourite Hanoverian, the Duke of Cumberland, gets mentioned but doesn't show up. Also mentioned: the Prussian Embassy. No on screen Prussian yet, though.
Violence: some, but we mostly see the after effects (which btw makes it way more chilling).
All in all: I enjoyed the season a lot, and will continue with the show.
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