I finished watching an Italian series today. It’s called Baby and was produced by Netflix. It has been somewhat controversial.
It involves private school pupils and their problems with drugs, sex and authority. It also features a lot of smartphone usage. Three of the pupils (two girls, one boy) are the main characters and we follow them through some pretty full-on stuff. However, by the end, they are all fine and, though it leaves the end open for a sequel, content.
This doesn’t sound very controversial but it was made shortly after quite a high profile Italian case of two school girls who had been groomed into prostitution in order to buy really expensive stuff they thought would make their lives better. As the case went on it also became clear that the mother of one of the girls was also involved.
The case really opened up a whole world of after hours sleaze where the school bags are left at the hatcheck desk while the girls ply their trade on the dance floor. It all sounded rather sordid and unpleasant.
The TV series, I suppose, could be very loosely based on this case and that is where the controversy comes from. A lot of criticism has been that the series makes the life outside school, the life of drugs and sex, is super glamorous and, therefore will have school girls clamouring to get in on it. This is definitely not true.
I thought that the scenes inside the ‘club’ were not in the least bit appealing nor did the female characters think it was. It looked and felt sleazy. What should have been more controversial but was not mentioned at all was the drug dealing at the school.
No-one complained about the boys dealing in pot or violently protecting their territory with threats and criminal damage. I guess female virtue is way more important than male addiction…particularly in Italy.
As I write this, having just finished watching Series One, I find a report that implies there might be a Series Two regardless of the controversy. Or, rather, maybe because of it.
