The Ripper - General Discussion

[Quilt Fairy]

 

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The new Netflix docuseries “The Ripper” revisits The Yorkshire Ripper, a fiend who terrorized Northern England, killing at least 13 women.

I was just looking for something to have on in the background, but  I really got drawn into this series.  I remembered the story only vaguely, and I had to force myself not to Google "The Yorkshire Ripper"  before the last episode to find out whodunit.  I don't think it was perfect - a few times information was presented out of the proper timeline and the editing could have been much better.  But the mid to late 70's were when I started working, and the women's issues raised really resonated with me.  

[Lillith]

I am an American and was a kid when it happened but I still recall news coverage on it hear. I know the spoiler of whodunit but there is a lot about the case I didn't know and am really finding this interesting so far. 

[LakeGal]

I enjoyed this series.  I didn't remember this case that clearly.  I did find it interesting.

[Writing Wrongs]

I'm only in the second episode, but I think it's weird how the police tell the press about every clue they have and what their next moves will be.

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

I'm only in the second episode, but I think it's weird how the police tell the press about every clue they have and what their next moves will be.

I know, right?  I don't know if that's a British thing or just the inexperience of the local police in dealing with such a major crime.  Isn't there a point where Scotland yard can be called in, or have I read too many British mysteries? 

[Enero]

I’ve made it to the 3rd episode. Glad they eventually bought a clue that putting everything about the cases in the media works against them. Too bad the lead investigator didn’t listen when it was brought to his attention that the letter and voice recording was not from the killer.

Also, though I could get the women being frustrated about their rights being diminished by this psycho killing women, being defiant about something like this ie ignoring the warnings not to travel out alone especially after dark was very foolish. As the one young woman discovered. She was very lucky she didn’t lose her life over that defiance. 

That said, I agreed with the protests. Why not order all men off the street? Put a curfew on men rather than women? We know why. 

Finished the documentary. It was okay. The most interesting aspect was the feminist angle which they should’ve spent more time exploring as well as how that tied to the victim’s pasts, especially those who might’ve been mislabeled as prostitutes. The focus on the “investigation” or lack there of, I think is what worked against this documentary the most. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Enero

[sugarbaker design]

I found it fascinating, I binged right through it.  From the incompetent police work, to the paternalistic press it was as if the Ripper had accomplices.  How could the higher ups have taken the letters and tape so seriously?

Golda Meir should've been in charge:

During Israel’s rape epidemic in the early 1970s , Meir’s cabinet suggested creating a curfew for women as a possible solution. Meir replied, “but it is the men who are attacking the women. If there is to be a curfew, let the men stay at home.” 

[rlc]

On 12/21/2020 at 8:23 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I know, right?  I don't know if that's a British thing or just the inexperience of the local police in dealing with such a major crime.  Isn't there a point where Scotland yard can be called in, or have I read too many British mysteries? 

I think it comes down to simple misogyny combined with incompetence. They decided that he was going after prostitutes and women of ‘questionable’ morals, and didn’t work that hard to find him.

[Cheezwiz]

I thought this series was quite well done. I only vaguely remembered hearing about this case when I was a kid, and didn't know the particulars at all, so it was an interesting watch for me.

I really liked how the show provided a lot of socio-economic background & context for the murders. My God, what neglected impoverished looking areas those were where some of the victims were discovered. Little wonder some women felt desperate enough to engage in occasional prostitution on the side to feed their families. I would have liked more background on some of the women, and how they were mis-identified. I felt incredibly sad for those who had left behind young children. I read that one of Wilma McCann's daughters committed suicide as an adult, because she felt haunted and dogged her whole life by her mother's murder.

Unbelievable how badly the cops botched things because of their misogyny and tunnel vision. Imagine being approached by surviving victims who had been attacked with the same MO and had good descriptions, and totally ignoring them because they didn't fit the profile. And the perpetrator was interviewed NINE times and always managed to escape detection.

I was curious about the one woman who was an art student, who was attacked in an alley way near her college and survived. From her account, it almost sounded as if once the perpetrator had finally been arrested, she realized that she knew him, or had met him prior to the attack - but the show never returned to that thread.

 

[Irlandesa]

I don't know if you've heard but a woman named Sarah Everard disappeared while walking home in London and it's suspected that she was killed by a cop.  The reason I bring this up is because I was reading this article and this passage stood out to me.
 

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Police making door-to-door inquiries in the case reportedly warned women not to venture out alone, prompting some to comment that this approach only fuels the culture of blaming victims.

A "Reclaim These Streets" vigil has been organized via Facebook for 6 p.m. Saturday on Clapham Common, a green space Everard is believed to have crossed soon after 9 p.m. as she walked toward her home in Brixton.

 

This was exactly what they did when the Ripper was in the middle of his reign of terror.  45 years later and women are hearing the same thing.

[Clawdel]

On 12/23/2020 at 8:29 PM, Enero said:

Too bad the lead investigator didn’t listen when it was brought to his attention that the letter and voice recording was not from the killer.

I think if you poke around on YouTube you can find videos about that particular hoax.