MovieChat Forums > Call the Midwife (2012) Discussion > The last straw

The last straw

posted 9 years ago by shwalls2002
69 replies | jump to latest

I liked this show initially. The storylines of pregnancy, birth, medical practice and the camaraderie of women were all good themes. But as the show went on, it seemed merely an agenda driven vehicle. The setting is 1950's England, yet nearly everyone is extremely liberal in their thoughts and opinions, especially regarding race and sexual orientation.

The last straw for me was season 4's episode 3 regarding the homosexual man who's wife was about to give birth and he solicited a policeman in a public restroom. Interestingly, the opinions of most of the cast (including most of the nuns!) was one of pity and total understanding. It is unfortunate when the media tries to rewrite history.

Also, most of the original cast was wise enough to abandon ship apparently. All we're left with is the sniffling, snooty Trixie and a load of new, unlikeable characters which include (gasp) a lesbian nurse. If you believed modern media, you'd think that 25% of the general public was gay.

I've had it and that was the last straw for me.

[–] dan.adams 8 years ago

A lot of people seem to like this show and it puzzles me.I'm 80 and was in medical practice for most of my life.My "1950s-60s experience" was a lot different from that portrayed in this tv programme.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] smeagol05 8 years ago

I know, right? They make it seem like gay people have always existed, isn't that just ludicrous and offensive? Oh sweetheart, it would probably blow your mind to hear AT LEAST 25% of the general public isn't straight. I would enlighten you about other orientations beyond gay and straight but I'm quite certain you'd prefer to remain ignorant.

[–] billseper 8 years ago

I agree with everything in your original post, except I stopped watching after Jenny left, so thank God I didn't have to watch the homosexual stupidity, but I knew in my bones it was coming.

[–] butaneggbert 8 years ago

Bill, that's just ... odd.

Would any depiction of healthy, normal, same-sex attraction qualify as "stupidity", or was there something more specific you had in mind?

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Nothing to see here, move along.

[–] billseper 7 years ago

It's pretty simple. There's only one logical thing to put in a vagina and only one logical place for a penis to go. People who purposely do illogical things are acting stupid.

[–] butaneggbert 7 years ago

Ah.

Enough said.

Thank you for responding.

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Nothing to see here, move along.

[–] CakesAndAle 7 years ago

Jennie was such an insipid, annoying character. The show got better after she left.

[–] ShaeBlue 8 years ago

I agree with the OP, and it took a lot of courage to voice your opinion and endure the inevitable mocking by those who feel they have it all figured out. Seasons 1 and a great majority of seasons 2 and 3 have to be some of the most beautifully written episodes of television that I have ever had the pleasure to watch on t.v. Some of the episodes and the nuns reactions to actions that are in direct conflict with the teachings of Christ have been puzzling. That being said, I can't count the times I have been moved to tears by the heartfelt stories and performances on this show, but I felt, especially when Jenny left, that as the show progressed it would start the one world progressive indoctrination.

Indeed now that the source material is finished the writers are free to promote their worldview and freely erase history and authentic viewpoints that do not fit their own. The left so greatly wants to normalize and make holy and sacred their morals that they are reaching back in time via entertainment and creating false narratives essentially lies. Catholic nuns have been known to be some of the strictest most pious people to grace the earth. Yes they have much compassion, but would a nun of the Catholic church in early 50's really be so glib about issues such as abortion and sexual orientation? Even in today's time The Catholic Church is staunchly against abortion, and sees birth control as wrong. So how do you make a show with nuns in it and not legitimately and realistic portray their adherence to their faith? The nuns in this show are indeed the only type of Christian the world wants...a toothless one that does not adhere to the teachings of Christ but just smiles and says I am not to judge and carry on however you want to live.

I would think in a tolerant society that is supposedly becoming more inclusive and progressive by the day it would tolerate people different from themselves and would not try to whitewash society and pretend these strong differences do not exist. I will finish season 3 on Netflix, but I am not certain if the spirit of the original intent of this show will survive enough for me to continue watching beyond that.

[–] supergran 8 years ago

Just want to correct you by saying that these are Anglican nuns, not Catholic.

That said, I find the political correctness, revisionism, and saccharine in this series hard to take.

If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.

[–] ShaeBlue 8 years ago

Thank you for the correction somehow I missed that.

[–] butaneggbert 7 years ago

I imagine nuns are no more monolithic than any other subset of humanity. (Actually, I don't have to imagine. My cousin is a nun in a convent the mother Church is constantly irritated by. )

Nuns of that era based in a privileged, upscale area would have very different experiences shaping their opinions than would nuns serving the poorest and most desperate communities. What the first group might be able to view as simply and flatly sinful the latter might have come to see in much deeper nuance and dimension.

In the abortion episode, if you listen carefully, Sister Julienne doesn't say anything "pro-abortion". She frankly confronts the situation as what it is - "Do you think I haven't seen this before?" - then moves immediately into dealing with it. With the sick woman in the hands of an emergency medical crew, she turns to cleaning up the home before the children can see any of the bloody mess. She's letting God deal with the bigger picture, and stays in "chop wood, carry water" mode. Yes, she's devout. She's also steeped in an ugly, demanding day-to-day reality her sisters in richer, easier environs couldn't fathom. It's those sisters who could easily sit and pontificate about what should be. Julienne lives with what is.

We need to be careful, too, about how much we idealize the real religious folks of those days. This was the era of the Magdalene laundries, and unchecked buggering of children by holy men. They were living out their own version of godly humanity, ruining lives all around them.

Truth and morality have never been black and white.
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Nothing to see here, move along.

[–] SrEditor 7 years ago

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

[–] ShaeBlue 7 years ago

First of all thank you for your respectful and reasoned response.

I imagine nuns are no more monolithic than any other subset of humanity. (Actually, I don't have to imagine. My cousin is a nun in a convent the mother Church is constantly irritated by. )

Nuns of that era based in a privileged, upscale area would have very different experiences shaping their opinions than would nuns serving the poorest and most desperate communities. What the first group might be able to view as simply and flatly sinful the latter might have come to see in much deeper nuance and dimension.

The issue here is that a nuns point of view should not be driven by anything but the source from which their call to faith comes from, scripture. Adding your own fleshly feeling about how deal with things is not really a part of the calling. That does not mean that you wouldn't modify your approach to reach different communities, but the solutions to the problems must be rooted in sound doctrine found in scripture.

Julienne lives with what is.

Perhaps, but I turn your attention to the episode where a young mother has an affair and gets pregnant by a man who is not her husband. Now her husband in the story is portrayed as a bit of a jealous prick. When Sister Julienne and Jenny confront the women in secret it is sister Julienne who ask why can't the women just pass the child off onto her husband after all he would be none the wiser. Of course she can't because the child's father is black. I ask how is it okay to suggest that level of deceit on top of adultery. You could get that type of licentious advice from your friend down the street. Isn't the church suppose to call us to repentance and higher living. The next part is the adoption lady correctly summed up the whole situation by saying that the woman did have a choice in giving up her child it's just that she did not want to deal with the consequences of her actions so she was looking for the easy way out, and of course Jenny and Sister Julienne are appalled at her judgmental attitude. I found all of it odd because you can talk about the consequences of ones bad choices without being mean and judgmental in fact pastors and clergy do it all the time. The nuns on this show could be just your average charity workers for how they behave in these sticky social situations.

They were living out their own version of godly humanity, ruining lives all around them.

And they were wrong to do that. I mean even today we have this so society really has not changed.

Truth and morality have never been black and white

My perception is different truth and morality is fixed it's is our life experiences, temptations, trials, fears that make doing what is right difficult.

[–] butaneggbert 7 years ago

Thank you, as well! I'm always up for a mature discussion.

I think this:

The issue here is that a nuns point of view should not be driven by anything but the source from which their call to faith comes from, scripture. Adding your own fleshly feeling about how deal with things is not really a part of the calling. That does not mean that you wouldn't modify your approach to reach different communities, but the solutions to the problems must be rooted in sound doctrine found in scripture.

... inadvertently underlined my point. It's a stance of purity that may or may not survive a real-life test. It's the kind of thing one can't really hold another to unless they've shared the same experience.

I'm sure opinion on that varies from nun to nun, order to order, and from one spiritual persuasion to the next - how absolutist one needs to be regardless of circumstance.

The issue about the white woman with the black child to me illustrates Julienne's practicality. Is she there to pass judgment, or to help expedite the most workable practical solution? The nuns' mission there is nursing, which is why it's paired up with the NHS. Care of the mother, baby, and community is rightfully their first concern.

I agree with you it's problematic to recommend deceiving the father. But I find it acceptable in context for a couple of reasons:

- this is a pressured situation, and faulty ideas that don't stand up to later scrutiny comes out of those all the time.
- on the fly, it might seem like the easiest way to make sure mother and baby stay housed, fed, and safe - the lesser of the evils.
- Sister Julienne isn't presented as perfect, either as a nun or a person. Dramatically, perfect people are both unbelievable and boring.

I think this is another case where they leave religious instruction (or condemnation) to the priests and bishops, and go about the business of furthering their stated mission.

(Just as a side note - are you sure you're not conflating two episodes? The husband here didn't strike me as jealous or as a prick at all. He was a bit dopey, and very sweet, to the point of being clueless and irritating.)

I don't remember an adoption counselor in that episode - I'll have to look back at it.

My perception is different truth and morality is fixed it's is our life experiences, temptations, trials, fears that make doing what is right difficult.

Yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. ;) But I'm a big fan of "judge not", and I admire Sister Julienne's consistent focus on what to do, instead of who has done wrong.

I've been trying to remember a story from long ago - 80s? 90s at the latest - of a nun or a missionary who was held hostage for some time. She was raped, and at one point was forced to kill another hostage. I remember listening to her being interviewed on the radio, just horrified. While the Commandments say "Thou shalt not kill", I could never, never sit in judgment of what she did, because I can't fathom how my brain would work in her shoes.

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Nothing to see here, move along.

[–] SrEditor 7 years ago

I could never, never sit in judgment of what she did, because I can't fathom how my brain would work in her shoes.

I prefer to draw a distinction between "sitting in judgment" and "condemning" someone. Like ShaeBlue, my perception of truth is fixed; however, any right to CONDEMN someone does not exist in scripture.

You paraphrase an extreme case. The person involved, I'm sure felt guilty for taking a life. However, anyone who knows scripture also knows that there is always forgiveness available for those who confess their need for it. Therefore, we do not condemn another person for their moral failings.

Your extreme case reminds me of a Christian missionary to Tibet, who was broken by the Chinese communists when they took over China. Under torment, he denied his faith, but later also found his way back to God through His forgiveness. He did something that scripture seems to teach is anathema, and yet he found that God is greater than legalistic human conceptions of what His Word says.

[–] lucinda-breeding 7 years ago

The sisters are human beings animated by their faith in Christ. They can ONLY act as their conscience and faith dictate. And one of the things I so enjoy about this series is the authenticity it expressed about faith: There are many, many issues facing people living in modernity that the Bible has no explicit prescription for. That's when you swim out into the depths of faith, reconciling with flawed human beings without a handy checklist to fix them or you. Hence their thoughts of the expectant mother not divulging the questionable paternity of the child that was, indeed, black. The sisters consider the health and well-being of an infant paramount. Urging the mum -- who was already penitent - to divulge something that might punish her innocent husband wouldn't keep the family intact.

I don't see the sisters as being agents of deceit. I see them working toward intact households and loving families. Big picture stuff.

I think the sisters' dealings in these sticky social situations model the Christian faith beautifully: People will mess up. Love them anyway. They will hurt one another willfully and also without malice. Show up and serve them anyway. People will make awful decisions out of obsession for the short-term payoff. Nurture them -- and their children -- as those children grow. Keep returning in hope and love and service, and find the heart of God very much alive.

[–] Cookie.L.A. (2117) 7 years ago

<< Catholic nuns have been known to be some of the strictest most pious people to grace the earth. >>

And, the most lesbian.
.

[–] lucinda-breeding 7 years ago

I know this thread has been up for a while, but I just started watching on Netflix.

I don't know much about the Anglican nuns, but if they are anything like the catholic sisters in America from the second world war on, they likely espouse a liberation theology. The theology often manifested itself as a belief in an abundance of grace and suspension of judgment - especially in orders that deliver intimate care to people, like nursing and education.

While the culture was quite unforgiving in the West regarding homosexuality in the late 1950s, I can buy cloistered sisters expressing pity and sympathy toward homosexuals. After all, they vow to serve God by loving God's children.

You needn't feel too burdened by media. Heterosexual identity and desire is still the overwhelming default of most principle stories in film and television. I doubt that will change.

[–] Jossgod 7 years ago

If nothing else the nuns of Nonnatus House have shown that while pious and rooted in their faith they're also realists and highly empathetic. For them to react to homosexuality or abortion in a hateful and/or abusive way would be totally out of character. If we'd seen prior that they had been more willing to embrace the brimstone and hellfire side of Christianity then their actions would be wrong by the writers. But they've never been like that and expecting them to react that way is ridiculous.

[–] Xenopharb (617) 7 years ago

Let's see, a house full of unmarried women, and one could be gay. Who would have thought?

My wife's great aunt was a nurse at about that time. Surprise, surprise, ... she was gay.

This show is tame compared to her story.