美国国家公共电台 NPR--Abortion conversations show how TV reflects our culture and can also shape it

Abortion² conversations show how TV reflects our culture and can also shape it

Transcript³

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Tanya Melendez, a doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who says television has helped shape Americans' conversations centered on abortion.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Television reflects our culture, right? But it can also shape it, which may be especially true when it comes to abortion.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SCRUBS")

ELIZABETH BANKS: (As Dr. Kim Briggs) J.D., we have to talk about all of our pregnancy⁴ options, even if they make us uncomfortable. There's one way of dealing⁵ with this that no one's mentioned yet - the A-word.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "JANE THE VIRGIN")

ANDREA NAVEDO: (As Xiomara Villanueva) Oh, remember when I had the stomach flu a few weeks ago?

ANTHONY MENDEZ: (As narrator) To clarify, Xo didn't have a stomach flu a few weeks ago. She had a medication abortion.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "VEEP")

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS: (As Selina Meyer) If men got pregnant, you could get an abortion in an ATM. Let's state the obvious.

MARTIN: Shows like "Scrubs," "Jane The Virgin," "Veep" and many others have tried to find a way to address the topic. Tanya Melendez is a doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois, and she's been studying how TV narratives⁷ around abortion have influenced our national debate, often not for the better. She wrote a piece for Vox last year about this, in which she describes three kinds of abortion plotlines.

TANYA MELENDEZ: There is the both sides plot where an abortion is considered by a main character, and then "both sides," quote-unquote, are shown through all of the other characters. So the very famous "Cagney & Lacey" 1985 episode "The Clinic," for example - Cagney and Lacey, investigating a clinic bombing, essentially⁹ go from character to character and get an opinion on abortion.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CAGNEY & LACEY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) I don't know when it's murder.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Abortion is not murder. It's not even a person yet.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Well, tell that to your belly¹⁰.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) My belly is my business.

MELENDEZ: And by the end of the episode, there are three characters who are pro-abortion and three characters who are anti-abortion.

MARTIN: How convenient.

MELENDEZ: And it's a very - yes, it's a very balanced issue.

MARTIN: So easy.

MELENDEZ: Exactly.

MARTIN: Right.

MELENDEZ: And unfortunately, what that does is tell you that the people seeking to oppress the rights of women are equal to the rights of a woman seeking an abortion. And that is just not reality. There's also the baby makes drama plot, as I call it, which is - babies do make drama - right? - even in...

MARTIN: They do.

MELENDEZ: You know, in real life, they make drama. They change lives. And so what a great storytelling trope for writers who are seeking to put their characters into situations. The problem is it can actually not show the way that abortion takes place in real life. For example, in my piece, I talk about the "Roseanne" episode about her last pregnancy, where they find out that there is an unusual amniocentesis. They're going to have to do a second one to confirm whether or not the fetus¹¹ is developing correctly. At this point, the married couple discuss whether or not they would abort¹ an abnormal fetus. Now, Roseanne, the main character and the mother, is going back and forth¹² on whether or not she should and feeling differently about it.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ROSEANNE")

ROSEANNE BARR: (As Roseanne Conner) Alls he thinks about is himself, you know. He's worried that a sick baby might be an inconvenience to him, so he's trying to hint around that I should have an abortion.

LAURIE METCALF: (As Jackie Harris) Oh, I'm sure he knows it's your decision. I mean, he must respect your right to choose.

BARR: (As Roseanne Conner) Yeah, long as I choose to agree with him.

MELENDEZ: This trope can sometimes position - and this is the key - they position motherhood and abortion as binary¹³ opposites. It emphasizes the idea that abortion is the enemy of a woman's natural desire to be a mother. And that binary is not an accurate representation of abortion. Most people who seek abortions¹⁴ in this country are already mothers. They're seeking medical care for a pregnancy that they do not want.

MARTIN: OK, so baby creates drama, for sure. And then the last narrative⁶ you describe is - well, you say it.

MELENDEZ: Whew, that was close.

MARTIN: Yes, that was close. OK, talk about this.

MELENDEZ: Sure. This is where a character weighs the pros¹⁵ and cons⁸, comes to the decision that they are going to get an abortion, but before they go through with it, they are saved either by a miscarriage¹⁶ or a false positive. So they were either never pregnant, or they have a miscarriage that's beyond their control. This is a particularly toxic¹⁷ trope. I find it as a storytelling device to save the character from alienating¹⁸ the audience, rather than having that main character then become for the audience a person who chose an abortion.

MARTIN: We can still love her because she didn't have to make this decision.

MELENDEZ: Exactly. So their relief is still framed with guilt¹⁹ in certain cases, but also, more importantly, it strips the woman of her agency to make the choice.

MARTIN: And you write that these narratives, in turn, have shaped us, have actually shaped American public opinion.

MELENDEZ: Absolutely. The power of television is that it is a meaning-making medium, and it is the most powerful one we have in our culture. For the past 60 years, television shapes what we think about every major social issue, because when we absorb a narrative and they are characters that we are invested in and they are plots that we follow over years, in some cases, those stories give us a viewpoint of the world, and they reinforce what is normal, what is acceptable, what is moral or amoral, what is good or bad. And it gives us scripts that we then play out in the way we talk about these social issues.

MARTIN: So I think I know how you're going to answer this next question. I mean, there will be those TV executives who push back and say, that's not what we're supposed to do. We provide an escape. We are not, you know, going to get our fingers into social issues. It's not our job. It's not our responsibility. But now here we are with this huge decision by the Supreme²⁰ Court, overturning federal abortion rights protections. What is the role of television, moving forward? Is there a responsibility for entertainment and TV in particular to reflect what this reality is going to be?

MELENDEZ: I think what's important to remember is that it's not whether or not we're saying everybody has a moral responsibility. It's that they're telling stories about women. And you cannot tell stories about women within a certain age in modern America without talking about reproductive choice at some point or another. So if you're going to have characters who are having sex, who are getting pregnant, who are unfortunately being assaulted, if you're talking about women who live in particular states versus²¹ other states, if you're talking about college-age women, if you're talking about working women, poor women, Black women, everybody - if you're writing stories...

MARTIN: All the women, all the people who can get pregnant, yes.

MELENDEZ: Yes, all the people, I should stress - all the people who can get pregnant. If you're talking about those people, if you're writing stories for them, this issue cannot be ignored, and how writers choose to integrate that - whether or not it's a full-blown plotline or tossed aside in a conversation with another character - those choices matter.

MARTIN: Tanya Melendez is a doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois. Thank you so much, Tanya.

MELENDEZ: Thank you so much for having me.

1 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

2 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

8 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

11 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

14 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

15 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 miscarriage   

n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产

参考例句：

• The miscarriage of our plans was a great blow.计划的失败给我们以巨大的打击。
• Women who smoke are more to have a miscarriage.女性吸烟者更容易流产。

17 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

18 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

19 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

20 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

21 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。