MovieChat Forums > Strong Medicine (2000) Discussion > Best med drama on TV. But what disturbs...

Best med drama on TV. But what disturbs me...


I apologize if this topic has been metioned before, but I haven't found a thread about it.

One episode in particular has left me quite disturbed. A man and a woman, actually MARRIED, trying unsuccessfully to conceive came to Dr. Campbell for help - only to find that they are siblings. Devastating as this would be, I wasn't exactly appalled that the topic was featured. What disturbed and appalled me was that in the end, the couple decided to stay together, one or the other (or both, I don't remember) would become sterile, and they would adopt. Does anyone else remember this? And what were your thoughts?

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[deleted]

Hi core_soft, STFU.

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[deleted]

I think that it is a little strange, but they weren't raised like brothers and sisters...no one knows, and they aren't going to conceive...

It wouldn't be my choice, but to each his own

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I agree that its not exactly a preferred situation, but I think they handled it very well. I mean, its not as if they grew up together, so since they took the appropriote measures to making sure their child had no chanc eof becoming sick, it's not as bad as it sounds.

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I remembered this episode, it did bother me a little but as loong as no one else knew what's the harm?

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"to each his own" about incest? "What's the harm?" about incest?

Ay yi yi!

Every culture for thousands of years has decried incest as one of the strongest starkest wrongs there is!

Don't you realize the harm psychologically, in every way of sexual love between brother and sister?

Or is it "hey, whats the harm" of sex with the dead? With a one year old who won't remember anyway? With animals, so long as it doesn't really hurt them?

This is crazy! incest is a horrible thing. HORRIBLE!

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"Every culture for thousands of years has decried incest as one of the strongest starkest wrongs there is!"

Except for the Bible of course, where Lot's daughters take turns getting him drunk, having sex with him so they can conceive a child. (Genesis, ch 19)

I don't, in any way, agree with incest. I am just pointing out that it was not considered wrong in the Bible

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Wow. So because something is mentioned in the Bible, it's deemed acceptable? How did we come to this conclusion? The bible mentions adultery. The Bible mentions sodomy, homosexuality, and the cosumption of shellfish. I think we all know God's take on those things. In what passage is it decreed: "When thine mother turns to salt, intoxicate thy father and bear his children," according to the book of Billy Bob?

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[deleted]

Well, considering that neither Lot nor his daughters suffered a horrible death, I think that in this case, yes, in the eyes of God it was accepted. The Old Testament is full of examples of what happened to sinners...don't remember reading about Lot and his daughters among them.

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"Don't you realize the harm psychologically, in every way of sexual love between brother and sister?"

In general, I would agree, however, the psychological harm of sexual love between siblings does not really come from the fact that they share the same genes, it comes from the fact that it compromises the familial relationship they share. Say you had a stepbrother and stepsister whose parents married when they were both young and grew up in the same house being raised, for all practical intents and purposes, as brother and sister. Then, after the two become adults, they decide to pursue a romantic relationship together. I think most people would agree this would not really be any better than a bio brother and sister doing this. Sure, inbreeding wouldn't be an issue, but morally and ethically, it would not be a good idea. What happens if the two cannot make it as lovers? Could they just revive the previous relationship as siblings and go back to being the brother and sister they were raised to be? It's questionable. Yes, the long term affects of what inbreeding can cause definitely make incest a bad thing, but what makes it morally wrong is not ultimately the fact that the two people share the same blood lines, but the fact that they are making a change to their relation to each other that is not meant to be changed in such a way. In the home among family is supposed to be an environment in which children can feel safe from the complications, pressures, and tensions that sexual and romantic feelings between people can bring. They deserve to know the sibling they are taking a bath with is always going to be just that, their brother/sister and not a potential mate or lover. Should every child have to wonder if mom/dad/bro/sis will love them in a confusing and different way some day then the way they do now? This is why the incest taboo canot be relaxed in society, it would make the world a confusing place in an unacceptable way for young people to live in. However, in this episode of Strong Medicine, the brother and sister were only such biologically. As their relationship went, they had never known each other in life as siblings, only lovers, two people who were completely in love from day one and wanted to spend life together, so there was no threat of psychological harm from their relationship in this case. Why should they have discarded their loving marriage and happy life together just because of a technicality neither of them knew about before?

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It's funny.
Private Practice had an episode about a couple trying to conceive, but they found out they were brother and sister too.
The doctors told them that they couldn't help them conceive, and that by law they wouldn't be able to adopt because the adoption agency would find out they were brother and sister.
And, the doctors on this show told them they couldn't sterilize the female just so the couple could stay together.



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