LET'S ADOPT A FILIPINO!!

[tencrush]

It's not a joke! Does she sound like she's making a joke? Is she laughing? Is Rhys laughing? No.

He says that maybe they could have a baby. She says maybe they could adopt a Filipino and send it to clean the chimney. Which would be an irresponsible and morally reprehensible thing to do. AS WOULD HAVING A BABY WHILE WORKING AT TORCHWOOD. (And no, there are no associations in Gwen's mind between Filipino's and chimney cleaners, there are Victorian associations between children and chimney cleaners. Like in Mary Poppins. And stuff.)

The JOKE comes later, because they're establishing in this scene that Gwen would never in her right mind want to have a baby while working at Torchwood, and she's discussed this with Rhys. When she finds out she's pregnant, however... she says it's bloody brilliant. Lol.

Comments

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

I hope the kid has a gap between its teeth and can make lolarious faces.

[tencrush]

I think it is Iantoes babby.

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

At least there is no possible way it can be Owen's.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

if that's actually what they were going for, though, why put the 'filipino' part in at all? why didn't they just have her say, 'we could adopt A KID to clean the chimneys'?

when you're dealing with racially dodgy issues like that, you'd do well to make your meaning as clear as possible. she could have said, 'oh, yeah, right - or, we could adopt a kid and send it down the coal mines until it turns eighteen*. be just about as responsible, what with my job.' that way we wouldn't all be scratching our heads going, 'er...did gwen just make a really racist joke there that's not really funny at all and i don't get it?'

* except i've just realized that might be construed as being RACIST TO THE WELSH, so she'd have to say 'send it to a sweatshop' or something instead.

[tencrush]

I think that's Rusty's pop culture nod towards Brangelina/Madonna adopting from abroad, that Gwen would automatically think of a foreign child when she thinks of adoption.

I think there might be a Filipino=labourer stereotype in the US that I'm not aware of, it just struck me as a random country. Though one could argue that RTD should be aware of it, given the show's US success.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

I think the reason Filipino was chosen, for better or worse, is that it is a country which is associated with human trafficking here in the UK.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

i think he should have been aware of it, period. if you're going for the dickensian stereotype, then go all the way with it; adding in a seemingly random nationality just fuddles up your metaphor and makes you look like you're possibly saying ugly things that you didn't mean to.

i dunno about the uk, but here in the us, i had to think hard to come up wtih a stereotype for that nationality...all i could summon was imelda marcos and her massive shoe collection.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

*nods*

ah...okay, that makes a little more sense then. i still think he'd have been a lot wiser to just chuck the reference altogether and stick with the dickensian archetype, though.

[furius.livejournal.com]

I wondered about the Filipino stereotype in the UK...is there one associated with their children?

There's a Filipino=maid/laborer stereotype in Asian countries but not in the US, except for the shoe collection reference mentioned above.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

We fell off the sofa. Gwen's deadpan is deadly. (Rhys saying "We are coming!" as though it was a hilarious meme also broke me up. Kai Owen rules the world and space.)

[thedorkygirl.livejournal.com]

ah, i need to download torchwood!