Ok, I admit it. I watched All My Children for years -- from about 1977 until 1996. Yes I was 12 -- my best friend broke her leg at the beginning of summer. We watched a lot of television. Amazing that her mom let us watch a soap opera with a story line in which a young girl was being rescued from a life of prostitution.
I watched it with varying degrees of interest, but at one point I was taping it every day and watching it with my siblings who also caught the bug. There were many times I said, "if such and such happens I'm never watching this show again." I finally drew the line when a devout Catholic girl had an abortion after being raped.
Yes, I do not discriminate against children who begin life under horrible circumstances. I believe both they and their mothers are victims -- to be protected and cared for in all ways they may require. The death of an innocent child could never erase the horrendous acts of a sperm aggressor whom we unthinkingly refer to as his or her "father." The child is innocent and no less entitled to be brought into this world.
But it wasn't the portrayal of the young girl that was the last straw.
First they had the wise old Christian woman telling her that it was okay to abort because "perhaps there are some burdens even God doesn't expect us to bear." Which God was that woman praying to? The God I know doesn't consider having a child a burden, and with Him all things are possible. We can get through anything with His love and strength supporting us.
Then her older sister, who was a doctor, decided to help her keep the secret from her parents and accompanied her to the clinic. This was two more strikes -- a doctor proclaiming that an abortion was better than giving birth, and that it was okay to have this dangerous procedure without informing your parents.
And then -- after dragging out the show's token Irish-Catholic character and showing him as a peaceful protester outside the clinic (gee thanks for showing we're not all crazy)-- another unknown protester physically grabbed her and picked her up, screaming that he would not let her go in. Ach!
I finally decided I could no longer watch a tv genre that continues -- to this day -- to trot out story lines that contribute to the detrimental attitudes toward pregnancy and parenthood. Ooh, who is the father? What will happen if people find out about this pregnancy? Will the wedding be interrupted by someone revealing a pregnancy? All these types of story lines perpetuate beliefs that pregnancy and parenthood are something to be ashamed of, to hide and be secretive about, and even terminate.
So TV had an actress from One Life to Live who portrays a 16-year-old who just became pregnant. On the surface it seems like OLTL is doing a good job presenting this topic -- 20 years after I saw it on AMC -- because the actress has a blog on the ABC website that further explores teen pregnancy, and they are partnered with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. (A group I am mostly in agreement with.)
Some good things: the boyfriend is accepting his part, the couple is expressing regret and admitting they handled it all wrong, they are not choosing to abort.
Bad things: she did not turn to her parents right away, the couple ran off together, and the blog is quick to point out "we're not preaching" and "we're not saying 'don't do this, don't do that' " Why not?
Forget the blog -- I recorded Fridays' OLTL and the character fell down a flight of stairs! It's 2008 and a tv show is still dragging out this old, irresponsible plot device. You just know that some young girl -- probably more than one -- who is pregnant, threw herself down a flight of stairs after watching that in hopes of causing a miscarriage.
Oh, yes, the producers of OLTL really are trying to help today's young teens. Whatever makes money. Who cares what the consequences truly are?
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