Wow, I just love being on the cutting edge of hipness! Regular readers may recall my October blog about the proliferation of birthmother/adoptee themes in prime time television programs. Brothers and Sisters hops on the band wagon tonight [Sunday, November 9 10 p.m. EST ABC]: "Adoption may not be in the cards for Kitty (Calista Flockhart) and Robert (Rob Lowe) after they meet with a potential birth mother." I saw a commercial for this "very special episode" the other night and immediately ran to Lorraine (well, ran via e-mail). I don't watch the show, but I thought aha! A nice follow-up to my late October post about how irresistable adoption/birthmothers/reunions seem to be to Hollywood writers, such drama! Emmy winning stuff!
I may watch tonight just to see how Calista Flockhart blends reality with fiction. I think most readers know Calista adopted a son, Liam, as a single mother in 2001. I just found this nugget in a Google search from Buzzle.com, written in 2002: "Calista Flockhart, 37, explains part of her motivation as a determination to do good for others: "I will have children naturally when the time is right but I want to give an opportunity to a child who needs a mom right now," she says." Calista will turn 43 on Tuesday; she's been in a relationship with Harrison Ford for several years. Is the time finally right for a natural child, or, as my daughter was fond of saying, has that window of opportunity been nailed shut?
Lorraine (who is busy working on her book and gave me a green light to blog to my heart's delight) has been watching the show; here's her review of the story line:
watched b&s last sunday...Calista got the AMAZING HAPPY NEWS THAT a birthmother in Missouri had selected them. Rob Lowe (imp. senator is off to the Middle East and she gives him the news while he is at 35,000 feet). I jotted down the dialogue... "There is a girl in Missouri who wants to give me her baby." "What if the bm doesn't like us, a million things can go wrong." Yeah, like she could decide to keep him....
Apparently the very hot Tina Fey is also persuing single parenthood on the critically acclaimed 30 Rock (Thursday, NBC, 9:30 p.m. EST). Lorraine's review:
"But the best line came from 30 Rock last week: Did you see/when the social worker is interviewing people at the office and everyone is saying the wrong things...and one of the says: 'Three of my nine siblings were adopted and someday I'm going to find them.'
I watched enough of 30 Rock this week to see that when Tina was spilling her guts to Oprah on the plane she added about wanting to adopt...by the way, maybe they are trying to change their demographic. After Murphy Brown had a baby, the focus of the show changed from office chicanery to diaper drama ... and they lost their original audience...because now it was a family sitatuion comedy, not an updated Mary Tyler Moore Show....so the same thing will bedevil 30 Rock if Tina/Liz Lemon gets a kid, and by all likelihood, she will. Single motherhood is all the rage, ya know.
Yeah, we know.
So, after what will hopefully be a relaxing Sunday, tune in and share your thoughts...perhaps I'm overly sensitive to this whole "adoption lite" approach and just need a reality check from my FMF family.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
3 comments :
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Well, that was a letdown. The birthmother was a successful Black surgeon who was certain she didn't want to trade her career for motherhood. The pregnancy was the result of a casual affair, father unknown. Kitty (Calista Flockhart) was surprised to find that the birthmother wasn't a young woman who needed help (maternity clothes, money for expenses) and just couldn't accept that the birthmother was certain about her decision (career vs. motherhood). In the end, the birthmother vetoed Kitty and her husband and went back to the social worker to review candidates.
ReplyDeleteWhile not completely impossible, the premise was silly. A potential adoptive parent would never be permitted to speak to a birthmother without a mediary. And yes, I suppose it could happen, but what are the chances that a thirtysomething, self-sufficient Black single woman would relinquish her child to a yuppie white couple? Also, I suspect a medical professional would be more mindful of contraception practices.
But I could be wrong...
A surgeon who decides to give up a baby? Yeah, right. I wonder who the birdbrain is who thought up that plot device.
ReplyDeleteI can't watch the show on any regular basis, I find it way way too saccharin--give me America's Next Top Model any day.
Cat fights and runways poses are more fun than the adoption-of-the-week plots. Besides, my granddaughter watches and we can talk about the show. Sometimes.
Wait--I did enjoy the moment when Sally Field goes to tell a widower that his deceased wife had had an affair with her also deceased husband, and the man's oldest son...isn't. I read a statistic once that a full ten percent of all children are not the biological offspring of the people they think they are. This has been revealed during genetic testing for bone or tissue donors...well, it does increase biodiversity, as is said to be the case among other species.
"Yeah, right. I wonder who the birdbrain is who thought up that plot device".
ReplyDeleteThe NCFA! :)