18 | Out in the Mountains lFebruary»2001

What Makes a Family

BY JADE WOLFE

Movie Premiere

January 22
9 PM
Lifetime Channel

Viewing What Makes a
Family is a wise investment of
your time. It is the fact-based
story of a gay couple’s life as
they ‘wed’, have a child and try
to cope with all that ensues.
The birth mother portrayed by
Cherrie Jones, contracts sys-
temic lupus. Ms. Jones deliv-

 

ers a solid performance as the
loving, yet dying mother.
Brooke Shields is equally
impressive as her partner.
Together, they provide a
healthy, nurturing environment
for their daughter, Heather.
This movie palatably presents
the everyday stressors unique
to gay life. There are the ini-
tially supportive parents of the
birth mother contrasted by the
“how dare you come into our
home and throw this into our
faces...” reaction by her part-
ner’s parents. After the birth,
there are warm glimpses of the
community support of caring
friends. The tempo shifts dras-
tically as one woman is diag-
nosed with lupus, struggling
with the symptoms and effects
of treatment. Within a short
time, she grows too ill to work

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and prepares her daughter for
her untimely death. It is the
child, Heather, who explains to
her other parent that “God
needs another angel in heav-
en”, suspecting her mother has
passed away. Both child and
remaining parent experience
the grief of their loss.
However, unexpectedly, the
maternal grandparents quietly
file for custody. What follows
is the reactions of the surviving
parent, child, grandparents and
the Florida legal system.

The distinctive, underlying
message of What Makes a
Family is a reminder of the
many life challenges facing
anyone who has ever lost a
loved one, gone through a
debilitating illness, struggled
with a child custody case or
tried to honor family relation-
ships. Hopefully, those watch-
ing will be impacted by how
much we, as human beings,
have in common. And, perhaps
by widening this common
ground, some of the unneces-
sary fears regarding Gays and
Lesbians will be dispelled.

February 2001 | Out in the Mountains |18

Basically, this is the hope of
producers: Barbra Streisand,
Cis Corman, Whoopi Goldberg
(also co-starring as attorney,
Terry Harrison), Craig Zadan
and Neil Meron.

This may not be the easiest

movie to see. It is however,
one of the best for me, a former
family counselor, to have expe-
rienced. While we all lead
individual lives, life itself pre-
sents challenges‘ that cross
defined lifestyles. What Makes
A Family creates another
opportunity to appreciate, not

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so much our differences, but
rather what we have in com-
mon. Experiences of loving
each other, mourning our loss-
es and trying to live beyond
grief and discord are chal-
lenges of family life. This
movie celebrates the ability of
that family life to survive
beyond those challenges.

Jade Wolfe lives in Williston.

NC

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