“The unique premise of ‘The Baby Wait’ is that it documents both the lives of the birth mother and adoptive parents while they ride out the waiting period before the adoption is finalized...This waiting period varies from state to state and can range from a few days to several weeks or even a month. We also follow only one birth per episode, allowing us to go deeper on each story.”
So goes the official press release for the newest show on LOGO, The Baby Wait, premiering on Tuesday.
Watching the preview makes me think it's going to be more like this....
The protagonists of the show are the adoptive parents and the first mother is relegated to a supporting role at best and the role of "villain" as worst . There is nothing that I see in any of the previews that leads me to believe that the birthmothers are going to be presented in a positive light- they are inherently going to be the one standing in the way of some other couple's eternal happiness. Or to the degree that they are presented positively, I suspect that they will still be portrayed less favorably than the adoptive parents. While (some) people will recognize this the majority of people watching the show are those who already accept the predominate narrative that adoption is the most wonderful thing in the world, providing an infant without a family (or without a family that meets our societal expectations) a new (better) family. In light of the common acceptance of this narrative, there is little way to see the birthparents in any other light but a negative one.
Even the positive spin "she loves you enough to give you a better life" is fraught with the same judgement. These birthmothers are (a least in the preview) clearly struggling with no longer having their children. If they have (or the viewer has) bought into the idea that the placing of their baby is the ultimate act of love and selflessness- how does it appear when they have second thoughts, especially if they decide they want to parent their child?
And since the states involved have a longer waiting period- there will be lots of happy scenes of the new families bonding with their children to make sure that the viewer forgets that these are also the birthparent's children too.
Even the tag line for the series....
6 couple
6 unforgettable stories
tells us what the show is really about
Shouldn't it be
6 couples,
6 birthmoms (and birthdads),
6 unforgettable stories.
The previews break my heart. I am not sure I can stomach watching the shows. Someone please let me know if I am wrong.
I suspect I won't be.
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