ER takes on the Christian Fundy anti-Gay movement. SPOILER

[ScreamingMeemie]

I thought it was an excellent show. Kerry finds her birth mom (Frances Fisher, who plays an excellent whacky Christian) and is excited to finally meet her. They catch up on their lives, with Kerry not saying at first that she had a partner who had died. They speak of her birth defect ("God makes all of his children perfect") They speak of how Helen (the mom) "found" God. Finally, after being quizzed about her husband, Kerry tells her about her partner. Helen, tells her God still loves her even though she made this "choice". You can guess where that got Helen. Anyway, it ends with Helen saying, "I still love you Kerry"...and Kerry saying," I don't want love without acceptance, love without acceptance is nothing." You know, that one line is the single, and possibly only, most excellent thing uttered on that show. Kudos to some great writing. They didn't go over board with the Fundy thing...they didn't need to.

[MichaelHarris]

1. Is it just me or

does anyone else think Frances Fisher just keeps getting hotter with age?

[madison2000]

2. this was such a sad show

laura innes character started out as an object of universal contempt years ago and the story has really made her understandable and loveable. They have a lot of sad stories on ER but this one was one of the saddest.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. I said the same thing to MrG last night. Even with all of the deaths

on that show...even with Dr Greene and his daughter and "Somewhere over the Rainbow"...watching her come to grips with who she is, find love, have a baby, lose her partner, find her birth mom, and feel rejected...breaks my heart. Even though we know this is a show, people deal with this type of hurt on a daily basis.

[JitterbugPerfume]

6. ER last night

was so sad I have fundys in my family ans I could see them taking that attitude if I were gay --which i am not


poor Carrie

just sayin'

[The empressof all]

10. I saw it a little differently

What I saw was a woman of strength who put her true self ahead of the wishes of others. She just turned and left when the Francis Farmer character appeared to feel so much shame for her. Carrie didn't need this. She expressed happiness to have met her birth mother but she realized there was no real love there, just curiosity which was satisfied for both of them. The loss here was for the Francis Farmer character not for Carrie.

I think the Carrie character is such an amazingly complex individual who stirs so many conflicting emotions.

[vi5]

4. Wait, you didn't hear that ER was a republican show?

At least that was the rant on here 3 weeks ago when they had one minor plot line about a lawyer getting run over by a car. I mean clearly.

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. No I didn't. But I'll keep that in mind...

;)

[liberal N proud]

5. Yeah!

I like the way they hooked the fundies for more than half of the show. Then wham-mo, Kerry came out.
I was actually steamed for part of the show about all the fundie emphasis, then surprise.
I have noticed several shows making political statements against the regime.
West Wing and Jack and Bobbie are good ones their displays of political points of view.

[madison2000]

8. This has been one of my favorite shows for years

and I have to say that they have done a great job showing some complex issues involving health care in this country in an understated way.

Earlier this season there was a story about a poor black woman with a mental illness that included paranoia. She stopped taking her meds because she could not afford them. She thought she heard her hostile ex husband banging on the door, and in fear she dropped two of her children out of the window, killing them. When she came back to her right mind she was heartbroken.

Edit: Turned out her ex-husband had died a while ago.

If somebody else can make a more powerful argument for making sure the poor and mentally ill never lose access to the care they need, I'd like to see it.

There has also been recent mention about conflicts of interest involving health care delivery and drug companies...

And the story lines about doctors giving care in Africa were terrific too.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. It was really well done, wasn't it? I thought the same thing as you.

That it would hook the religious right and then piss them off...or perhaps make them think. :hi:

[mondo joe]

11. I was so afraid of this episode, but it was great

Loved how strong Kerry was.

[freeplessinseattle]

12. "I made a choice to be true to myself"

(or something like that) loved Carrie's response to the ol' "choice" attack.

I also thought it was interesting that her mom kept saying how she "found God" after her divorce, and her faith was the only thing that kept her going. to me it seemed to emphasize why some people latch onto religon during hard times, as if it's magic, and what's more interesting is that it shows that her mom "finding God" can be seen as a choice in itself, yet she'd probably say she always had god in her heart or something like that-just like Carrie came to realize and come to terms with her true self. I'd love to see Carrie throw that one at her, but I'm sure that'd be too much religous controversy.

[MountainLaurel]

13. This happened to a friend

He was contacted by his birth mother, and she came to visit. When he told her he was gay, she began spewing the most vile fundie claptrap you could imagine.

[mondo joe]

14. Where did it go from there???

Did they ever develop a relationship?

Or was that the end of it?

[MountainLaurel]

15. They're still in contact

Very rarely, and the relationship is pretty strained.