The series “Ginny and Georgia” is right to remind us that abortion is a personal choice.
Spoiler alert: In the seventh episode of its third season, the hit Netflix series depicts a teenage girl's abortion. Lorraine Ali, TV critic for the Los Angeles Times, appreciates that it ignores the American political context and never puts the viewer in a position to judge the heroine.
The series? Ginny and Georgia .
The setting? A women's clinic.
The scene? Ginny, 16, is carrying an unwanted pregnancy and wants an abortion. During the pre-pregnancy consultation, she is asked if she needs time to decide. No, the teenager replies. She is sure of her choice.
Her decision is not questioned. No act of contrition on her part. Why? Simply because we [viewers] are not invited to take a position. Her choice is intimate and personal, even if the excessive politicization of reproductive rights would almost make us believe otherwise.
Strong opinions, heated debates, and legislative battles have been rife [in the United States] since the Roe v. Wade ruling [which legalized abortion] was handed down in 1973 and then overturned in 2022 by the Supreme Court . It's no wonder, then, that such a divisive subject is often absent from television series: alienating half the country is rarely good for ratings.
Exceptions include Maude [a 1970s sitcom that pioneered its portrayal of women, unseen in France], The Facts of Life [another 1980s sitcom], and Jane the Virgin [about a young virgin who is mistakenly inseminated during a visit to the gynecologist, broadcast between 2014 and 2019], which addressed this subject in poignant scenes. But the recognition of the subject's bipolarity prevailed on screen over the transparent description of the characters' reasons and feelings.
Another pitfall arises when abortion is addressed in a subplot. It's hard, then, not to see these parentheses.
Courrier International
