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Thursday 14 July 2011

TV Thursday: Switched at Birth


I found myself a new series to watch! Don’t I always…

Switched at Birth follows the lives of two teenage girls who were switched at birth, and their families who struggle with the new ‘situation’. One family is wealthy, the other consists of one parent and lots of financial struggling. I love watching the families’ dynamics. Imagine having to watch another person raise your baby, or having to consult others on how to raise your own baby! Madness.

So far it sounds like another ‘Life Unexpected’ type of show, doesn’t it? Granted, there are not-so-shining moments when you realize you’re watching ‘one of those’ again, but the thing that makes it better is that one of the girls is deaf.

You’d think this is some sad show now, but it’s not! Daphne (deaf girl) is just as happy-go-lucky as her biological parents while Bay (rich girl) is just as gloomy and artistic as her biological mother. Makes you wonder how the parents didn’t suspect it before… especially in light of the fact that their kids looked nothing like them. But I suppose that’s a TV show for you. It doesn’t have to be too realistic.

In fact, if television was realistic, the same actors would play their roles in movies throughout their lives when the movie featured their young and old selves. Now THAT would be ridiculous.

Anyway, the series picks at the notoriously unsolvable equation of Nature vs. Nurture. While we see a LOT of the parents’ genes inherited in the girls, they display some ‘acquired’ traits as well. This goes to show that some human qualities such as temperament and artistic abilities are deeply rooted in genes, while others are prone to tweaking and shaping from birth (like way of thinking and everyday habits). In any case, though, we cannot know the exact formula. But it’s quite fun to figure things out for Daphne and Bay in the meantime.

Before the major digression, I mentioned that Daphne’s deaf. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but it’s quite the hook for someone like me, who likes to learn new things. For example, I learned that deaf people can play drums because the beat is vibration coursing through the body. I also learned that they can drive and talk on the phone. Of course I didn’t think they were pariahs or anything, but my lack of education on the issue has shown its ugly horns.

And finally, I love the two girls! I immediately recognized Bay (Vanessa Marano) as the one who played April Nardini in Gilmore Girls. Naturally, my reaction was something along the lines of: She’s all grown up! As for Daphne (Katie Leclerc), you might remember my post about the kind of girls I liked (or would have if I were gay). Red hair, green eyes, brilliant smile. Imagine my surprise when I saw all that in Daphne! She is incredibly cute and positive, which makes me want to watch the series as long as it continues.

(Let’s face it, chances are it will be discontinued.)

So if you’d like to see something fresh and light, go to the grocery shop and buy some raspberries. No wait… I meant watch ‘Switched at Birth’. It’s fun and interesting, and it’s a good TV show for the whole family. That is, if you disregard the occasional sexy scenes with the boyfriends.

Then I’d say you better keep the little ones away.


Or they might get some bright ideas.

4 comments:

Jennie Bennett said...

Hum, I might have to give this a look. Thanks for the tip!

Unknown said...

Sure, I hope you like it. :)

Angela Wallace said...

I haven't been able to catch all the episodes (I can only watch online and they don't keep the episodes up longer than a week). I think the drama between the families is annoying, but I did find myself laughing a lot, so that's enough to keep me going a little longer.

I really like how they're giving a positive outlook on what it's like to be Deaf. (Capital "D" refers to those who culturally identify themselves as being Deaf.) From what I've seen, they've been pretty accurate with their facts too. I think it's a great way to educate people who otherwise wouldn't have any exposure.

Unknown said...

Ooh, I didn't know about that capital D thing. See? I am in dire need of educating. That's good to know that I'm not blindly trusting some mumbo-jumbo pretend facts.

This one time they said in a show that you can't have green eyes if neither of your parents has green eyes or something like that, which was wrong, and I was outraged. Yeah... thanks for stopping by on rant day! :P