Central character of new HBO drama, “Wichita,” will be a Kansas late-term abortionist
Hollywood Reporter reported October 21:
Alan Ball [pictured right] is switching genres.
The True Blood showrunner is developing Wichita, an hourlong drama about a Kansas surgeon who inadvertently becomes the focal point of a contemporary political, cultural and ethical war.
Ball is set to executive produce the HBO project with writer Devin Friedman, the author behind the 2010 GQ article “Savior vs. Savior” about the late Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita, Kansas, doctor who was one of the few physicians who provided late-term abortions.
I read the Friedman piece to confirm what seemed obvious, that Wichita will be friendly toward abortion.
It was an interesting read, albeit indeed slanted pro-abortion, about the day Scott Roeder murdered Tiller. Friedman delved a bit into both their histories, frankly describing Tiller in spots, for instance:
George Tiller had been difficult to work with. He could be vain. He wore a floor-length mink coat sometimes. He was never mean, but – he was a fan of Star Trek – he could seem slightly Vulcan, confused by certain human characteristics but also fascinated by them. For a while there was a sign in his office that read GOLDEN RULE: THE ONE WITH THE GOLD MAKES THE RULES, and he didn’t consider how that might seem, a man who made his income by providing abortions. He was demanding and unforgiving of mistakes. It was worse when he was still drinking. He was more temperamental and unreliable.
Elsewhere Friedman described Tiller as “compassionate” and battling anger against pro-lifers by “struggling to listen to his better angels.”
In his article Friedman only described late-term abortions for “women whose health was at risk if the pregnancies were to be carried out” and abortions for “women who’d discovered that the fetus was so compromised, malformed, that it could not survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical intervention.” There was no mention of Tiller’s late-term rodeo, prom, or rock concert abortions, or his late-term abortions of underage girls.
So I expect Wichita will portray the lead character as flawed but likeable and the abortions he commits, the mothers, and reasons for abortions, sympathetically.
There can be no other reason Hollywood would take this topic on other than to persuade the culture in abortion’s favor. As was written on the pro-abortion Jezebel blog:
Think about it. Take Alan Ball’s focused development of richly drawn female characters – Brenda Chenowith alone! – then add in a seriously hot button contemporary issue of a woman’s control over her reproductive rights and the people who are pushing to make sure that women maintain these rights and you have a show that would not only be remarkable but could very well have an impact on those seeking to destroy a woman’s right to choose.
I know it may not happen, of course. But what if it did?
It wouldn’t be the first time that TV had the rare opportunity to change someone’s mind simply by taking an issue and making it painfully, inescapably human. And if there’s any issue that requires that right now, as soon as possible, it’s this one.
Kari Ann Rinker at RH Reality Check is hopeful but worried:
I have to say that while many of my other Wichita friends and acquaintances are excited about the development of a new drama inspired by Dr. Tiller’s life, I remain skeptical. Skeptical isn’t really the correct word…it feels just really surreal. His life wasn’t a tv show it was reality and how “realistic” will this show be?
Will it be as sensational as the writer’s other work, True Blood? I watch True Blood and there are many times I wonder why I’m watching it, as it has offended me [Warning: link graphic]. Will the writer create over the top abortion scenarios? Will he vilify our Doctor? Dr. Tiller himself was exposed to so many extremes in his life, no doubt that an HBO drama will certainly have a lot of dramatic material from which to choose.
It doesn’t seem to me to be a stretch at all for the producer of a series about vampires to produce a series about a late-term abortionist.
It’ll last one season, max.
Who else finds the use of the phrase “our Doctor,” with a capital D, to be a little cultish?
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It’s been increasingly clear that the role of cable television, with particular attention to Showtime and HBO, is to normalize immoral behavior so that the culture accepts it as justified and moral.
Drug distribution and use (Weeds, Nurse Jackie), alcoholism (Shameless, The Big C), serial murder (True Blood, Dexter), polygamy (Big Love), fornication (Californication, Sex in the City, ), homosexuality (Queer as Folk, The ‘L’ Word). Should we be surprised that television would attempt to normalizing the killing of preborn children? Hollywood has to remove all sense of God, morality, and truth in order to justify their own godlessness, immorality, and deviancy.
Expect to see a cable series about an adults having “consensual” sexual relationships with children in the near future. I won’t be surprised when it happens. Neither should you.
Television hates you.
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i wont be watching this. i remember when cher (a post abortive mother herself) played the part of a very tender abortionist. it was one of demonic moores (demi moore) productions. ick!!!!!!!
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Just what would an “over the top” abortion scenario be??
The truth is over the top enough for me.
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Kelsey – that was my first thought. “our Doctor”? How bizarre.
And if the man pictured is the one who is supposed to play Tiller in the show, then he’s not ugly enough to play a late-term abortionist who has been doing it for years. Have you ever noticed the toll their actions take on their appearance? Tiller and Carhart are both great examples of this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a long-time abortionist who didn’t look very haggard to say the least.
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i dont have hbo on my cable but boycott them. i believe i will call them and tell them i was going to order their service just because of this smut. cancel them on cable pro lifers!
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Having worked with a few couples who received Tillers “compassion” it actually makes me feel ill to know they are making this.
Tiller was a very sick man, as evidenced by the way he dressed the babies he just killed up, “baptized” them and took pictures to give their parents. I saw some of those pictures. It is hard to imagine what kind of thinking someone like that had.
It makes me angry and upset to think that those families will have to suffer even more knowing this is going to be aired. Please keep them, who are already suffering so much, in your prayers.
Here is an article of one of Tillers patients…
http://postabortionhelp.org/pah/poor-pre-natal/my-darkest-hour/
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oops forgot to say in my above post that i will not order because of the smut!
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After True Blood had one of the male main characters seem to mostly shrug off being raped, and kept pushing the, quite frankly, offensively erroneous pseudo-Christianity that show seems in love with, I gave up on it. I was basically only watching for the hot guys at that point anyway, and none of them are that good looking. Alan Ball can make whatever he wants, but I’m pretty much done with him.
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and dont buy any susan komen products unless you want to give money to help pay for abortions!!!!! look out for the pink ribbon for baby killing and dont buy.
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Reason #512 I’m glad we don’t get HBO.
Theresa, that article is completely heartbreaking. I could just weep for that family, and all the others that are even now being influenced to follow the same mistaken path.
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It’s been increasingly clear that the role of cable television, with particular attention to Showtime and HBO, is to normalize immoral behavior so that the culture accepts it as justified and moral.
Well I guess I’m just your stereotypical anti-choice prudish fanatic, but I don’t watch any of that crap.
“The Playboy Club” lasted three episodes and I hope this junk shares the same fate.
@Cranky — This is very disgusting, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a program celebrating bestiality — My “Friend with Benefits” Flicka?
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Television doesn’t hate us.
Satan does.
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and satan will work through television and komen products. i am sure that most people have no idea komen is selling to give to pp. many folks dont get the abortion/breast cancer link. they believe its a good thing. i met a man a year ago and his wife passed away from breast cancer at 50. he had a shrine up of the 2 of them. i looked at an old pic. of the 2 of them on their wedding day. i told him she was beautiful. i sat and wondered about abortion as they had no kids. i inquired “what you guys didnt want kids”? he replied “well she had an abortion in her twenties so no we didnt”……a sign fron god? i think so.
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This may backfire on the pro-aborts. As hard as they try to humanize abortionists, the more people think about what they really do the more they will oppose it. It is their endless dilemma: Pretending to take human life seriously while rationalizing that it can be taken at a whim.
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I’ve got to agree with Neil – they’ll think this show is pro-abortion, but if they show abortion for what it really is – which makes me think they’ll have to, as it is HBO which often has bloody, unapologetic shows – people will knows how terrible it really is.
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Yeah… Alice, my wife stopped watching True Blood after that “rape ain’t that bad” incident, she said it was one of the more disturbing things she has seen.
I might watch this show, only so I can point out the horror and inaccuracies. If I can make it through without puking.
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When you pay for cable/satellite you’re already paying for HBO and Showtime whether it’s part of your subscription package or not. Every channel is subsidized through your cable bill so that the carrier can deliver it cheaply.
Think of all the specialized cable channels that would quickly go belly-up if cable was delivered al a carte?
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Well I guess I’m just your stereotypical anti-choice prudish fanatic, but I don’t watch any of that crap.
Me neither, phillymiss – I don’t even have a TV. ;) I have a Netflix streaming subscription so I do watch old seasons of some shows. I just went on an Arrested Development nostalgia kick, and now I’m putting in 20 minutes with Parks and Recreation every day or two.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched an HBO show. Not even The Sopranos. I find lots of network shows pretty distasteful, too, though – most sitcoms (Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, etc), law/medical dramas, those kinds of crap. But I do often like AMC shows – Mad Men is my favorite! Once I get sick of Parks and Recreation I’m going to give The Walking Dead a shot, but I live alone so I can’t watch anything too disturbing.
Who even gets HBO? It’s like having a landline – I know so few people who consider it a reasonable investment.
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Alexandra, I am thinking of getting rid of my television, but then I couldn’t watch my beloved Eagles, even though they’re lousy this year. Listening to the game on the radio just ain’t the same!
but I live alone so I can’t watch anything too disturbing.
I made the mistake of watching “A Haunting in Connecticutt” which scared the crap out of me! Not a good idea! For the first time in my life I actually had cold chills go down my spine. Plus I have two cats (one a Siamese with spooky blue eyes) that like to run and up and down the stairs. They’re both fat and make lots of noise, so I thought someone was in the house. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep last night!
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I really don’t think that television ‘leads’ any particular stance on anything. It’s just too much of a ratings risk. It reflects what it thinks society at large is looking to see as representing itself in an entertaining way.
Maybe it will counter some of the attempts to stigmatize women who choose abortions.
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PhillyMiss: Well I guess I’m just your stereotypical anti-choice prudish fanatic, but I don’t watch any of that crap.
;) I often don’t watch it, either. Idiots!!!
____
“The Playboy Club” lasted three episodes and I hope this junk shares the same fate.
Huh. Big surprise there.
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I wish they’d do a series based on that excellent tv movie “Dr. Cook’s Garden”. Bing Crosby played a kindly country doctor who “weeded” his patients just like he did his garden.
I was going to say: “Fat chance!” But then I realized they might just do that, but make him out to be heroic! :(
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@ phylimiss your post cracked me up. one night someone loaned me that movie…..i believe it was called the ring. and the killer instructed the woman not to answer the phone. welll i had lit up some candles and popped in the movie. my phone starteed ringing and i thought …..im not gettin it lol was scared. eh and my husband got me hooked on the sopranos. dog gone him.
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Gee golly whilikers, reality, if TV doesn’t “lead” anything, why do corporations pay so much money for commercials and commercial time? Television is a huge advertising venue, whether it’s commercials themselves or the shows. It influences fashion, hairstyles, shoes, music, all that and more. In an extreme case, there is an unfortunate British gal who decided to be like “Samantha” and sleep with 1,000 men. She kept a diary, took photos, and published a book about it. Naw, she wasn’t influenced by television at all…
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I have to disagree with you ninek. Characters like Samantha are based on stories – real or mythical – about the behaviors of people in real life. Programs are made which reflect events that happen or are claimed to happen in the world. Yes the young woman you mention may have been influenced by what she saw on tv but tv didn’t originate the idea. She could have found the same concept in a newspaper or on the internet. TV doesn’t ‘lead’ of itself. It’s just another medium which ‘informs’ people of the things that occur. News programs rate well and have high advertising rates, but they don’t ‘lead’ anything (well not on the face of it). Fictional programs are simply extended news items dressed up as entertainment.
Yes of course tv is a huge advertising venue, that’s why they try to reflect the more ‘interesting’ aspects of what happens in the world – to draw as many viewers as possible.
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@ phylimiss sorry was in a hurry to get to work earlier. also typing from a tiny phone. i meant that someone loaned me that movie called the ring…..and if you picked up the phone you had 5 days to live. as i was watching the phone started ringing……i refused to get it.
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Oh, look at little reality, he’s finally answered the age old question “does life imitate art or does art imitate life?” Wow, I gotta get on the phone right away to my old college professors…
Now for the rest of us humans living on the real planet earth: 5 minutes after my young nephew saw a clip of the Three Stooges, he tried to poke his dad in the eye. Oh, right, he must also have read that in the newspaper, too. LOL!!
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@Theresa I think Christ Hospital did/does the post-abortion christenings too =(
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