I like Neighbours, it’s being going for years, and I've been watching it for a lot of them
The recent storyline surrounding Sky, an early 20s (I think?) single woman living with her religious grandad, his friend and his friend's mail order Russian wife, has been interesting for the way it has been handled.
Last week Sky, who’s recently split from her boyfriend after cheating on him with her art teacher, found out she was pregnant. Her ex boyfriend didn’t want to talk to her about it, and she made the decision to have an abortion.
However the a word was never mentioned, instead she made an ‘appointment’, visited the doctors for her ‘appointment’ and cancelled her ‘appointment’ to do more thinking about her decision. Her ex made vague references to ‘not being ready to be parents’ and again, said she’d made an ‘appointment’ and left it at that.
Horray for Neighbours for covering this prickly issue, hope they resolve it with some grace.
Horray for Aus for being so liberal there was never an issue of whether Sky would have access to an abortion.
But BOO HISS to Neighbours for shying away from the term. How are kids even meant to understand what is meant by her ‘appointment’? Could specifying the reason for the appointment go much further to helping young Aussies, and people further a field as the show is broadcast all over, to understand they are not alone and they should not be ashamed.
I shall be following this storyline closely as it unfolds...
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4 comments:
V. observant of you! I haven't seen any of this, but it's really frustrating and disappointing to see the word 'abortion' not being mentioned. I'd have loved to have sat in the scripwriters' discussion to find out their logic behind it.
Here in the States, they do the same thing. A show will have a plot about a young woman who has an unplanned pregnancy, and the ones that do show her making the decision to get an abortion never really come out with the word. Only on cable television have I seen a show where they not only talk about getting an abortion, but show the woman going to the clinic. I think their logic is that if you say the word, you will be condoning the action, and they can't possibly condone or discuss something controversial even if it is happening.
Better than the storyline where a girl was going to have an abortion but changed her mind when her boyfriend got run over trying to stop her.
Well spotted. I love neighbours, my day just doesnt feel complete without my daily dose of australian soap. Although neighbours is not usually known for its realistic storylines, they have handled the Sky pregnancy line well, apart from being unable to mention the A word that is.
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