I was at home this Halloween, waiting for trick-or-treaters, and I caught part of TLC's Halloween Marathon of the show 'I didn't know I was pregnant'. (very scary)
I quickly realized that the show would more accurately be titled 'I refused to entertain the idea that I might be pregnant' as I watched woman after woman recall the horrifying story of how they didn't realize that their cravings, weight gain, missed periods, and mood swings were all signs of.. SHOCKER-- pregnancy.
But that wasn't the best part of the show. It was dramatic reenactments of the woman's stories that made it. They had actresses who looked exactly like the women, except pretty and thin. At one point a nearly toothless, squat woman with a bad dye job and a southern drawl was played by a tall, thin model with no accent. I'd like to believe that the woman themselves were involved in casting.
There was very little variety in the monologues read by the woman who retold their story. Every woman made the same two statements.
One: "My weight always fluctuated a little, so I didn't think much of it..." Quickly followed up by many recounts from family members who stated they didn't think she looked pregnant. Which translates strongly into 'this girl has always been dumpy'.
Two: "I was concerned about the health of the baby, because of the lack of pre-natal care." Which is a thinly vailed "I smoked and drank A LOT."
The show was designed, I think, to scare women into thinking that they too might be pregnant, to what end I'm not sure. But it didn't really accomplish that for me. Because I'm not a retard.
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