Introduction
Good girls is an American crime comedy-drama series produced for universal television by producers; Bans, Dean Parisot and Jeannine Renshaw. The television series is by Jenna Bans, a renowned producer and creator. The series is about two sisters and their friend from Michigan who try to make ends meet. The three women are tired of losing everything from men and want the easier way to make money and be successful. They decide to rob a supermarket and are not ready to face what comes after that since it changes their lives for good. The robbery was successful, only that the supermarket manager noticed one, and now the women’s life revolved around gang heists, family crises, secrets, and debts.
Reflection of the series “Good Girls.”
The series starts with Beth, her sister Annie and their friend Ruby having financial issues, which are hard to solve by legal behaviour to them. Beth, a mother of four, does not want to lose her house but wants to shed her unfaithful husband. Beth’s husband took several mortgages on her place behind her back, and now they are on the verge of losing it. Annie, a single mother, battles for child custody with her ex-husband Gregg. She does not have enough money to finance the custody battle with her ex-husband. Ruby is a mother of two children with the burden of raising money for a medical bill for one of her children. She works as a waitress, and her salary is insufficient to cover medical expenses.
The ladies are so desperate to get quick money, therefore, plan to rob a store whereby they part with five hundred thousand dollars. Later, they discover that the store manager, Annie’s boss, is involved in money laundering with a gang. The three women in the show work together as life circumstances force them to commit suspicious crimes with infamous clubs.
Women are vulnerable and insecure in movies and series, which is different in this movie. The three women in good girls appear as women who are bold, fierce, and passionate and would do anything to have a good life and their families. Crime remains the only option for women to escape all their life problems. They commit crime after crime to cover their last crime and escape the police. The show depicts them as desperate, and at no point in the front are they considered criminals even though they commit crimes. The crimes qualify them for not less than ten years of prison after they get benefits of doubt from their circumstances.
The series poses ethical questions: is it okay to commit crimes to protect one’s child and family? The series presents the women as brilliant; however, their actions are odd and out of character. They use toy guns to threaten people and expect that they can execute a robbery without any consequences. The use of toy guns in the show is a presentation of humour and playfulness since, at some point, they forget they are in the middle of a crime and start having recently relevant conversations. Crime is represented in amusing and comedic ways, making the audience laugh in the middle of a crime.
The series depicts the power of women and how women are empowered to be great people in society. The three women in the show focus on solving each other’s problems and always being there for each other to achieve their goals in life. They do not compete with each other but rather work together in all the crimes, not minding whose problem is bigger than the others. The beginning of the series represented the three women as weak, hopeless, and powerless, with the men dominating their lives. Nevertheless, as the show continues, they completely regain their power and control the relives. They also grow more rigid and rebellious as they realize they need to change their character to succeed.
An example is when they rob a supermarket, and Annie is too soft when asking for the manager. Nobody responds to her since they view her as weak and thus do not take them seriously. Beth comes to her rescue and only asks for the manager, screaming at the top of her lungs for them to get the manager. Immediately after that, the manager came, and they proceeded with the heist. This scene shows their power when determined and how the audience views the three women.
The closest the women get to being condemned and punished for their crimes is when Ruby decides to help the FBI but changes her mind. The part comes in to portray TV’s attitude toward people of colour. It shows that only black women will betray their friends, not white women, which is invalid. In many shows, black women are often considered traitors; if they are not, they have punished for misconduct that white people are not (Harmon & Boppre, 2018).
Women, just like men, engage in every type of criminal activity. Crimes committed by women are highly sensationalized by the media, unlike those committed by men. Crimes committed by women are primarily victimless crimes with no violence, like drug abuse. Research shows a high rate of women involved in crimes today, unlike in the past when crimes were masculine. The good girls series show that women can also be criminals like men. The three women in the series collaborate with Rio, a drug dealer. They work with him and learn their way into drug life and crime. The trio is not suspected of drug trafficking or other crimes because they are women and have families, husbands, and children. Society has put men at the forefront of drug-related crimes and thus cannot imagine a woman in drug crimes.
The use of drugs by women, mainly white women, is often justified by the fact that they are responding to the pressure they get from society’s expectations (Dodge, 2019). Women are often seen as a drug addicts because they are overwhelmed by housewife duties and the pressures of being a bigger person in the family, among other reasons. The war on drugs is because of the frenzy about the dangers it poses, which may result in an epidemic. The criminal justice has documented the effects of drug abuse and drug-related crimes, especially by women. Sentences for drug-related crimes differ depending on the crime’s nature, the circumstances, and the gender of the offender. Women have different sentences from men. Judges cannot access women’s role in drug-related crimes since judicial discretion removed it from the law.
Women received probation and community probation in the past, but with the removal of judicial discretion, they now receive long sentences like men. At the federal level, women convicted of drug-related crimes make up seventy-two per cent of the incarcerated population. Women rarely participate in mid or high-level drug crimes since men dominate the drug economy. However, in the series good girls, women participate in high-end drug crimes overpowering the male characters. It calls for the judicial system to look into the matter differently.
Research shows that women who participate in crimes are likely to have a history of drug abuse. The risk factors causing women to participate in criminal activities and drug abuse are not limited to a history of child abuse, family issues, mental illness, neglect, and lack of social support. Women sentenced to drug-related crimes tend to use the above factors as an excuse for the crime. They constantly seek pity from society since they are women and considered vulnerable. The three women in the series become serial criminals because of substance abuse. They blame the situation and circumstances they are in for their behaviours which is not morally right. It is not suitable for women to commit crimes and then demand sympathy because of their gender.
How drug-related crimes are related to property crimes
Property crimes are a broad category of crime comprising different offences. Property crime is a crime committed on private property without using force to steal or destroy a victim’s property. It includes burglary, arson, vandalism, and theft. The series good girls depict these crimes in many ways (Campaniello,2019). The three women are involved in robbing a supermarket. In another instance, one of them steals a car from her husband to go and commit another crime. Research shows that men are more likely to commit property crimes than women. Examples of property crimes committed in the series good girls are money laundering, purchasing expensive items with counterfeit money, and robbing shops.
Studies show that property crimes are directly related to drug-related crimes. Drugs cause one to change their social behaviours and character due to wrong motivations. Drug abusers have motives, just that their motivations are wrong. An individual will go through many risks to get a drug, even if t means committing serious crimes like burglary and theft. In the series Good Girls, Annie is a drug addict, and that is her motivation for committing crimes. She does not allow the people around her to force her to go to rehabilitation. Later on, she is arrested and charged with serious drug offences.
Crime is often the easiest method for one to obtain financial freedom. Drug addicts will go to extreme lengths to obtain drugs since they are necessary. The drug mindset affects the relationship one has with family, friends, children, and personal work. People who abuse drugs are more likely to act on the intrusive thoughts that we all have. The intrusive thoughts are thoughts like what if they do this? Is the worst that can happen? Usually, people do not act upon these thoughts, but the moment one is under the influence of s drug, then they are tempted to act on the thoughts.
Analysis of data on arrests made in the United States between 1980 and 2011 shows that women are more likely to participate in property and drug crimes than other forms of crimes. There has been an increase in the number of property crimes women commit in recent years, like burglary, car theft, white-collar crimes, and theft. Fraud and forgery are also other forms of crimes committed by women. In recent years women have mastered the art of fraud and forgery and are dominating the criminal sector (Campaniello,2019). Fraud and forgery often do not involve violence or destruction of property. It makes it easy for women to engage in such crimes. Women love the easier way out; thus, they choose fraud and forgery since it seems more accessible and safer. Society does not suspect women like they suspect men. Their mindset believes that only men commit crimes.
Reasons why women are resorting to crime
Women are resorting to these crimes because of the financial pressures they have. Paying bills has become a woman thing in more than forty per cent of households in the united states. If they cannot pay the bills, committing crimes is the next easy thing. In the series ” Good Girls, “Annie, Ruby, and Beth in the series “Good Girls” resort to crimes because of the different financial issues they face. Beth commits a crime because she needs money to settle her child’s hospital bill, which is expensive, and she cannot afford it with her salary. The urge to be equal to men is also why women resort to crime. The same way women demand equal opportunities in employment is the same way they are forcing their way into the world of crime.
Conclusion
In conclusion, in the series “Good Girls,” crime is the central theme and is shown differently. The three ladies commit crimes successfully because nobody suspects the theme of their appearance, behaviour, and demeanour. It is a good series that educates about the position of women in the criminal sector. It shows that just as men commit crimes, women too can commit crimes. It suggests that women can push back when pushed too far. The show encourages viewers to examine their wrongs and bad despite society’s definition.
References
Campaniello, N. (2019). Women in crime. IZA world of labour, (105v2).
Dodge, M. (2019). Women and white-collar crime. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Harmon, M. G., & Boppre, B. (2018). Women of colour and the war on crime: An explanation for the rise in Black female imprisonment. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 16(4), 309–332.
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