The recent line in true crime documentaries from the US has exposed us to some of their most deranged figures: The loopy Tiger King, vicious football pro Aaron Hernandez and Fyre Festival’s shameless grifter Billy McFarland.
We might have scoffed at how the Americans didn’t spot these individuals but now Netflix has turned the tables on us.
Viewers around the world are familiarising themselves with Jimmy Savile thanks to A British Horror Story, which has left them wondering what the hell Britain was thinking for 40 years.
Uncomfortably, there isn’t a good answer. Savile was a fiend wearing the skin of a lamé-clad scarecrow and lots of us seemed to know. There were hints in the media and even football chants about his depravity; yet nothing was done.
Worst were the authorities. The paedophile served as a court jester to Margaret Thatcher’s government. Despite staff throughout the company knowing what he was like, the BBC kept employing him. He counted Prince Charles as a pal.
The series is horrifying not just because of what he did but how our trusted institutions failed; it explores where turning a blind eye becomes complicity, and perhaps even worse.
The conclusion of the two-part series doesn’t have much in the way of catharsis. All we’ve been left with is a system which was exploited by him and enabled him.
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story Netflix
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