It’s a night of lesbian and gay parents on TV!
Tonight, right after Fostering Love, a documentary about gay dads on Discovery Health (8 p.m. EST and again at 11), is Finn’s Girl on Logo (9 p.m. EST). I did a review last fall of this film about a lesbian mom and her tween daughter, but somehow never got around to posting it. Here it is.
(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 6, 2008.)
Dr. Finn Jeffries is at loose ends. Her partner Nancy has died, and Finn is left to raise their 11-year-old daughter Zelly, manage Nancy’s abortion clinic, deal with threatening anti-abortionists, and re-enter the dating scene. It’s no wonder Zelly is rebelling by skipping school, shoplifting, and smoking Finn’s pot. Finn is unsure how to reconnect with her daughter, though, and this forms the central theme of Finn’s Girl
Finn’s Girl is a welcome addition to the small genre of movies and shows about LGBT families. Unlike many other lesbian-parenting films and television shows, it steers clear of overdone storylines like the search for sperm. In this, it stands in contrast to pictures like Wolfe Video’s recent DVD Tick Tock Lullaby
Workaholic Finn is far from a perfect mother. It is refreshing, however, to see a lesbian family dealing with issues that aren’t always specific to being a lesbian family, and a film that doesn’t try too hard to prove our worth to a straight world. We have our foibles like everyone else.
The actors all give fine performances. Brooke Johnson brings a soft-butch sexiness to her role as Finn. Maya Ritter, who plays Zelly, captures adolescent angst without overdoing it. Yanna McIntosh has a quiet forcefulness as Diana, head of Finn’s protection detail and later love interest.
A few lines ring false, however. Zelly tells both her friends and Diana that Finn, her non-biological mother, “is not my mother,” a sentiment one might expect from a child of a previous relationship; however, Finn and Nancy started their family together, Finn did a second-parent adoption, and Zelly has known no other parents but them. While children may sometimes be closer to their biological parents, it is rare to see one who rejects her non-biological mother so completely when she has known her as a mother since birth.
This rejection, however, sets up a more surprising scenario, and one with some troubling implications for non-biological mothers. (I am usually adverse to spoilers in a review, but it is impossible to discuss this without revealing a major one. If you would rather see the film fresh, skip down to the next paragraph.) Finn was a top fertility researcher before a failed drug trial led her to quit her job and take over the abortion clinic. Unbeknownst to anyone, however, Finn had developed a process for creating a viable embryo from two eggs—hers and Nancy’s—and no sperm. Zelly thus has two biological moms. Finn tells this to Zelly at the end of the movie, and the revelation begins the healing process between them. Given Zelly’s previous angry assertions that Finn was not her mother, this development implies that genetic connection is necessary for a good parent-child bond. I doubt this was the filmmakers’ intention—they do have Finn tell Zelly that the man she knew as her biological dad will always be her dad, genetics or no—but the message is there nonetheless.
Other issues are handled with an appropriate deftness, however. When Zelly mentions to Finn that some kids at school wrote “lesbo” on her locker, Finn says, “I’m sorry” in a voice full of understanding. The film avoids the impulse to preach about homophobia, letting the moment speak for itself. Discussions between Zelly and her friends Max and Eve add insights about gender, relationships, and different types of families, again without sermonizing.
The real strength of the film, though, is the chemistry among the actors. Johnson and Ritter convey a familiarity despite the tensions between them. Ritter and the other young actors in the film tease and provoke each other, but also show genuine friendship and understanding. The romance between Finn and Diana is slow to develop, but more realistic for it.
In its portrayal of the relationship between Finn and Zelly, the trauma of recovering from the death of a partner, and the difficulties of balancing work and life, especially as a single parent, Finn’s Girl is a notch above most other dramas about LGBT parenting. A few extraneous storylines fail, but the film is nevertheless full of warmth and solid acting. Put the kids to bed early and watch it.