moments of loss in "All in the Family"

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This episode was full of situations where emotions were expressed in a look or reaction, rather than words. One of the most powerful scenes was when Corday and Romano stood over Lucy with their hands held helplessly in the air when they finally realize that they can do nothing to save her.

I think that people need to give the writers a bit more credit with regard to how they portrayed Carol's reaction (or lack of it). Isn't it reasonable to presume that they may be purposely playing her reaction down in order to elicit reaction from viewers? People in shock often show "inappropriate responses" at the moment. Often it can be attributed to denial and refusal to deal with the intense anger and grief, a bit of self-protection. I expect that this will set in over the next episode or two. It most likely is a defense mechanism that Carol is employing in order to prevent a total emotional breakdown. Does anyone else see it this way?

-- Morgan Sands (stargazer_ms@yahoo.com), February 18, 2000

Answers

Response to moment of loss

too much psycho-babble. its a hour show people--we want emotion we can see not the supposed inner workings of the brain that we cannot.

-- dawn (qstnevrythng@hotmail.com), February 18, 2000.

Response to moment of loss

C'mon....instant gratification??? That's what's wrong with this country!!!! I think that shows that make you THINK instead of just spelling it out for you are the best! If you want a show that ties up all the loose strings in 30 min. or an hour, go watch "Everybody loves Raymond" or "Touched by an Angel".

-- mr. mom (mrmom00@hotmail.com), February 18, 2000.

Response to moment of loss

We know Carol cares. That Mark cares, Elizabeth cares -- seeing them react with sadness is almost redundent. We expect them to care and to be sad/devastated. Romano, is the jerk of the show, we only see him care about his dog. But watching him fight to save Lucy, then slamming the tray across the room said more about how he felt than any words that could be written. And you know we won't see that part of Romano soon, if ever. And Benton would not leave Carter, he just wouldn't leave. Have we ever seen him so intently working on a patient? Both of these men treat their co-workers with coldness and detachment if not downright cruelty. We *see* how they feel. They will probably go back to their cool detached ways, and next week we'll *hear* how Carol and the others feel. But I was quite moved SEEING how these otherwise cool detached men felt about Lucy and Carter.

-- Paula (plaidlaw@erols.com), February 18, 2000.

Response to moment of loss

I definately agree with the theory that it was a defense mechanism. She is going through a highly emotional period in her life right now, not to mention what she sees at work. I reacted similarly a few years back, when finding out news of a traumatic event. Just because one doesn't react immediately DOESN'T mean that person doesn't care. Days later, I reacted. Hopefully we'll see Carol do that, too.

-- Leigh (WillnGraceNYC@yahoo.com), February 23, 2000.

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