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    Strong, modern woman inexplicably has one night stand with unsuitable man, maybe one she has an antagonistic relationship with, or who is married to a friend or sister.

    Thought of pregnancy does not cross her mind until 8 weeks later when she faints or throws up. She reluctantly uses a test, which proves positive. She is stunned when it’s positive. At this stage, it’’’s common for her to be in doubt whether the father is Mr Unsuitable or her steady, reliable partner.

    She confides in a friend and states firmly ‘“I’’m not keeping it, no way I’’m having X’’s baby’. Around this time, the steady partner gets wind of the pregnancy and comes over all broody, or she is forced to interact with an unusually cute and well-behaved kid, and looks wistful.

    She decides to go ahead and have the child despite voicing misgivings. Come the birth, she is unable to get to a hospital so gives birth in the workplace or pub. The baby is delivered by the least likely character to be adept at delivering babies. One of the men faints, sometimes the campest, sometimes the butchest.

    At some point, either around the time of the birth, or years later, Mr Unsuitable will decide he wants in and show up with a huge teddy, saying ‘“”I’’’m that little girl/boy’s Dad””’.
    Last edited by MsD; 11-01-2019, 14:17.

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      The post lost all its punctuation, thanks for making me look semi-literate. I’m on my phone so it’s not this end.

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        Ok, well, I hope the punctuation gets fixed soon.

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          "What was that you said, hun?"

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            Of course, every unexpected TV and Movie pregnancy has an arc - one that either involves wanting to get an abortion before having some pro-lifey wet dream moment where they hear a heartbeat or see a hand on an ultrasound or something, which results in the child being born to a mother who is doting rather than broadly apathetic.

            Or, on rare occasions, it leads to an abortion. But that - like a pro-lifey wet dream - is almost instantly regretted and causes massive psychological issues.

            I'm not sure I've ever seen an on-screen unwanted pregnancy that's led to a prosaic abortion and everyone just getting on with their lives as before.

            The entire media-industrial complex is basically held hostage by the pro-lifers and are too scared to show normality.

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              Not in US cinema, no.

              There is an incredible ‘liberating’ off-screen abortion in Renoir’s Le Crime de M. Lange but like so much in that film, it’s inspired by the mood and ideas of the Front Populaire and the left wing artists working on the film

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                I’m guessing that a lot of the time it’s to accommodate the actor’s real-life pregnancy, but yes, it’s like pro-life propaganda. I can’t recall seeing any positive abortion storylines and the foetus is referred to as a ‘baby’ from the get-go.

                EastEnders are particularly bad at it, and they have a huge audience. However it’s also happened in the two French series I’ve just watched, Spiral and Call My Agent. At least in Spiral the character doesn’t transform into a doting mum.

                In CMA the Mr Unsuitable character would have driven her straight to the clinic himself.

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                  All the comely native american maidens have names like "Golden Sunset", Gentle Rain", "Breaking Wind" etc.

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                    As opposed to "Smells Like Eggs" or similar.

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                      Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                      Of course, every unexpected TV and Movie pregnancy has an arc - one that either involves wanting to get an abortion before having some pro-lifey wet dream moment where they hear a heartbeat or see a hand on an ultrasound or something, which results in the child being born to a mother who is doting rather than broadly apathetic.

                      Or, on rare occasions, it leads to an abortion. But that - like a pro-lifey wet dream - is almost instantly regretted and causes massive psychological issues.

                      I'm not sure I've ever seen an on-screen unwanted pregnancy that's led to a prosaic abortion and everyone just getting on with their lives as before.

                      The entire media-industrial complex is basically held hostage by the pro-lifers and are too scared to show normality.
                      "Getting on with their lives" doesn't leave much room for a plot. If it doesn't change the character, then there's not much point in putting it in the story.

                      Obvious Child wasn't scared of the pro-lifers and showed normality.

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                        It obviously isn't going to be a key element to a story. But it could perfectly well punctuate a story, or be used to illustrate the life of a character - that they're not hung up and that they aren't interested in having kids, say.

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                          Yes, and they can accommodate actors' pregnancies by writing plotlines that involve them going off somewhere, and show them from the waist up to hide the bump. In EE, Linda Carter was behind the bar during most of the pregnancy, then went off to Watford to care for her mum for a few months, which was as plausible a plot line as any, and preferable to yet another woman being knocked up by Phil Mitchell and adding to the Mitchell dynasty.

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                            There's an Australian mainstream drama Doctor Doctor in which one of the four main characters spent the entire latest series standing behind furniture, in a bath, cuddling a large cushion etc. it became quite fun admiring the creativity.

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                              Did he have a priapism problem?

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                                Ha, surprisingly not, actually she was pregnant!

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                                  When a key male character goes running, he will invariably acquire a v-shaped patch of sweat from shoulders to solar plexus. The effect will often be accentuated by his sweatshirt being grey marl.

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                                    Originally posted by Sits View Post
                                    There's an Australian mainstream drama Doctor Doctor in which one of the four main characters spent the entire latest series standing behind furniture, in a bath, cuddling a large cushion etc. it became quite fun admiring the creativity.
                                    Nigella's done entire series like that - well, maybe not in the bath, or pregnant, but likewise you had to admire the creativity.

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                                      Any character that has been shopping in a supermarket must have a French loaf protruding from the top of the bag they're carrying.

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                                        After Forensics have been through the crashed car at the crime scene with a fine toothcomb, put single hairs/microfibres/earwax samples into plastic sachets and then labelled everything with numbers, CID turn up, look inside the car and say, "What have we here?", before pulling out a mobile phone from the footwell/revolver from the glove compartment/chainsaw from the rear seats/torso from the boot.

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                                          The hero and the feisty girl he is saving from baddies are running away from baddies. They stop suddenly and he snogs her, much to her surprise. This renders them invisible to the bad guys who run straight past them.

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                                            In modern productions set in early to mid 20th century, one lie is constant: no machine ever has to warm up. In reality, cars did, televisions did, etc - all eating up valuable minutes of screen time. So they have become instantly responsive instead.

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                                              I dunno, the whole car refusing to start as the monster/villain approaches is its own cliche.

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                                                That's generally not a problem, since everybody over the age of five seems to know how to hotwire...

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                                                  No one ever locks their car in a film. Bugs me every time.

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                                                    When the investigation team are being apprised the details of the crime/scenario, they probably all know quite a lot already, considering the way the knowledge is often imparted by each member of the team in turn. Spooks owned this MO for a while.

                                                    May already have need done somewhere upthread.

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