Private Practice is about a group of doctors who work in L.A. They are all friends and are all connected in some way or another whether it is by blood or romantically. This specific episode was about Mia, who is the daughter of Sam and Naomi, divorced doctors who work at the practice. She discovers that she is pregnant, even though she is only fifteen. Naomi freaks out and demands that Mia get an abortion immediately, even though she is against abortion and believes that the baby’s life begins right after it is conceived. After seeing another woman’s pain in trying to do a natural childbirth, Mia agrees. Addison, Naomi’s best friend will perform the abortion. However, at the last moment, Mia decides that she does not want an abortion. Naomi is furious and marches her into the room of the lady undergoing the natural childbirth. Instead of getting scared and nervous, Mia is filled with joy as she sees the little baby being handed to the mother for the first time.
This very brief overview of the episode shows us the struggles and problems of living in this empire. Human sin is very prevalent in this episode, the fact that Mia got pregnant at such a young age, the way her mother, Naomi, reacts to the situation. Naomi wants a quick and easy solution that will make the whole issue go away so that her family can continue to function like nothing happened. This is a prime example of the way that the empire wants us to act us to situations like this. They encourage us to do whatever makes us happy, and if problems arise, then take the quick and easy way out and everything will be ok. However, the episode did not end there. There is a small glimmer of hope as Mia decides to not undergo an abortion. This decision shows an example of redemption. Although Mia is in a very tough situation, she makes the choice to keep her baby. She chose to give this baby a life and a future instead of treating it like a mistake and having an abortion.
Discussion Questions:
1. What would have been a better reaction for Naomi to have after she heard about her daughter’s pregnancy?
2. What lessons can we learn about the empire from this episode concerning how it wants us to act when problems from previous choices arise?
Empire, as we've been discussing it in class, is not a substitute word for sin or evil. Per Plantinga, evil is the brokenness in which we all live (things not being as they were intended) and sin is culpable evil (caused by intentional human choices). Empire, then, is a description of the ways in which evil becomes embedded in systems.
ReplyDeleteSo, while the situation you've described in this episode surely involves evil and sin, the empire is involved on a different level. In an imperial context of global consumerism, life is valuable only insomuch as it contributes to imperial ambition (profit). As such, children become merely another consumer choice or, in the case of sweatshops, cheap labor. All of which would require a slightly different analysis of this artifact.
Also, it's always helpful to remember that all art is made by people. So, for example, what were the people telling this story trying to communicate? Were they trying to complicate the issue of abortion? Were they leaning toward one interpretation of a very difficult issue?