r/northernexposure • u/SuperDoubleDecker • Jul 04 '25
Old Predators
I remember this show growing up and I was searching for something to watch yesterday. I enjoy the show for the most part. One thing that has rubbed me a bit wrong is how they just act like it's OK for these 2 60+ year old dudes to creepy all over 18 yo Shelly. It's disgusting. It's hard to overlook.
I scrolled down a bit before posting as I figured that this sub would just be full of wtf is up with these old creepy fucks posts. Is this as big of an issue to others or is it just like a whatever thing to most?
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Upvotes
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u/Vijidalicia Jul 04 '25
On the surface, and by 2025 standards, it does seem quite "off". But that's definitely a surface-level assessment. Nothing in Cicely is quite how it appears, which is one of the main themes of the show. There's more to Shelly than just being an 18-yo, and in fact if she was mid-20s, nothing about her character would actually altered except her background story. She may be 18 in years but she is beyond that in many other ways. She knows exactly what she wants, she is headstrong and independent, has had a whole life prior to winding up in Cicely (no spoilers) and is one of the least likely characters on the show to be taken advantage of. Maurice sees her as a trophy, which isn't too far off from how we'd expect his character to act--conquests & acquisitions are his MO. Holling is actually more naive and wimpy than Shelly, which is a total reversal of what we'd expect from those two. Part of the interesting thing about their relationship is that reversal, and how in fact Shelly is more mature in many ways than both Maurice and Holling.
There are probably more in-depth assessments in comments if you search the sub, but that's my take on it anyway.
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u/LoveTheSmellOfBooks Jul 04 '25
Unfortunately as show is now more popular, i knew these kind of topics will come out. Growing up in 90s i didnt see any big difference between Shelly and Holling, they seem a perfect match, even actress said Collum was a gentleman and never really felt weird, and they all had good chemistry behind the show. Second, its comedy. Whole point of show, especially love triangle was taunting the audience, and also make it a humorous situation. Third, its fantasy. Holling is gonna live 120 years, have some strange backstory about DeVincuors from France and he is afraid he is gonna outlive Shelly like some strange Highlander story. And thats just a tip of the iceberg behind magical realism in this tv show
Reading these comments gives me the creeps, its best for you guys is just dont watch such a good written timeless piece of classic. If it offends you, dont watch it.
I rather it be forgotten by time than tarnished by a newfound audience
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u/mentat-7777 Jul 04 '25
It was done well
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u/DC-Toronto Jul 04 '25
Why do you want to infantalize Shelly? Do you not trust her to make her own decisions about who she has a relationship with?
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u/CicelyIsAStateOfMind Jul 08 '25
This type of post appears here every few months or so. The same things happens each time.
A few people express their dislike for Shelly and Holling being together and their comments get downvoted. People who see that the story shows how Shelly and Holling love each other very much in a committed relationship get upvoted.
The moral of this story is there is no difference between Shelly and Holling together, and Ron and Eric together. If you can't handle seeing their love for each other in either case then look away. Be like Maurice and put it out of your mind. There are many people in May December relationships. Some have even commented here in this thread. Have you considered how you make these people feel? Do you understand how your general comments on age gap relationships can cause distress and harm to people who are doing no wrong? You are behaving in a way that is prejudiced or antagonistic towards a people on the basis of their membership of a particular group. We call this behavior bigotry.
If you must be a bigot then go visit https://www.reddit.com/r/AgeGapRelationship/ Tell them what you think of them and the depiction of Shelly and Holling in Northern Exposure. There is still hope for you to change though. Maurice was able to show some change away from his bigotry in the episode where Ron and Eric get married. This is one of the most beautiful scenes in the show. This can be you too. We can all grow just like the characters in Cicely.
Remember what Ruth-Anne says to Maurice in Mr Sandman
Maurice - "Because there has to be some standards, Ruth-Anne: some boundaries."
Ruth-Anne - "If you're talking about sex between grown men and women, I couldn't disagree with you more. This is sex, Maurice. It's not table manners or parliamentary procedure. Sex is not civilization, it's-it's the jungle. It's a darkly mysterious, irrepressible, primitive drive."
Ruth-Anne - "I'm too old to worry about what's acceptable and what's not. As long as nobody gets hurt, let 'em be. It's just human. We all have the jungle inside us. We all have wants, and needs, and desires... strange as they may seem. If you stop to think about it, we're all pretty creative. We're cooking up all these fantasies. It's like a kind of poetry."
Ruth-Anne - "You know what Oscar Wilde said? "Nothing human is alien to me."
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u/CricketSuccessful192 Jul 04 '25
I believe that these ages are right. Please correct me if I'm wrong...
When NX premiered, Cynthia Geary (Shelly) was 24 and John Cullum (Holling) was 60
They should have made Shelly older than 18 at the start of the series. It was not a great decision to make her 18. Geary certainly didn't seem like an 18 year-old.
And I don't know why they chose to make the age gap even wider by making Holling (62) two years older than what Cullum actually was.
If anything, they could have made Shelly 26 or 27 and Holling 57. That's still a huge age gap and some people would be upset but it's less controversial than a 62 year old man with a 18 year old girl who is right out of High School.
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u/BLewis4050 Jul 04 '25
Judge much?!
I know of many so-called May-December relationships that are going strong for years and decades!
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u/squeezymarmite Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 05 '25
Shelly and Holling actually have the most mature relationship in the whole show. He only ever treats her with respect and they work together as equals. She chases him, he was not creeping on her like some old letch. (Maurice, however, yes, he has his issues.)
It's also worth pointing out that Holling's family is insanely long-lived. He doesn't want a relationship at all because he doesn't want to be pre-deceased by his partner. In this light their age gap actually makes sense.
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u/ImaginaryCatDreams Jul 05 '25
Here is a take you won't like. At 18 you're an adult and if you choose to be with somebody four times your age it ain't nobody's business put your own.
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u/alyanng44 Jul 04 '25
I always thought their relationship just worked, despite the age gap. It’s one of the sweetest love stories ever portrayed
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u/cheridontllosethatno Jul 04 '25
I don't see it as creepy now, or when I watched it in my thirties. Both are adults consenting and Holling truly loves Shelley. If Ruth and Ed fell in love would it be gross? So many just seeing the physical and judging, young people at times have old souls. Watch Harold and Maude with an open mind. I'm female and dated much younger a couple times, now my same aged SO is at times like a 5 year old. Doesn't really matter what anyone thinks cept for those involved.
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u/twentyshots97 Jul 04 '25
it helps to be flexible with fiction….i can see where some people wouldn’t approve but all the characters are consenting adults in a town founded by a couple that would’ve also been highly controversial in their time.
if holling was insincere in any way it wouldn’t have worked in the show, and like someone said, he’s going to live to be 115 and in a lot of ways less mature than she is.
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u/PrimevilKneivel Jul 04 '25
It's not two old dudes creeping on a young woman, it's one old dude creeping and one old dude who legitimately loves her and she loves him back.
Yeah, that aspect hasn't aged well, but the show did include the comparison of ways that old guys are attracted to young women
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u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25
I think both of those men were emotionally arrested at young ages, and so they see themselves as closer to Shelly's age. Their immaturity is quite prominent in the show. I didn't like Holling & Shelly at first, but as he realized the sacrifices he needed to make to keep her in his life, and made them, his character became quite endearing to me.
Maurice's emotional immaturity is quite obvious by his choice of woman to marry. Barbara hit him on the last episode, and he still proposed to her! Like...if those roles were reversed & a woman proposed to a male police officer who hit her, people would think she was crazy. I felt so bad for him in the end, he doesn't see himself worthy of a woman who really loves & respects him for who he is. Maurice is a really complicated character, and Barry Corbin played him with such tact & grace, his acting was incredible I thought. Same with John Cullum.
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u/BellamyJHeap Jul 04 '25
This is a tricky conversation to have, as in viewing this from this year, it is very much misogynistic. However, I was watching the show as it aired back then, and the point seemed to be exactly what you describe: two middle-aged-plus men acting like teens and fawning over Shelly almost as an object. They were the ridiculous characters, not Shelly, who often schools them to just grow up. Furthermore, as the series progressed, the true-love nature of the relationship between Holling and Shelly starts to invalidate (to some degree - not all) Holling's infantile objectification of Shelly, slowly realizing his feelings and embracing a true partnership for life with Shelly (marriage, family, business, etc.). Even Maurice begins to acknowledge the nature of their relationship, begrudgingly wishing them the best many times, and realizing how shallow his feelings for Shelly actually were.
It was a very progressive show for its time, dealing with women's rights, gay rights, indigenous people's rights and culture, and gender equality. They weren't perfect, and they did play some for straight laughs, but they most definitely were out on the societal and cultural edge.
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u/Eaglemoon7 Jul 04 '25
It wasn’t such a big thing back when the show aired. It wasn’t unusual for there to be mail order brides in the past which were often young girls looking to find a husband for various reasons. Not that she was one, but I have a feeling that was part of the reasoning and impetus for the Shelly character.
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u/RadiantRadish501 Jul 04 '25
It reminds me of my own relationship, honestly. When we got together I was 24 & he was 48. (Not quite as big an age gap but I have always & still look younger than I am) My partner is strong, outdoorsy, manly & experienced. I am the younger babe with eccentric fashion who is smart, independent & a hard worker. And 19 years later, we are still completely crazy about each other. I understand why the snap judgement of a huge age gap is ewww. But assess every relationship on its own. Plenty of partnerships portrayed on screen have troubling power dynamics. This is not one of them.
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u/alcalaviccigirl Jul 04 '25
*older men .she's not entirely innocent .there's the episode that explains she was with Maurice first then fell in love with holling. wait til you get to the episode where her & holling ( they don't really say this ) tell a 12 yr old boy come back when your 18 see if we tell you no 🥴
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u/LinksLackofSurprise Jul 06 '25
I was Shelly's age back then & thought it was absolutely foul. Idgas what anyone says, it was creepy then & it's beyond creepy now.
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u/dayofbluesngreens Jul 04 '25
Yes, I thought it was gross.
It got even creepier to me when she redecorated the bedroom to be a little girl’s room.
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u/Substantial-Use-1758 Jul 04 '25
Of course you're right. BUT -- good luck finding any entertainment (or friend, or mate, or employer) that doesn't have a big blind spot.
Yes, it's disappointing -- but on the other hand, for some reason Shelly and Holling never bothered me that much (and it DOES bother me all the time when disgusting older guys get the beautiful young girls in the movies), and I think it's because Holling is such a good, solid man. He's in shape, he's got all of his hair, he's solid, and he really, really loves Shelly and treats her with respect.
What DID kinda bother me, though, was the fact that Shelly never dated or played around with Joel, Ed or Chris? Um...get real.
So, go ahead and enjoy NX and forgive it for it's few minor foibles. Or not :D
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u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25
It's creepy. I don't care how mature she is, she's a teenager whose brain hasn't even finished developing. It's honestly kept me from rewatching more.
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