HBO’s The Deuce has finally touched upon the feminist’s golden calf of abortion. After nudity, gay sex and profiting off porn for 16 episodes straight, I’m only surprised it took them this long.
The October 21 episode “The Feminism Part” features a scene with prostitute Darlene (Dominique Fishback) taking an old-fashioned pregnancy test after a night with her pimp Larry (Gbenga Akinnagbe). Once she’s discovered by a fellow sex worker Loretta (Sepideh Moafi), she reveals that the test is positive and the father is Larry. The problem is Darlene doesn’t want a baby and certainly doesn’t want Larry’s baby. Even though the word is never said, it’s clear that her only option at this point is abortion.
Loretta: Darlene, how long you gonna be in there? Holy shit.
Darlene: Come on.
Loretta: You see that brown ring, what are you gonna do?
Darlene: I ain't havin' a baby.
Loretta: Not even Larry's?
Darlene: Especially not Larry.
Loretta: Comes to that, you should go with someone. Just let me know when.
Sure enough, Darlene and Loretta travel to a hospital where Darlene meets for an appointment. She’s taken to the back by a nurse, and we presume that’s where she gets an abortion. In an age where sex sells and sex workers don’t need saving, it’s not a shock that abortion is readily available as well. It’s more disappointing that this "solution" comes so easily to the two young women. The scenes are filmed so casually that Darlene might as well be getting her teeth cleaned than having her baby killed. And from her tone, this probably isn’t Loretta’s first time seeing this scenario either.
Such is the attitude towards abortion in both the sexually charged 1977 setting of the show and the present 2018. It’s no coincidence this comes in an episode titled “The Feminism Part” since feminism is what abortion amounts to for some people. It’s supposed to be a feminist right for women to be rid of their babies. That’s why it’s not even an event when Darlene gets an abortion appointment. Between all the profanity and nudity, that’s somehow one of the most depraved ideas on this show.
The Deuce is clearly about exploiting its characters. Abortion is but one of the many horrible ways it does so, and it certainly won’t be the last.
