The Deuce
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A 16-year-old girl perishes in a massage parlor fire.
Who is responsible for her death?
Is it the mobster who set the fire as the latest salvo in an ongoing territory war?
Is it Vincent for dragging his brother-in-law into the business in the first place?
Is it law enforcement for ineffectively policing the Deuce so that these incidents wouldnt occur?
Is it the government for stigmatizing sex work and subsequently refusing to provide adequate safety measures for workers?
The list goes on and on and on …
The problem with systemic oppression is that it implicates everyone and blame cant exactly be localized.
He quickly lashes out at them, claiming that he didnt use her.
She was kept safe and nobody cheated her out of money.
I looked out for her.
I looked out for all of them.
Bobby isntwrong, necessarily.
He cant see that hes part of a system that thrives on violence and objectification.
Even though the workers are paid that doesnt mean theyre protected.
Despite objections to the contrary, the girls have always been disposable.
He gets paid by a man who started a turf war that led to Stephanies death.
The fuck is out?
There is no out.
Goldman doesnt know that the cops he brings onto his team are humps looking to cash overtime checks.
In the end, Stephanies funeral only has Vincent, Abby, Ashley, and Bobby in attendance.
There will be a stone so maybe her parents can visit her sometime.
But as the pouring rain symbolizes, the memory of Stephanie will likely be washed away.
Shes one of many women who will suffer similar fates.
Most of the people at her funeral are stuck in the same tide, but theyre still alive.
Change only begins when people stand up and say, no.
Only time will tell if a change will come after all.
Other Tricks and Pricks
Many, many subplots this week:
1.
Candy continues to make progress on herLittle Red Riding Hoodfilm.
Frankie bottoms out at the dry cleaning business because its simply too much for him to handle
3.
Lori tries to leave C.C.
after he continues to mess with her reputation at work
5.
Shay overdoses at the peep show and enters a 28-day in-patient rehab.
Its really funny that C.C.
Vincent sleeps with Abbys photographer friend Vivian after a gallery show in her honor at the Hi-Hat.
Abby gives her consent, but she isnt wild about it by any means.
Words of wisdom from Harvey Wasserman: Ive read my fair share of Bettelheim.
I am familiar with all the Freudian shit.
Sex and death and, you know, annihilation of innocence and matricide and infanticide, etc.
At the end of the day, its gotta be about the fucking.
