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The Pregnancy Obsession
Topic Started: 2 Aug 2015, 23:57 (2,146 Views)
BigApe
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Like a lot of others I have made my thoughts on the obsession with baby storylines in EastEnders at the moment and also on how this type of storyline is any better than gangster storylines which have the potential to be just as interesting.

For me it isn't just the fact that the same revolving door of motherhood is like watching paint dry. That is a factor of course. When I hear "I'm pregnant" followed by a duff duff I just think to myself "how is that a cliffhanger"? I will admit pregnancy storylines are usually well acted by those involved and do entertain a lot of people as well as highlight issues relating to pregnancy.

But my other gripe with pregnancy storylines is something more personal and will probably cause some controversy. But I'm willing to take that risk.

Everywhere we go we are inundated with pregnancy. I set foot out the door and have a 20 minute walk to the train station which is no bother to me. That is until someone with a pram decides to charge straight in front of me and then walk as slowly as possible. I get on the train and theres a screaming baby. Babies cry but it seems a lot of the time a lot is done to encourage crying. I recall a hot summers train ride from Chichester last year. Packed carriages and a man playing with his baby as it got louder and louder and louder. And then theres prams obstructing the passage way.

I go to work and have to hear about co workers' offspring and how tough pregnancy is as though its my fault women get pregnant. I come home and flick on the news. When its not Tescos self pitying themselves its mums giving their opinion on matters in voxpops feeling they have to punctuate every single sentence with "As a mother, I feel..." as though adding those three simple words at the beginning makes their opinion doubley super.

Social networking site full of pics of baby Kaden or baby Lucifer or whatever the trendy name is. A member of the Royal family is announced as pregnant and society goes nuts. I was expected to care when baby George was born in 2013 because I too am called George. I guess by that logic I should buy a George Foreman grill?

So TV becomes an escape from pregnancy. That pregnancy documentary on channel four doesn't interest me one bit. Nor the self entitled brats on Teenage "Mom" But soaps often feel like they should be in the same genre as that show because it is like watching it.

I would like to clarify a few points. I do not want to piss all over the effort women go through when giving birth. I just don't want that or their children shoved down my throat or brought up in disagreements unnecessarily. I also don't hate children. Childhood is something we've all experienced and you never know if the brat screaming in your ear making you want to rip your own heart out in frustration may grow up to be the surgeon operating on said heart one day. And I also know that pregnancy storylines have just as much of a place in soaps as anything else. It just feels too much. Any other type of storyline dominates a soap and it gets noticed. I don't see why pregnancy gets a free pass.

Now some people have a lot more to worry about with soaps than being bored of the subject matter. Some people may have had relatives stabbed and so might not have enjoyed new year 2006 or Jase's stabbing. I can't imagine a rape victim enjoying Linda's rape last year. Compared to them my reason for disliking the number of pregnancy storylines is mild. But it is something I thought I would vent anyway.

So too much pregnancy in EastEnders?

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See You Slater
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There's a difference between not liking a rape storyline because you're a rape victim and not liking baby storylines because the sound of babies crying pisses you off.
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BigApe
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I believe that's what I said.
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Mormon Girl
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BigApe
3 Aug 2015, 22:24
I believe that's what I said.
Don't you like babies in real life?
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BigApe
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Mormon Girl
3 Aug 2015, 22:28
BigApe
3 Aug 2015, 22:24
I believe that's what I said.
Don't you like babies in real life?
Thats actually quite a good question.

I don't hate babies. I find them annoying although I put that down to just babies being babies. Unless its the parents making them noisy or rubbing them in my face (not literally though thank goodness).

Its mainly the obsession society has with pregnancy that gets me and not just "babies crying" as a previous member falsely claimed.
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Mormon Girl
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BigApe
3 Aug 2015, 22:35
Mormon Girl
3 Aug 2015, 22:28

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Thats actually quite a good question.

I don't hate babies. I find them annoying although I put that down to just babies being babies. Unless its the parents making them noisy or rubbing them in my face (not literally though thank goodness).

Its mainly the obsession society has with pregnancy that gets me and not just "babies crying" as a previous member falsely claimed.
Well babies can't help crying especially newborns and since babies can't talk crying is their way of needing something. Maybe one day when your parent you won't mind your baby crying.
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BigApe
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Mormon Girl
3 Aug 2015, 22:41
BigApe
3 Aug 2015, 22:35

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Well babies can't help crying especially newborns and since babies can't talk crying is their way of needing something. Maybe one day when your parent you won't mind your baby crying.
I accept the fact that they need to cry. However it doesn't make it any less annoying when someone takes their baby, makes it cry and holds it up next to someone with over sensitive hearing.

And I'm not really interested in being a parent.
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Christina
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Apart from pearl, we very rarely see any of the babies/young children already on the square so I don't see any need for them to add more babies to the show at the moment
Edited by Christina, 4 Aug 2015, 03:37.
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Zachary
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Cue "All That She Wants (Is Another Baby)"
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BigApe
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Zachary
4 Aug 2015, 02:18
Cue "All That She Wants (Is Another Baby)"
You mean he? As in DTC. :D
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BigApe
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See You Slater
3 Aug 2015, 20:50
There's a difference between not liking a rape storyline because you're a rape victim and not liking baby storylines because the sound of babies crying pisses you off.
Interesting that all you got from that is that I don't like babies because they cry. And you completely missed the part where I actually said being annoyed by pregnancy is different to being put off by a rape storyline.

Its a good job I didn't mention how I don't like Stacey Slater because then I would be getting it wouldn't I?
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Mormon Girl
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BigApe
3 Aug 2015, 22:43
Mormon Girl
3 Aug 2015, 22:41

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I accept the fact that they need to cry. However it doesn't make it any less annoying when someone takes their baby, makes it cry and holds it up next to someone with over sensitive hearing.

And I'm not really interested in being a parent.
You might be a parent in 10 years never say never.
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Katedahlia
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BigApe
2 Aug 2015, 23:57
Like a lot of others I have made my thoughts on the obsession with baby storylines in EastEnders at the moment and also on how this type of storyline is any better than gangster storylines which have the potential to be just as interesting.

For me it isn't just the fact that the same revolving door of motherhood is like watching paint dry. That is a factor of course. When I hear "I'm pregnant" followed by a duff duff I just think to myself "how is that a cliffhanger"? I will admit pregnancy storylines are usually well acted by those involved and do entertain a lot of people as well as highlight issues relating to pregnancy.

But my other gripe with pregnancy storylines is something more personal and will probably cause some controversy. But I'm willing to take that risk.

Everywhere we go we are inundated with pregnancy. I set foot out the door and have a 20 minute walk to the train station which is no bother to me. That is until someone with a pram decides to charge straight in front of me and then walk as slowly as possible. I get on the train and theres a screaming baby. Babies cry but it seems a lot of the time a lot is done to encourage crying. I recall a hot summers train ride from Chichester last year. Packed carriages and a man playing with his baby as it got louder and louder and louder. And then theres prams obstructing the passage way.

I go to work and have to hear about co workers' offspring and how tough pregnancy is as though its my fault women get pregnant. I come home and flick on the news. When its not Tescos self pitying themselves its mums giving their opinion on matters in voxpops feeling they have to punctuate every single sentence with "As a mother, I feel..." as though adding those three simple words at the beginning makes their opinion doubley super.

Social networking site full of pics of baby Kaden or baby Lucifer or whatever the trendy name is. A member of the Royal family is announced as pregnant and society goes nuts. I was expected to care when baby George was born in 2013 because I too am called George. I guess by that logic I should buy a George Foreman grill?

So TV becomes an escape from pregnancy. That pregnancy documentary on channel four doesn't interest me one bit. Nor the self entitled brats on Teenage "Mom" But soaps often feel like they should be in the same genre as that show because it is like watching it.

I would like to clarify a few points. I do not want to piss all over the effort women go through when giving birth. I just don't want that or their children shoved down my throat or brought up in disagreements unnecessarily. I also don't hate children. Childhood is something we've all experienced and you never know if the brat screaming in your ear making you want to rip your own heart out in frustration may grow up to be the surgeon operating on said heart one day. And I also know that pregnancy storylines have just as much of a place in soaps as anything else. It just feels too much. Any other type of storyline dominates a soap and it gets noticed. I don't see why pregnancy gets a free pass.

Now some people have a lot more to worry about with soaps than being bored of the subject matter. Some people may have had relatives stabbed and so might not have enjoyed new year 2006 or Jase's stabbing. I can't imagine a rape victim enjoying Linda's rape last year. Compared to them my reason for disliking the number of pregnancy storylines is mild. But it is something I thought I would vent anyway.

So too much pregnancy in EastEnders?

OMG
Was thinking about all this pregnancy stuff myself as I need a break...I work in a pregnancy/newborn related profession.
With so much of it on EE lately I find myself critiquing the births, breastfeeding or formula, infant actor behavior/growth/noticable development, size of expecting moms bumps...augh...lemme outta here!!!
Seriously your post made me laugh.
Yep, babies babies everywhere. There seems no end in sight.
Thanks for saying what I feel when overwhelmed but have to be nice all day...
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Desdemona
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Pregnancy or indeed newfound parenthood is used repeatedly as a plot device lately and this is getting very predictable. Babies and young children on the other hand are not very prominent in EE at the moment.
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Fehnder
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I must be the most boring person in the world as I have such a live and let live attitude.

As for fed up with the baby obsession, I've been pregnant since December 2013. I would very very much like to lay on my belly and inhale vodka. Ah well.
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BigApe
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Mormon Girl
4 Aug 2015, 09:49
BigApe
3 Aug 2015, 22:43

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You might be a parent in 10 years never say never.
We'll see.
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Fanny_Arbuckle
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I always hate it when a good female character gets preggers. It's always been a bit of a nail in the coffin. Cue tedium of downtrodden mothers doing very little but pushing a buggy around the square and usually being cheated on by their partners.

I can think of a lot of female characters to whom this seemed to happen.

Lisa Fowler
Natalie Evans
Honey Mitchell
Gita Kapoor
Demi Miller
Laura Beale
Dawn Swann (well, she was never that good)
Roxy Mitchell
Little Mo

They seem to get a bit stuck once they have babies. But perhaps that was partly to do with them running out of ideas for the characters in the first place. stuck for a storyline...give them a baby.
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Kim
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I think it could be argued that it can be a bit of both, stuck for ideas and the manner in which the pregnancy is done. It all depends on the circumstances.

Little Mo was never the same after she had Freddie, but it was difficult to say whether it was because she had him or because she spent the rest of her time on the show as a downtrodden mother (which was bound to happen because she sacrified her marriage to have him) and having an affair with her brother in law near the height of Kat and Alfie's popularity. Tony Jordan I believe said that he should never have allowed Little Mo to be raped for the second time, so presumably he in part thought that she should never have had Freddie/the opportunity should have been left open to make Billy his father. I think the storyline as it began was the only way for Kacey to be written out as she was leaving soon into her pregnancy, when Little Mo and Billy were happy. Perhaps Little Mo should have miscarried later on instead.

I would even add Kat with Tommy to the list of babies that ruined characters. His paternity started off the awful caricature that will never quite be forgotten. She then seemed to become a Moon extra and never leave the Vic except to do the cheating.

Let's hope Nancy doesn't get pregnant. She doesn't seem to leave the Vic enough as it is!
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