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| Nikki's Rage; The early episodes | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 26 2006, 08:02 PM (2,484 Views) | |
| abzug | Jun 28 2006, 12:25 PM Post #16 |
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In love with a prisoner
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Oh, I definitely agree. I think that's part of why I used the word "romantic"--to try to emphasize the emotional aspect of things, and how important Nikki's relationships are to her, how much she feels they need protection from the discriminating and oppressive world. And that would be true no matter what kinds of relationships she had, as long as they weren't with white heterosexual men. |
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| abzug | Jul 9 2006, 12:26 PM Post #17 |
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In love with a prisoner
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I was chatting with my aunt yesterday. I recently loaned her my BG season 1 dvds because I thought she'd really like the show (she's a lesbian, she's been involved in the theatre for a very long time and so I figured she'd appreciate the writing and acting, and plus she's a romantic, so....). Anyway, she's watched only the first two episodes, but when I asked her what she thought about Nikki, she said she was struck by how the character is so victimized, with the implication being that she sort of embraces her victim status. We then discussed how much dignity and power Nikki always maintains when she's victimized or mis-treated (when she's being strip-searched by the DST, in the "listen darling" scene which we've discussed in that other thread), but even so my mind keeps coming back to this idea of Nikki as victim. Because I think there is really something to it. We've talked about how much Nikki hates injustice, how she fights for the underdogs etc. But there is definitely a way in which she clings to this idea that she is so abused and mistreated, and uses that to never make things better for herself. Some examples of this which occur to me right off the top of my head: 1. Not reporting the Tessa Spall incident so she can stay on enhanced 2. Convincing herself that Helen is cheating on her (ie mistreating and abusing her like everyone else does)--this is the biggie, of course 3. Blaming Helen for the torching of her cell in the Pam Jolly ep in season 3 4. This idea of Nikki as victim could also explain why she's so passive when it comes to accepting breakups, first from Trish, and then from Helen (at least, the breakups that occur in season 3, that is) In season 1, the initial connection between she and Helen begins when Helen breaks Nikki's I'm-such-a-victim cycle by not sending her down to solitary after Nikki attacks Shell. And then Helen continues to give Nikki special and privileged treatment which further elevates Nikki from her victimhood. But of course even Helen can't overcome Nikki's insistence on remaining an abused victim. In a way I think she clings to it in order to maintain some sort of moral high ground--its the whole playing-the-martyr thing which Helen points out in S1E5. I don't want anyone to think I regard Nikki negatively because of it. I think the show clearly depicts Nikki's attitudes and behaviors as resulting from the institutionalized abuse of the justice and prison systems, so I suspect were she on the "outside" these particular personality traits would diminish significantly (although they wouldn't disappear). There's a reason that powerless groups emphasize martyrdom--its the one source of power still available when all else has been taken away. |
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| richard | Jul 23 2006, 05:40 PM Post #18 |
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Enhanced
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I've caught onto this post recently and I couldn't agree further with the point that it is what Nikki has come to rely on (and in Larkhall there isn't much) that is let down that really gets to Nikki- example being of Trisha not being around to answer Nikki's phone call and Dominic apparently pursuing Helen - a double instance as Nikki has got to trust Dominic. One really interesting scene for me was after Helen told Nikki about Fenner sexually assaulting her when Nikki went into the Po's room. At the start, Nikki's voice was almost childlike until she built it up to the point where she terrorised Fenner with the thought that she might stab Fenner with a broken bottle. She used a double playoff of what Shell did to Fenner and what she actually did to DC Gossard. You sense that there is really a powerful head of steam of bottled up rage yet Nikki did actually control it in terms of stopping short of the brink and at the same time directing to scare the hell out of Fenner. His reaction was being in his worst nightmare of a specific female reaction. In this situation, I must admit that my sympathies were more with Nikki than Helen. Logically, Helen was right in feeling that she had no recourse and couldn't press charges though the reality might have been different. From Nikki's point of view, she was being asked to do something that was clean against her nature. Any thoughts on this one? |
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| Lisa289 | Jul 23 2006, 09:16 PM Post #19 |
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Welsh Bad Girl
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I've been recently rewatching series 3, so the scene in the POs office is pretty fresh in my mind at the moment. Nikki really did want Fenner to suffer because of what he did to Helen and I loved how she terrorised him with the bottle. Especially naming Dockley and making him sort of relive the attack. I have huge respect for her in this scene because not only does she show her undying love for Helen, but she also shows her respect in the way that she realises she might be getting out soon. She knew that actually attacking Fenner there and then would have completely thrown her appeal out the window, so I think she was actually thinking about Helen's hard work and how she'd been "working her arse off". I think Nikki was a bit shocked when all that kind of back-fired and Helen said that the appeal was in jeapordy plainly because she had "terrorised" him, even though she didn't actually touch him. |
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| campgrrls | Jul 23 2006, 09:40 PM Post #20 |
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G2 landing
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It seems to me that Nikki is channeling Yvonne at that point. It seems more like something Yvonne would do than Nikki. |
| Carolyn | |
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| Lisa289 | Jul 23 2006, 09:45 PM Post #21 |
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Welsh Bad Girl
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Never looked at it like that, but yeah i suppose its true. Yvonne's the one you'd expect tp taunt people like that and yet not actually do anything lethal. When I first saw that ep, I really thought Nikki was gonna do something utterly stupid and completely jeapordise her appeal. I was shocked to be honest when she said, "If I wasn't getting out of here, it'd almost be worth it" because it showed how much she was actually thinking (about how her actions would be used against her, and how Helen would react). |
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| abzug | Jul 24 2006, 12:15 AM Post #22 |
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In love with a prisoner
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The thing I love about this scene is that Nikki uses her reputation for rage as a weapon, rather than her rage itself. And it proves a much more powerful weapon. It IS very Yvonne-like, because a big part of Yvonne's power comes from the fact that when she intimidates someone, that person knows Yvonne will take the action to back it up. |
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| Lisa289 | Jul 24 2006, 12:59 AM Post #23 |
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Welsh Bad Girl
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Oh definitely. She's actually very calm in this scene, Fenner's just shittin it because he knows what Nikki's capable of and he's already aware of the fact that she's never been his biggest fan. |
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| richard | Jul 24 2006, 04:17 PM Post #24 |
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Enhanced
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I hadn't thought of the comparison with Yvonne but it is a very illuminating comparison. This was a scene where Mandana excelled in gradually building up the scene and being utterly convincing. |
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| Nikkhele | Aug 3 2006, 05:14 PM Post #25 |
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Out of Dorm
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Newbie here ![]() Coming to this thread a little late, but here goes: I think I have a different perspective on Nikki's rage which I don't think has been discussed. I see Nikki's rage as a loss of control about her life. She has been making life choices for herself since she found herself on the street at the tender age of 16. But not only did she make very good choices about her life (i.e. not ending up on drugs, a prostitute, or in jail as so many street kids at 16 do), but she managed to build her life out of the gutter and into being co-partner in a thriving business, and in a long term relationship with the woman she loves. It speaks of a woman who is fiercely independent, enterprising, has integrity and lived her life on her own terms i.e. being an out Lesbian. Then she was sent to jail for "life" for murder. Once that happens, all of what I've discussed above is taken away. The prison system beats her down by taking away every imaginable decision. This is where I think her rage is coming from. She rages against injustice because she is a woman of integrity, not just for herself, but for everyone else as well. I think the reason why Nikki got so upset about Femi is because it was a microcosm of that loss of control about her life. Not knowing what's going, not knowing the language, in a foreign country, not knowing the routine, etc just pushed Nikki's buttons beyond the pale. She strongly identified with Femi's situation not only because she's in it herself, but because Femi's situation is a worse case scenario from her perspective (6 kids etc). Meanwhile, Helen blows her off when Nikki said she had a right to know. Helen treated her as Governor versus prisoner rather than as if Nikki asked her girlfriend what's going on. Helen could have handled that better. In my mind, this is where the riot really started. OTOH, Nikki knows in the back of her mind that the "peaceful protest" could escalate and pit her directly against Helen (and the System), which is why she is reluctant at first to lead the cause (the pool table scene). But she goes on with it because it's a cause she feels so strong about. The protest escalates into a riot of prisoner vs the System but also Nikki vs Helen. Nikki needed to know what happened to Femi because it would give her some semblance of control by easing her worst fears (it was deja vu re Carol's miscarriage), and she was asking that from Helen. But Helen, who had her own reasons and insecurities, couldn't give it to her. In other instances, when Trisha broke up with Nikki, again she had no control over a major life decision. If they were both on the outside, Nikki would have been more aware of Trisha's unhappiness sooner, or of course, it might not have happened at all (not that I'm objecting to Trisha and Nikki breaking up ). The point is, Nikki lost a major part of her life ("you've all I've got!") without having any say in Trisha's decision. Trisha made the decision for Nikki long before Nikki knew anything about it. No wonder she attacked Shell Dockley!Nikki's jealousy re Dominic is also her not having any control over things that effect her life, like what Helen is doing on the outside. I think Nikki felt that if they had both been on the outside, Dominic wouldn't have been a threat at all. But she couldn't control the situation from the inside. Knowing first hand (if she was on the outside) would have given her that control. IOW, it was about the knowing, not about controlling who Helen can or cannot see (which I think Helen misread). Helen not telling Nikki about her initial get together with Dominic caused Nikki not to trust what Helen told her from there on. She needed to assess for herself (in person), something she couldn't do, but something that was a normal course of things before she went to prison. So she rages against Helen (with jealousy) for making her feel so powerless. Same as Trisha. Another instance -- when Helen brings Nikki back to Larkhall, Nikki rails against the locked door. I think she's in a rage because she had one big chance to take back control of her life and it was thwarted by Helen. Nikki has no faith (or very little) that the appeal will come through but she does it for Helen. (Well, okay, Helen traps her but not the point). However, Nikki's rage is not against Helen (as we see how relatively calm she is when she talks to Helen in the office), it's the System and her loss of control about her life decisions that she's raging against. I don't mean to make it sound like Nikki's a control freak, because I don't think she is under normal circumstances. I just think that someone with a personality like Nikki's, i.e. so strongly independent and in control of her life since she was 16, then to suddenly have that yanked away from her for what is possibly the rest of her life. Well, she just can't handle it. Anyway, I hope that wasn't too convoluted Nikkhele |
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| abzug | Aug 3 2006, 06:52 PM Post #26 |
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In love with a prisoner
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Welcome to the board, Nikkhele, and great post. I agree pretty much entirely with your assessment of Nikki and the source of her rage and anger. I've often likened Nikki to a caged animal--if she wasn't locked up, she'd be fairly sedate, even-keeled, but once she's trapped, she becomes wild. (Others have used a similar metaphor--I'm definitely not the only one who has conceived of Nikki this way.)
This might be the one place where I would quibble with your take on the character. Nikki's jealousy is not a new thing for her because she's in prison. Remember the second scene with Trish in the visiting room? They're talking about Trish getting the shower fixed, and how she should have had a woman do it (rather than a man) and then Nikki acknowledges that Trish didn't want to make her jealous by having a female plumber in the house. Its a very telling moment, because even this early on, they're clueing us into a personality trait of Nikki's that will be the future source of friction between Helen and Nikki. She's not jealous because Helen didn't communicate well, or keep her in the loop about her interactions with Dominic. She's jealous because, well, we could speculate why Nikki's a jealous person, but its characterological, not circumstantial. Back a few months ago we had that discussion going about Nikki being a reader, not just of books but of people. And how she's such a good reader of people, always looking into subtle behavioral clues to understand what someone is thinking and feeling beneath the surface. Its part of why she knew Helen was interested in her before Helen even knew it. And its also why she is quick to see Helen as being unfaithful, first with Claire, and then with Dominic. She draws conclusions from very little (or very subtle) information, and while those conclusions are usually accurate, sometimes they overstep, they draw too much of a conclusion. In a way, this corresponds with your idea about her need to assess in person, and her inability to do so given the restrictions of Larkhall, but takes it from a slightly different angle. Anyway, take a look at the thread--its pretty interesting. http://z4.invisionfree.com/Nikki_and_Helen...p?showtopic=186 |
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| richard | Aug 3 2006, 07:12 PM Post #27 |
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Enhanced
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I particularly like your post, Nikkhele. Nikki is most vulnerable if she is denied the opportunity to assess a situation for herself, be in control of a situation and also having far too much time on her hands. When Nikkio was running the club, she had all three. Your post places the situation in its rightful place against the personality. Personality seen on its own can be a dangerously innaccurate explanation. It's also worth checking out Babs observation to Nikki that 'being in Larkhall makes you paranoid.' i.e. the situation not the person. What is of great interest is the extraordinary level of self control and capacity for delicate negotiation Nikki has in the riot situation when she is trying her best to negotiate decent terms for Femi, dealing with pressure from the Peckham Boot Gang's lunatic fringe and also trying her best to retrieve the situation for Helen. She does fine with a winning hand and is extraordinary in dealing with an (initially) losing hand. Another strong feeling I got which backs up abzug's point about the 'caged animal' is the feeling on seeing Nikki in the club that a casual onlooker would never know that Nikki had done time. |
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| Nikkhele | Aug 4 2006, 12:57 AM Post #28 |
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Out of Dorm
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You may have a point here, I'll have to think about it some more. Another thing I noticed in the exchange with Trisha, is when she tells Nikki there's someone else, she says "Please don't be angry with me, Nik". It's implies Nikki has a bit of a temper. That actually scared me more than the jealousy comment, which almost seemed like a joke. The point I'm making is that I see these traits exacerbated to the extreme in prison. Nikki has these traits but while in prison, her utter powerlessness in not being able to make her own choices drives her crazy. Another instance I can think of is when Helen transfers Caroline. Nikki's rage comes out full force because she feels she's making her own choice to get involved with Caroline (without all the facts but that's besides the point). But then, Helen (through the System so it's personal and professional), takes that choice away from her by deciding on her own what's best for Nikki. Meanwhile, Nikki feels like she can't even make her own choice about a small bit of happiness due to what she perceives as Helen's petty jealousy, so her rage is front and centre. Thanks for pointing me to the other thread. Great reading! |
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| abzug | Aug 7 2006, 03:24 PM Post #29 |
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In love with a prisoner
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Oh, absolutely. One of the big themes in the first few seasons is how hard it is to be normal in such an extreme, closed-in, restrictive environment. This is true for the screws as well as the cons. I've also been thinking about certain audience members' concerns about Nikki being "co-opted" in season 3. That Helen essentially "tames" her, getting her to improve her behavior and stop being an agitator. Its a very interesting issue because people place lots of value judgments on it. How "radical" is Nikki? Can a person work within the system successfully? Can a person work within the system and be radical? Why is it so important that we be able to think of Nikki as radical--ie why is radical a good thing? I think the reason people feel like radical is a good thing for Nikki to be is because the system (ie Larkhall, as representing the system as a whole) is so clearly deeply corrupt and evil. So if you're fighting against this system, trying to change it or tear it down, then you are obviously Good. On the other hand, we've got Helen, who is working within the system, and actually achieving some success. The lifer's unit, Pam Jolly, her handling of Femi etc. In fact, we could presume that if Helen wasn't being blackmailed by Fenner and stayed on at Larkhall, she might have been able to change quite a bit as the number one. So the show seems to have a fairly positive view on working within the system--which is not a radical perspective at all. Some of us might disagree, but it does seem to be the show's philosophy. I think this is highlighted even more when we see how Nikki suffers when she does take radical action. The instances I'm thinking of are at the beginning of S1 with the stuff with Carol and then Rachel, and then of course the riot and Femi. In both cases, Nikki acts as outside agitator and suffers severely on a personal level for it. It winds up being self-destructive behavior for her--she ends up down the block, she loses her girlfriend etc. The riot in particular is an interesting example, because first Nikki tries to work within the system (talking to Helen on two occasions etc), but she can't--its not permissible for someone without power to try to work within the power structure. Or, its permissible at times, but that permission can be withdrawn on a whim. So the show definitely has a concern about what options are open to the cons, who can't work within the system, but have to suffer it. With Nikki, it becomes a situation where she chooses to help herself personally (through her classes, privileges, her relationship with Helen etc) rather than focusing on helping the community. This could be a potentially depressing outcome for this character, but on the other hand there's a sense she would have destroyed herself in the meantime, been a martyr to the community of the cons, in a fruitless fight against the system. In some ways, characters like Yvonne and Pat solve this problem more effectively, by creating their own alternative power structure and then maintaining control through that. Which is all a roundabout way of saying that it seems too simplistic to say radical = good, and therefore Nikki's lack of aggressive agitation in the later seasons is a bad thing. I think Shed is trying to take a more nuanced view on tactics for change, and pointing out some of the problems with being a radical agitator, just like they point out some of the problems with being part of the system. Its interesting that Helen's role inside the system is what prevents her from having personal happiness, while Nikki is only able to get personal happiness by being more accomodating of the system. That contrast makes for a much more complex message on these themes. |
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| ekny | Aug 8 2006, 04:27 AM Post #30 |
In love with a prisoner
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First, I wanted to thank you for that excellent post, very nuanced presentation of the problems inherent in their relationship. I agree with your conclusions, esp that working within the system as presented through the figure of Helen isn't necessarily a cop-out or compromise, and neither is, per Nikki, trying to work with the system. And that Shed fairly presents the latter as far more problematic bec of all the extreme power imbalances, etc., but that there's nothing in itself 'bad' abt striving for some middle-ground in approaching a given situation, so long as the wished-for goals are kept in sight and the approach has a reasonable chance of meeting them. I was talking w/a friend abt some aspects of S3 & had another thought abt this that seemed relevant so am lifting the pertinent bits from that correspondence w/apologies to my friend for quoting meself. ![]() Something I haven't seen come up in any discussion of Nikki & Helen's dynamic: it's taken for granted that Helen advances her initial attempts at finding a way to get Nikki 'on her side' and to some extent 'uses' her later solely in order to further her own professional interests. I've never felt that's a fair or very generous reading of Helen's actions: after all, she recognizes something immediately in Nikki that we do too, as audience: that Nikki's got the makings of a really good leader. That's what their first confrontation is in part about, innit? A reluctant leader, but a natural--and one who truly cares about the rights of others, is not just in it for her own reasons or agenda. I believe it's entirely within Helen's compass to legitimately want to see Nikki put herself forward--constructively--on her own behalf as well as that of other prisoners. She never asks Nikki for help for things she doesn't believe Nikki cares about too, that's something she takes as a given throughout: that working for the betterment of women's lives on the inside is something they're both about. So in that way, I'd suggest the riot is in fact an extremely logical outcome to Nikki & Helen's involvement in terms of their respective roles and conflicts within the prison system. In fact, it's pretty much perfect as a compact dramatization of how far you can go (and no farther); and why & how things go wrong. Anyway, the point is that this idea abt Helen maneuvering around Nikki, although initially viewed suspiciously by Nikki (and thus, the audience) as a means to further her own goals, always but especially later has (to me) an element of impersonal interest in it: leadership is something Nikki's good at, it's a skill, and like all Helen's other attempts to encourage Nikki to do what she's good at, likes, and has a real strength in, it seems to me this very much also falls into that category. Her encouragement isn't manipulative, yes she wants a prisoner on her side, but she also wants Nikki to use those leadership skills. We see this tendency expanded esp in S2 with her job change; Helen does in fact encourage other women in their strong suits wherever possible, for their sake, not her own. |
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). The point is, Nikki lost a major part of her life ("you've all I've got!") without having any say in Trisha's decision. Trisha made the decision for Nikki long before Nikki knew anything about it. No wonder she attacked Shell Dockley!


2:08 PM Jul 11