THANKS FOR THE HELP [NOT]

Now, with a daughter who is very triggered by any display of sexuality - aren't I lucky to have had this billboard posted on our primary route to all the places we go?  (Right as we get on the freeway.)  And, if you can believe it - there is a similar one - except this time for a place called the "Wild Beaver Saloon" a block from our house on our route home!  Come on people!  And, as I expected the moment I laid eyes on this one - the first time Anastasia saw it she commented very matter of factly, "I could work there."  And I did my best at  "A" for "accepting" and commented back, "Well, I think you could find a job that paid more and had better benefits since you're so good at math."  To my relief, that was the end of the conversation.  Though I very much fear she tucked this convenient job opportunity away in the back of her mind.

And, then there is television.   I saw the very pretty ads for the new Sunday night program "Once Upon A Time".  I envisioned some lovely, high-production-value effort, geared to families, with the story and adventure for children and possibly some good acting and depth for adults.    Was I ever disappointed!

If there had been a committee of evil  men gathered in a smokey room imagining how best to trouble and disturb adopted children, they could not have done better.  Adoption was a major theme of the piece....with a decidedly anti-adoption point of view.  I was sitting open-mouthed.  At one point the lovely heroine [teacher] says of a boy "He wants what all adopted children want."  That is, of course - their "real" mother.  Yes, indeedy - and if we might not understand that concept, it is clarified by making his adoptive mother a cold, hard person - and in the modern day/fairy tale parallel.....the adoptive mother is the wicked witch.  I could hardly bear to sit there, frankly.  But, I thought that the best hope was to possibly get some conversation out of it at some point.  (We haven't yet.)   

I'll also add that in every other way this trauma-pill disappointed - the production values were not as good as I'd hoped.  The script, apart from its questionable ideas and complete lack of depth, also lacked any sort of sparkle and the acting was dreadful.....somehow fairy tale people with flat American diction are just jarring (I don't expect an accent, mind you - simply classic American stage speech)

A palate cleanser was needed, I thought, so we watched the program that I can always count on to be quality - Masterpiece Theatre.   And, the program was well-acted, beautifully filmed, with a splendid script.....all about Russian whores.  Yes, indeed.  Can you believe my luck?  Russian whores....a fact well noted by Anastasia, who seemed to feel not so alone.  And that is painfully true.  These girls were whores, but good Russian girls on some level. Oh, boy.  At least they kept getting murdered, so I hope that was off-putting.