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Rosie O'Donnell's HBO special 'A Family Is a Family Is a Family' shows the
love
LeGoff/AP
In this publicity image
released by HBO, former talk show host Rosie O'Donnel is shown with her
children, clockwise from back row center, Blake, Parker, Vivienne, and Chelsea,
promoting her HBO special, "A Family Is a Family Is a Family: A Rosie O'Donnell
Celebration," premiering on Jan. 31, 2010.
You won't find a cuter bunch of kids anywhere on television than you'll see
tomorrow night in Rosie O'Donnell's "A Family Is a Family Is a
Family" special for HBO.
They come onto the screen in waves, talking about friends and love and
brothers and sisters and Mommy and Daddy, all in that serious way young children
have of addressing things they have learned and now want to share and
explain.
Many viewers, however, will not see the greater mission of the show as
scoring a blue ribbon for "cute." They will focus instead on the show's almost
casual assertion that gay marriage is just like every other marriage - a
covenant that creates a family unit. That part of the message is subtle, all
things being relative.
Most of the special, which HBO is showing early enough so young children can
watch, isn't about gay marriage, and the hot-button phrase itself is never
heard. Families of same-sex couples, including O'Donnell's, get maybe five
minutes, tucked in the middle of discussions and songs about the importance of
families in general. But for many viewers, gay marriage will be the takeaway.
Ironically, no one will disagree with the initial premise: Children very
early understand the value of feeling that they are part of a loving family.
Family, they sense, is their place in the world, the place where they are
safe, the foundation on which they build other relationships and the rest of
their lives. Not all families are warm and loving, of course. But this special
doesn't get into that, focusing instead on families that work.
The disagreement begins only when people start defining family, like by
saying it does or doesn't have to include a mommy and daddy.
"A Family Is a Family " argues that constricting definitions are irrelevant,
a family is whatever it is and if it works for the children, it's doing what a
family needs to do.
To reinforce that point, it strongly suggests children
don't care about the talking points. They just need to feel wanted, loved and
protected.
A Chinese girl, who looks to be about 4, says her birth parents gave her up
because families in China can raise only one child and they wanted a
boy. Her adoptive parents want her, she says, and that's everything.
You may not leave this special loving Rosie's position on gay marriage. It's
impossible not to come away loving the stars.
dhinckley@nydailynews.com
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more: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/01/30/2010-01-30_rosie_odonnells_hbo_special_a_family_is_a_family_is_a_family_is_hard_not_to_love.html#ixzz0e9hn3CP2