Thank you for allowing the rant.
Recently, just to cap this rant off, I have been very pleased with the characters on ABC's Brothers and Sisters where Kevin Walker and his husband portray a loving and thoughtful couple, much like any other in this world. So - BRAVO - to ABC for not playing into easy stereotypes. [Runner Up Kudos to Grey's Anatomy for all the strong, intelligent African American surgeons]It is very, very interesting that as I think through what I want to write about - I am having trouble sorting through all the new shows I frequently watch and try to pick out specific phenomena as so many shows are now trying to play against type, add a lot of "gray" characters and so on.
I will go ahead and talk about something that comes to mind, something that I am extremely uncomfortable with - and TV is probably the culprit - and that is: BIRTH.
Has birthing ever been portrayed realistically anywhere? Doubtful. I mean, besides the painful, painful, painful video you had to watch in High School (please tell me I am not the only one who had to watch that video), birthing on TV (and for the sake of TV) takes all of 15 seconds. I wonder what the millions of mothers around the world think when they see a birth like this for the millionth time:
Oh boy, look at Jennifer Aniston - somehow still drop dead gorgeous - as she experiences an entire MINUTE & 30 seconds of birthing pain! Somehow, since it is a 22 minute sitcom, it still feels more "real" and even "longer" than other births on TV.
[Full Disclosure: I am a HUGE fan of Mad About You - to the point where my wife thinks I have a problem] We turn to TV for escape. We do not want to see a real 32 hour labor that turns the lady into a pulpy mess and the man into a fraught, nervous sad-sack who cannot tie his own shoes (okay, maybe we do want to see the man part). So naturally, when it came time for the lovely Helen Hunt to give birth, the moment the baby is placed in her arms, it appears as if her and her husband just finished shooting a Vidal Sassoon shampoo commercial - instead of the "actual" picture (I'm thinking of my mother holding me, appearing as if she had just, well, given birth):
The point is this: I am ruined for life. When I actually have to stay by my wife's side while she is in intense pain for hours on end - I am going to faint. I cannot handle "womanly" pain on any level. I am a complete wussy. I seriously need the 20 second TV birth and I blame all the movies and shows that have given me ample reason to believe that 20 second births exist.
In all seriousness, there is some horrid misinformation out there about pregnancy, birth and all that goes with it. Just look at a shiny cover of People or US Weekly with a beaming Bristol Palin or Jamie Lynn Spears and their progeny to understand that we do not "have this pregnancy thing down" as a culture quite yet.Just to leave on a positive note - in researching this topic, I came across an old episode of Roseanne and was blown away by how opposite it was to my point (made above). Becky has a baby and there is little chance the baby will live - which is what the episode realistically and painstakingly depicts. Well done Roseanne - a show unlike any other on today. (For the rest of the episode, just look it up on You Tube).
My sister had her first child last summer (first in the family, actually). She went into labor, the docs told her she wasn't and sent her home, then the next morning went in again and had a c-section at 11:45 P.M. The doctors at least admitted that they were wrong to send her home the first time. That long of a delivery wouldn't work very well on television, either!
ReplyDeleteJoe Adams...
ReplyDeletefirst of all, you would talk about birth as your representation. But I guess I hadn't given a lot of thought to it, so thanks for bringing it to my attention, because honestly it might be one of the things that drives me the most insane in movies. So painless and complication-free. And I realize there are rules about this sort of thing, but what about when they literally give birth to toddlers? Or like in the movie "Knocked Up", which revolves completely around pregnancy/this birth at the end, when Katherine Heigel's doctor completely abandons her to leave her with a doctor who's pushing epidurals? Can they do that? And don't get me started on "Father of the Bride 2", (LOVE the movie), but want to rip my hair out every time I see that mother/daughter combo simultaneously give birth. Sick. I would like to take this time though to give a shout out to "Sex and the City", which, although a lot can be said for it's commentary on casual sex, can definitely throw out a good birth scene, in my opinion.
Hi Joe, great post. Concerning the media's traditional portrayal of gay men I'd of course agree, but as you say, it seems to be getting better. There are a few new characters out there such as Oscar from The Office, and a few other examples, which are stable, driven, and portrayed as "normal" more than ever before. The Office has often used Michael as the classic case of someone who tries to be super comfortable and cool with homosexuality, but he usually finds a way to make everyone feel uncomfortable. The dynamic is hilarious and makes fun of people who haven't yet come to terms with homosexuality.
ReplyDeleteI also liked your section on how pregnancy is inaccurately portrayed in the media because my girlfriend just wrote a lengthy essay on celebrity motherhood and how unrealistic it is. Let's just hope that our students pick up information on pregnancy from other sources than run of the mill media...