I don't usually blog about TV content, just about how much I love TiVo.
But for the first time in a long while, something aside from "reality television" has seriously ticked me off.
I'm talking about what happened on Thursday on ER. Dr. Weaver, played by Laura Innes, is an out lesbian. Her partner and the biological mother of their child was killed off in this week's episode.
Anyhow, they had the dead woman's relatives doing that "you're not related to the baby so you can't have her" thing. And yes, I imagine that it will open a plot door to some wonderful fighting for the right to the child on Dr. Weaver's part, and some wonderful acting on Laura Innes' part, but I still think that it's bullshit that "they" are doing this.
As gay men and women, we struggle daily for our rights, and perhaps it's nice that ER wants to show that struggle on some level. But on another, more immediate level, there are a lot of people who have real fucking short attention spans who learn most of what they know from TV. And especially if someone just saw this week's episode, wouldn't they be able to conclude that ER is, essentially, saying that a non-biological parent of a baby being raised by two committed gay parents is, in the event that the biological parent dies, has no legal, or even personal right to said child?
This, my friends, is why we need gay marriage. But at the same time, we need networks like NBC, which we already know to be gay-friendly on some level (remember, these are the folks who bring us "Will & Grace" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"), to show more support.
I sincerely hope that I'm jumping the gun and that the longterm storyline will show a happy ending in this matter for Dr. Weaver - that somehow her widow's family will be able to come to grips with the fact that she is the mother of this baby in every possible way, except for biology. But in the meantime, as you can tell, I'm rather outraged.
And one more minor comment about NBC -- doesn't "Will & Grace" kind of suck without Debra Messing?
Posted by Jon at April 10, 2004 12:58 AM | TrackBackI'm not really getting what you're angry about. The truth of the matter is that most times in these custody battles we lose. THAT is why we need legalized marriage.
I was pleased to see that NBC didn't gloss over the whole issue. I hope they show the real struggle that we have to keep our families together in the face of adversity and tragedy - all because "they" won't allow us to marry.
I'm sorry, I don't see why you're angry... I'd be angry if they tried to show us as carnival side shows like on Will & Grace. Have you noticed that they can't seem to show a stable long term gay relationship on THAT show? Now that makes me mad.
Posted by: Buck at April 10, 2004 01:36 AMI was disappointed that ER chose do kill off Sandy as well. Here was a great opportunity to semi-regularly touch on two lesbians in a LTR raising a baby and to demonstrate that it's really nothing out of the ordinary or threatening. I loved how, without making it a weekly theme, Kerry would casually show baby pictures or someone would ask after the baby and/or Sandy, just like in a real-life workplace.
And since two other characters on the show are currently expecting babies, this was an interesting way to have Kerry interact personally with people that she often clashes with professionally.
But all that is now shot to hell. Since the episode showing the birth of the baby only aired maybe a month ago, I wish they'd waited a year to delve into this plotline. I hope they know what they're doing over at ER.