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EastEnders' portrayal of foster care is cynical, inaccurate and nasty; Guardian Article
Topic Started: 21 Sep 2015, 16:11 (1,121 Views)
Jade
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I got some flak for saying I didn't like how the foster Jade story was handled and I did not find it realistic, only to be told it was. Nice to see some experts agree with me. Sometimes EE forgets how damaging these things can be like the whole Lola and the social services. I wonder how many were put off seeking help after that disaster.

The following is a Guardian article not some right wing tabloid or Daily Fail. Hits the nail on the head.
http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/sep/21/eastenders-foster-care-shoddy-writing
Edited by Jade, 21 Sep 2015, 16:12.
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Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism".

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Mitch
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Not quite peak Guardian but certainly getting there. Poor article with no facts to back up the statements made. 'None of them would accept cash' - did she ask every single one of them then? It's a drama and dramatic licence was used.
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Mrs Peel
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From The Guardian

I actually agree with this writer. The excuse offered up by TBTB in response for very valid criticism from real-life foster carers and Social Services is pithy, condescending and more than a tad arrogant. Basically, the gist is "it's just a story and it's not true and we don't condone some of the things our fictitious characters do."

Well, fiction is based on fact; it's not a twisting of it, and some issues with which EastEnders deals should be done with accuracy and circumspection.

In the Lola-Lexie storyline, Trish Barnes was presented as The Wicked Witch of the West, bound and determined to take Lexie away from Lola, when in real life, the child would have stayed with her mother. Going back even further, there is no way in hell Martin and Sonia would have even found Rebecca, much less been able to stalk the child and her grandmother, visit her and then just take her back into the fold once Granny Goodwitch snuffed it.

You cannot undo adoption.

There's just so much laissez-faire fantasy about this situation. How did Auntie Fatima know where Jade was being fostered? Odds are, that isn't her first foster home. She's a child with a disability - it's hard enough to find foster carers for able-bodied children, it's bloody difficult to find ones willing to take on disabled kids. The inference in all of this is that the carer is in the game for the money. It wouldn't be so easy for Shirley/Buster/Dean/Shabnam/Masood to get Jade back. There would be extensive examination by Social Services, and I can't see either domestic set-up as something Social Services would accept. Shirley is a functioning alcoholic prone to violence. Buster and Dean have criminal records. Jade has been raised total stranger to the culture and religion of her mother. Surely Social Services would be concerned about all of the above.

Add to that, the message being pushed out by the writing room that blood relationships outweigh any and all connected with adoption of voluntary raising of someone else's child. Sharon refers to Carol Hanley and (maybe) Gavin as her real mum and dad and now calls Den and Angie by their Christian names. Five minutes after meeting Buster, he's calling him dad and referring to the man who raised him as "Kevin."

It's all skewed, but then, having said that, EastEnders, for some reason, has always given Social Services and social workers a rough ride.
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Jade
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All the real parent stuff niggles me. Even Mick is now calling Shirley mum. Despite the fact she is still treating Linda like shit. Even before Dean. Mick might be a good father but he really is a terrible unsupportive partner to Linda at times. The moment Shirley told Linda her kids didn't love her she should have been kicked out. But then again this was never about Linda but Shirley and her "sons" dilemma.
Your approval is neither desired nor required.

Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism".

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Mr Carter
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Mick has done nothing but support her throughout the whole rape storyline but it's hard for him to completely cut Shirley out of his life because he still feels like he owes her after everything's Shirley has been through in her life and looking after him and Tina as kids. It's a kind of unconditional love he has for family, like Jane covering up for Bobby or Phil doing the same, for Ben. Mick understands and has compassion for his family even when he knows Shirley or her rapist son would never do the same. I think that's one of the reasons Phil and Shirley both suited at the time - both selfish and destructive individuals whom deserved each other.
Edited by Mr Carter, 21 Sep 2015, 21:32.
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Lara
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Adding fabric softener at the laundrette.
Ender89
21 Sep 2015, 18:25
Mick has done nothing but support her throughout the whole rape storyline but it's hard for him to completely cut Shirley out of his life because he still feels like he owes her after everything's Shirley has been through in her life and looking after him and Tina as kids. It's a kind of unconditional love he has for family, like Jane covering up for Bobby or Phil doing the same, for Ben. Mick understands and has compassion for his family even when Shrley or her rapist son would never do the same. I think that's one of the reasons Phil and Shirley both suited at the time - both selfish and destructive individuals whom deserved each other.
But there's a vast array of options between completely cutting her out of his life (which wouldn't be hard for me if she was defending my partner's rapist, and I can't believe it would be hard for Mick) and spontaneously calling her "mum", unasked, and standing about reminiscing about the old days.

I have unconditional love for my family, but if any of them repeatedly called my partner a liar and a slut and defended his or her rapist, I feel like I would soon realize that there are a couple conditions after all. And maybe I might still find that I love this family member, but if so it would most certainly be from afar. If I could get past the anger, the hurt would still be there and it would be deep.

I agree with those who have said it's the "real parents" stuff that gets to them the most. That's my problem, too. Everyone I know who has been raised by someone other than their biological parents calls them just that "my biological mother and father" and calls the parents who raised them "mom" and "dad" or some variation thereof. And yet it seems everyone on EastEnders uses the terms "my real mum" and "my real dad". It seems behind the times and unrealistic, not to mention hurtful and disrespectful to the real "real" parents around the world that did all the hard work and caring and 3 am feedings.

I liked the Guardian article. Yes, there was a little bit of hyperbole with this line: "None of them, not one, not ever, would do anything like the EastEnders storyline." But it's still a good article. I, too, have trouble believing a team of "experts" advised on the script.
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BigApe
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When EastEnders gets negative comments from a storyline: "Well, sometimes you have to take dramatic licence. We don't condone everything those characters do. Its just a TV show."

When EastEnders gets positive comments from a storyline: "We always aim to be realistic and we talk to various charities about the issues we deal with and believe that Julia Smith and that other guy we can't be bothered to remember are watching us from their little cloud in heaven and are thankful that we are keeping their vision alive in the way they intended it."
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