五个女儿

Five Daughters是根据发生于2006年10月底至12月中旬，在英国伦敦北部伊普斯维奇的系列谋杀案改编而成的。如何看待真实的事件，不同的人有不同的角度。从翻译上可以看出，顶着“妓女”和“谋杀”两个头衔完全可以吸引大众的关注，可以想见当年媒体也是如此。而在死者家属的支持下，这部片子从妓女的角度，为我们掀开另一个世界的真实。作为一个犯罪推理爱好者，我没有在片子中看到期望的线索和暗示。但是作为一名女性观众，在片尾为Nina擦汗的同时，不禁思考是什么把这些女人推向被杀的绝境，同样是女人，我能从这5个姐妹血的教训中得到什么启示？同样作为观众的你，如果也是女性，是否也换位想过如果是自己，该如何逃离现实的困境？
首先是5个被杀的妓女和她们的家人。Tania Nicol作为第一个被杀的，反而被描述很少，只说是19岁的乖乖女，照片里一副贤良的样子。没有人知道她怎么会吸毒、卖淫，最后坐上凶手的车。这部车是影片的一个重要线索，多次对拍照（EF51HXB）、颜色（深蓝色）和厂牌（福特）的特写，让观众为某姑娘捏一把汗，有为另一个姑娘惋惜。半个月之后，凶手见第一次行凶成功，就放心再次下手，我们有爱的小情侣John和Gemma成为这次的目标。可以说，吸毒、卖淫和被杀的关联像是殡仪馆的殡葬一条龙打包服务，一旦踏入第一步，后面就不用管了。从Gemma的口中，我们第一次知道为什么吸毒——逃离现实。现实残酷而又压力大，大环境中，针对整件事的媒体压力、群众压力本身就营造了一个高压环境，而毒品带来的享受与轻松又深深吸引着神经脆弱的人们。John的脆弱是有目共睹的，另一个妓女Nina的男朋友Bili也是孱弱的，另一种后文再议论。下一个受害者就是Anni。如果这么多女人中有一个担当主角的话，非Anni莫属。三集的故事都是以她为开头：第一集开始是她出狱、第二集开始是她的死亡、第三集开始则是家人为她祷告。她是Gemma的朋友，似乎比更有更加要好。她们一起计划着一个崭新的未来：Anni将利用自己在监狱中学到的理发技术，Gemma也将去技校学习。一切就因为Gemma的死而终结，而Anni也再一次承受不了失去亲人的痛苦，以染发为标志，再次踏上站街之路。她的第一次失足，是她父亲的死带来的打击。这里我们可以看到，当主人公被爱的需求被剥夺时，脆弱的人选择放弃自己而逃避，最后招致被杀。这个假设能否成立呢？请看最后两位受害人：Paula和Annette。A是第一集就出现的人物，直到第三集才算正式宣布死亡。她是个作家，从头到尾一直在写东西。那段对得起每一次的呼吸，不占用过多的时间、空间和空气的无公害声明更是被多次提到。其死后家人在她的笔记本里读到一段关于作为姐姐、作为女儿、作为爱人的畅想。可以看出，A所求不多，唯爱而已。作为体面家庭的长女，作为5个弟妹的大姐，作为弱势母亲的精神依靠，A在生活中承受太多。真正推到的大象的最后一只蚂蚁，就是花光她所有积蓄的那个男朋友。作为最后一个验证，P当然不负众望。和丈夫一起吸毒，不就是因为爱丈夫，或者说喜欢被丈夫爱着，不希望走偏轨道而被丈夫抛弃。最后却因丈夫的出轨而只能向毒品求援。就在这时，母亲和妹妹抛弃了她，嫌弃她偷钱什么的。母亲每每电话上答应去探望她，却次次令人失望。妹妹故意留错误的电话号码，希望与姐姐断绝联系。最后一个险些被杀的Nina也是这样，在风声如此紧张的时候，她的男朋友哀求哄骗她出门卖淫换毒资时，如此强势、聪明的女人露出满意的笑容。就是这样，脆弱的女人希望被爱却不能。最终走到这条死路的重点。
与这些弱智女流向比，机智勇敢的警察形象真是太高大全了。以Gull为例，顶得住压力的同时还可以冷静分析局势，说话做事稳扎稳打，以慈悲怜悯之心保护受害者，以迅雷不及掩耳之势抓凶手。市里开会给他施压，在警局门口的群众上前来辱骂，各种媒体说他的团队没有工作能力，甚至家里的媳妇儿都来质问。这样他竟没有求功心切，为不漏抓错抓也好，为安抚民心也好，为不打草惊蛇也好，对待第一个怀疑对象步步为营，一切按部就班。而对待第二个嫌疑犯，DNA显示他就是凶手，我们的大警官下手绝不留情面。这个例子，为我们启开了另外一条人生之路，或者说是另外一种面对人生困境的方法。这里并不是褒男贬女。警队另外一个角色，不记得叫什么了，就是总找妓女谈话的那一个。我相信Anni就是被这样的一个人给抓进去的。反反复复遭妓女们白眼，逆流而上，依然关怀不止，不是好典型么？
如此，如果我被遗弃，被欺负，需要爱，孤独的时候，要放纵自己么？要逃避么？你呢？

越来越懒得起标题了。

BBC果然没有让人失望，把一部可能是香艳的，惊悚的，狗血的电影拍的严肃而哀伤。

一开始是注意到电影的名字很有意思，很少有电影英文和中文完全没有联系。英文直译过来是五个女儿，没什么感情色彩，也看不出片中讲什么，而中文的翻译则多少给人以一点贬义和劲爆的的联想，妓女，谋杀，非常抓人眼球。但我看完之后到更喜欢英文名多一点。无论五个被害人生前吸毒卖淫，或者品性心性如何，她们终归是某个父亲母亲的女儿，她们的死亡同样能造成一个家庭的悲痛欲绝。

看到片头提示five daughters是由真实案件改编的，而且因为得到了被害者家属和当地警局的支持，片中大部分情节都是真实存在的，马上就给人以一种沉重感，确实有这么五个年轻漂亮的女孩子死去了。

片子并没有过多渲染女孩们糜烂堕落的生活，而是更加的客观，起码是我认为的客观。镜头里多次出现她们布满针孔的手臂，但吸毒之后她们脸上出现的并不是迷醉满足的表情，而是迷茫和绝望，还有在寒风中瑟瑟发抖的身影。gemma试图和男友戒毒，并想要上大学，anni想要开一家摩托应招理发店，她们都在努力的生活，努力的让自己活的更好一点，而且还有自己的梦想。paula在母亲爽约后哭泣的表情，这一切都让‘妓女’这个带有强烈贬义的词汇变得鲜活生动起来。第一集结束的时候，我已经没有办法把这五个女孩看做是堕落的象征，社会的渣滓，冷漠麻木完全不需要拯救和关心的人了。

因为前几年也看过不少国内的刑侦剧，加上这两年国内的社会案件有点多，难免心里总想着做个对比。一个很有趣的是警察和妓女的关系。天朝的无外乎凶手，被害人，或者某些案件的目击者污点证人，凶手的比例好像大一点，回忆一下，她们在我的心中留下的形象基本上都是妖艳的，浓妆艳抹，穿着暴漏的短裙子，吸烟或者吸毒，完全符合人们心中失足妇女的模板。警察叔叔们都是威严的不为美色所动的，还稍稍带点轻蔑和怜悯。而这个片子表现的更多的则是，同样在冬天的晚上，在街上散发失踪女孩的照片，在冬天的河水里打捞不知道存不存在的第二具尸体，看上去失踪两个小时报警也是有人管的，温和的和那些妓女们商量，参加一个非正式非官方的会议。双方关系河蟹的不可思议，没有那么多拍桌子大吼要求交待，也没有那么多对立和矛盾。还有和媒体的关系。媒体没有那么多居高临下的评论，也没那么多感情色彩强烈的词汇，拯救失足妇女什么的，而是更多的要求她们等抓住凶手以后再出来‘work on the street’。

看这部剧不能用一般的看英剧的心情和状态来看。这也不是一般的虚构的小说或者什么改编而成的电视剧塑造什么英勇传奇的探案人士，这是血淋淋的人生，这是赤裸裸的杀戮。
许多年以后或许我们会看到类似的案件搬上银屏，我们总是会关注这个案件是如何解决的，警方是如何成功的抓到了这个罪犯，但是却忽视了，这五个死去的女人，也许她们生前确实让人痛恨，但是她们死后，却变成了五个单纯的女人，无论她们怎样自甘堕落或者为什么所逼迫荼毒了自己的人生，赤裸裸的杀戮总是人世间最大的罪恶。
剧里没有透露那个48岁的男人为了什么而展开这样的杀戮，也许是出于一种痛恨，或者是出于什么宗教教义上的纯洁，总之是有五条鲜活的生命在他手上完结。但是他也是个普通人，不是那种开膛手杰克那样的嗜血狂徒，面对前来抓捕他的警察，也有一瞬间意识到“完蛋了”的脆弱和恐惧。这才是最大的悲哀。
不是为了杀戮而进行的杀戮，是人世间最大的痛苦和罪恶。
至于家人原来对待她们的那种冷漠，我认为是真实的。任何一个家庭，当发现自己的女儿染上毒瘾甚至为了吸毒而去卖淫的时候，都是天塌地陷的悲痛。但是这种悲痛会随着毫无结果的努力和当事人的自甘堕落而麻木，最后变得漠然。正常人怎么也无法理解她们为什么会那样，不去戒毒，而是把所有能搞来的钱都拿去购买毒品，甚至愿意为了毒品而去卖淫。我们不是当事人，我们永远无法理解她们的这种人生。
然而死亡，尤其是谋杀，总是一种让人无法承受的哀痛。
只要她还活着，一切皆有可能，她可能会变好，也可能还是这样，但是最少，她还活着。尽管她活着的时候让人唾弃并怨恨，但是她还是一个活生生的人。做父母的总是有这样一种心态，平常的时候总是希望自己的孩子什么都是完美的，什么都是出类拔萃的，是成功人士，但是当有些事情发生，就会希望，不管他或者她是个什么样子，只要他或者她平安无事就好，健康就好，哪怕是面对面撕破脸皮歇斯底里的对骂，只要还活着就好。
总有些人会努力去改变一些这个社会中的不良，但是这些不良就是千年万年无法治愈的顽疾，要不了多久又会表现出来。有些人我们永远无法理解，有些人生我们永远无法认同，但是最起码，作为同样的人类，对于死者，可以表示一些尊重和怜悯。

我们用貌似高人一等的价值观去苛责她们、赶走她们，而她们是我们的姐妹。

看完BBC这部根据真实的英国小地方连环杀人案后，特地找了些当时的新闻来读。下面的一篇BBC新闻，非常棒。

"We decide that some people aren't worth our time and violent people know that"

"PROSTITUTION IN EU STATES

Netherlands: prostitutes treated as self-employed persons; street prostitution in managed zones; brothels legal but subject to licensing
Germany: similar rights for prostitutes to those of the Dutch though prostitution subject to VAT; legal brothels and recognised red light zones
France: prostitution legal - soliciting and procuring are not
Sweden: prostitution legal but buying sex is not, so clients risk prosecution
UK: prostitution not officially illegal but soliciting, procuring and brothel-keeping are

For Ms Timmermans, the coordinator of the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE), the vulnerability of prostitutes to violence is inextricably bound up in social attitudes.

Prostitution in the Netherlands involving Dutch or other EU citizens is a legal occupation, and a recent report by the foreign ministry shows that most work in brothels or sex clubs.

They can openly advertise their services in newspapers and on the internet.

Petra Timmermans believes that if our social attitude to prostitutes changed, there would be less risk of such crimes occurring.

"We decide that some people aren't worth our time and violent people know that," she says.

Prostitution is a reality, she argues, and in order to protect those women and men who engage in it, it should be given equal status to other occupations.

"We know, for instance, that there is exploitation in the textile industry but we don't scream 'Stop buying clothing' - we talk about labour rights and working conditions," Ms Timmermans says.

"We need to start talking in that way about prostitution."

Dutch prostitutes do still get hurt, she adds, but the Netherlands has made "many more women's lives safer and gone a long way in challenging many long-held biases that have let killers off the hook".

Your comments:

Here in Mexico the situation terrible. Prostitution is illegal, but it is practised everywhere for men and women. The authorities like to protect them for money not for the government, but for themselves. And if you want to have their services is probably that cops will try to take as much money as you can give for buying someone.
Enrique, Mexico City

Prostitution is a crime in Nigeria but it is widely practised and patronised by all and sundry. Many of the street walkers are every day exposed to the risk of being killed for ritual purposes etc, but many families' livelihood depends on it. I wish the Dutch approach would be adopted in Nigeria. Prostitutes or not, they are human beings, our family members, brothers, sisters, mothers, etc. Society needs them and we need them alive! Let's stop the hypocrisy. We should not expect our personal norms to be normative for society. Let's respect their choice.
Martin Manasseh Esq, Abuja, Nigeria

I have lived 22 years in the centre of Amsterdam with the red light area just fifteen minutes away from my homes and I have never felt unsafe walking in the area. It's a vibrant, lively, busy area, with a lot of police presence and a few police stations as well. When I visit England, I cannot imagine having a safe feeling walking through a red light area there.
amanda, amsterdam netherlands

I spent some time in Botswana this summer and I really believe that sex work should be organized. This is for the many safety nets and health checks that may become available. I mention Botswana because there, like everywhere else I guess, HIV is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately many women there are so desperate for cash that they will sell their bodies for 60p with a condom and 100p without. This clearly contributes to the spread of HIV in a nation with approx 33% infection rate. We need to protect these women, wives and mothers from HIV as a global community.
Courtney Baker, Orillia, Canada

If prostitution is illegal, then it should be enforced as a crime and the girls helped in rehabilitation as part of the sentence. As very few would consciously seek such a profession, there is usually a reason for going into it. If there is no will to enforce its illegality, then it should be legalised and heavily controlled. In Russia it is not illegal or legal, in fact, no one really knows what it is, it's a grey area. But the greyness allows for corruption, abuse, and even slavery. I think if it is legalised and regulated, and the punishments for things such as forced sexual slavery should be increased to just short of savage. Legalisation would offer protection to the girls (and men) which the state does not, here or anywhere.
Misha, St Petersburg, Russia

Due to the Dutch system, I have never seen in my district a murdered prostitute and very seldom a beaten-up prostitute in my 30-year career as a police surgeon and forensic pathologist.
Dr OS van Hees, MD, PhD, The Hague, The Netherlands

I am from a country where just talking about prostitution is a sin. There is prostitution in the Arab world and it has been there for ages but everyone is trying to neglect it. Prostitution and violence are in Egypt as well as drug addiction and child abuse, but everyone doesn't want to face the reality or criticise the situation. We have also street mothers - a homeless woman who has been raped and left with her child. In general human rights are not protected in Egypt, imagine if somebody tried to argue about a prostitute's right.

No one talks about this problem and it was never an issue in the parliament or even on TV. I respect and am very impressed from how the West sees the problems and facts of life and try to handle it and deal with it in an intelligent way. Yes prostitution is a fact and something we cannot prevent and they have the right to have a normal safe life since they have chosen that by themselves. I hope that hypocrites and contradicted people in my country will wake up and try to face their problems as the West is doing.
Nahla, Egypt

In South Africa, prostitution is illegal, but the laws governing solicitation of this nature are never or hardly ever enforced. If enforced, the alleged offender has to pay a minor admission of guilt fine (spotters fine) or they can appeal against the fine through due legal process. In our "designated" areas where prostitution is common, there is a 24-hour police protection and presence, to ensure the safety of these girls amongst other things and to try and combat of other crimes associated with the sex trade. In addition some Women Rights Groups have opened "safe houses" where some of these girls can take their clients for business at a really minimal fee. Condoms etc are also being distributed by the government 100% free of charge and have been made easily accessible (any and all public places, places of work and clinics) for everyone due to our high HIV/Aids rates. Also, people with a low type of income, associated with these type of prostitutes, they do have access to free healthcare etc, should they contract some type of disease associated with their trade.

But in spite of the above, crime in these areas is rife, these ladies still get beaten up, raped and murdered and our HIV/Aids infection rate continues to be amongst the highest in the world. Some even refuse to use the safe houses because. Therefore, in my view, by legalising it and setting up controlled brothels with the right healthcare infrastructure might not work. It's not working in South Africa.
Rian, Pretoria, South Africa

The issue of prostitution in Liberia is a crime, it has reduced sex workers to a point were they are constantly molested, beaten at night and disgraced at daylight. On Carey St is were you usually see this brutality against sex workers, they are seen by the general society as an outcast. And the government do nothing about this prevailing issue in Liberia. The human right organizations in Liberia do not advocate on these voiceless sex workers.
Madison Cammue, Monrovia, Liberia

With what I saw and actually touched here in Iran, I could say the situation is far more terrible in my country probably than any other country in the world! Lots & lots of prostitutes, especially in the capital, Tehran, and a total ban to all the activities around the subject and one logical result, absolute lack of human rights for these poor women... they could easily be hurt or even murdered without anybody finding out... God bless them!
Dr Shahab, Tehran, Iran

Some time ago my girlfriend was a sex worker. As her drug habit caused so much uncertainty, she took risks. She was kidnapped, tied and driven to an unknown location in fear, threatened with a straight razor and barely managed to talk her way out by pleading for more drugs at a friends, where the people inside prevailed upon the stranger to exit. No police report was given, as blaming the victim only adds stress and anguish. I looked for the sucker for years.
pedro, Fair Oaks , Republic of California

I used to live and work in Munich. Between my office and the underground station was an industrial estate through which I and my colleagues (men and women) walked. On the industrial estate were several brothels. The girls worked in a warm safe environment, not on the streets. Women walking down the streets were left alone because they were not sex workers (the sex workers were all indoors). It worked, and the UK should consider doing the same thing. Prostitution is a valid occupation and it's about time we got used to it.
david, Bedford, UK

The Netherlands are so much more progressive, intelligent and practical about the issue of prostitution than my own country that it's embarrassing. I worked for five and a half years for the New York City Department of Health in their Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Disease, and many of the sex-worker patients I counselled had some truly horrible tales to tell: rape, beatings. Most of the sex-worker patients I counselled (and they were all women) had drug addiction problems, and quickly ran out of ways to earn money to feed their habits, until selling their bodies became the last method they had of economic survival. Until the elected officials in my country have the backbone to admit the simple truth - that prostitution IS a fact of life, and that, rather than ignore it through criminalization, it should be legalized in select areas where workers can be monitored and medically cared for - sex workers here will be harassed, jailed, beaten and murdered.
Lawrence Sojka, Maryland, USA

Here in Spain where I live - a respectable area - there are four brothels in the area, the police check the clubs to ensure the girls who are working there do so of their own free will, and are not abused. Maybe the UK should take a look at the Spanish system? It works and works well. The local news paper has three to four pages of sex worker adverts every week. It would be easier to stop the sun shining than to stop prostitution, and mankind is trying that too, but that's another story.
Chris Miley, Malaga Spain

I live in the red light area of Ipswich and regularly overhear early morning exchanges between local prostitutes, their dealers and the odd client. Allowing these women a safe place to work legally would enable them to then openly seek aid regarding other issues that affect their lives. It would also ease tension from those of us in the local area and might have prevented this series of events from occurring.
Matt S, Ipswich



Very similar arrangements are in place in Germany and it is rare to have any trouble. The most famous red light district - the Reeperbahn - has a police station right in the middle of it, in an historic building, and the police are out on foot too and there is hardly any crime there.
Roy Brookes, Hamburg, Germany

Great article. As a retired psychologist who spent time treating prostitutes and witnessed, vicariously, what trauma they had experienced, I am for a system of licensing and treatment, including counselling, for prostitutes here in the USA. It is a profession which is not likely to go away in the foreseeable, and these workers should be subject to the same rights as any other employee. RJS
Robert Severson, Kalamazoo, USA

In the red light district here in Antwerp, there is a shopping mall-style prostitute complex with a police station in the middle of it!!
Richard, Antwerp, Belgium"

from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6178793.stm