Once again, Nancy Polikoff is making me think this week. Yesterday, she managed to inform us of why media treatment of Michael Jackson may indeed have a direct impact on LGBT families:
The news reports this morning about the circumstances of the conception of Michael Jackson’s children are suggesting that the information might impact who gets custody of the children. But that just shows ignorance about the difference between legal parenthood and biology. They do not always go together and there is nothing new about that.
That comes on the same day that The Linster at After Ellen reports on The Kids Are All Right, an upcoming movie starring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as lesbian moms. When their oldest child turns 18, she meets their sperm donor, and family tensions ensue.
Like The Linster, I rolled my eyes at the thought of yet another lesbian-mom storyline that focuses on the sperm donor. Yes, many lesbian moms choose donors who are willing to meet their offspring when the children turn 18. Some sperm banks even specialize in such donors. And being able to have some sense of one’s donor is important even for children of unknown donors. It doesn’t mean they’ll give up their moms to go live with him, but it helps them fit a piece of their identity puzzle into place. (Once again, Abigail Garner’s Families Like Mine
I’m just afraid the behemoth that is Hollywood will screw this up, even though the writer/director is out lesbian Lisa Cholodenko. She also wrote and directed High Art, starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. I remember not being thrilled with that film, mostly because I couldn’t personally identify with the characters. (I saw it years ago, though, and am willing to revisit.) Maybe a movie with lesbian moms will change my mind. They just better be careful not to fall into the trap of biology is destiny, however, as the media seems to be doing with Michael Jackson. If they can show it as one part of a more complex whole, however, then the film may break new ground.
With an all-star cast, the film will also carry the weight of portraying lesbian parenthood to a broad audience. I hope it doesn’t sag under such expectations and try to stuff in too many themes and sub-characters simply for the purpose of being inclusive (where have we seen that happen before?), but remains true to the one slice of our diverse lives that it chooses to reveal.
What storylines from LGBT parenting do you think most need to be told in television or film?
The judgment call is made more difficult by the dearth of content in existence. Because so little has been done, anything that comes along is expected to be definitive, instantly part of the canon. I admit though an instinctual nervousness at how they will represent us….