On HBO’s Deadwood (set in the 1870’s), one of the characters is pregnant. She had an “ailment” as a child, which resulted in a problem with her pelvic girdle. Her ailment isn’t named.
I’ve been googling, and it looks like rickets could cause this. However, this character has perfect posture and bearing and her gait is fine. We’ve seen her legs, and they’re straight.
Could she have had rickets and been cured? Could something else have caused the anatomical anomaly? It’s described as an ailment rather than an injury.
She doesn’t appear to have come from an impoverished or malnourished background, so rickets seems unlikely.
Deadwood fans have been speculating about this, and coming up blank. Anybody have any knowledge of this?
How many modern actors / actresses do you think have had rickets? Come on - when was the last time they had an actually handicapped actor/ress playing someone that had their specific problem? Marlee Matlin/deaf, I know about her. I think there are a couple downs sndrom actors/resses, and I think there are a couple blind ones also…
Hell, Gary Burghoff/MASH has a funky hand, but they never showed it, and he never appeared in a role that took advantage of it…[though there are a few actors/resses with missing limbs that have played various cripples/amputees.]
It is in the script, accept the problem and deal with it. She has an affliction not the actress playing the role.
One of us is confused. I’m not quibbling about the actress not showing the effects of rickets.
I’m asking if rickets is the only (or the most likely) cause of the pelvic problem.
I just re-read my OP, and it does sound like I’m quibbling about the actress. I’m not – it’s the character who’s not showing any other effects of possible childhood rickets, and who came from the kind of background where malnourishment is unlikely.
When? How about last Sunday. The very show in the OP, Deadwood, has a recurring actress named Geri Jewel. Jewel has cerebral palsy and so does her character.
Haj
Off the top of my head…
Tuberculosis could affect the bones, and I believe it could damage some bones but leave others in the same body untouched. She might have had tuberculosis of the hips but been able to fight it off after the damage was done.
I wonder, too, if rheumatic fever could cause those after-effects? Rheumatic fever is a complication of scarlet fever, not uncommon in children before antibiotics were discovered.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that she has a mystery illness that causes exactly the symptoms and after-effects necessary for the script…
Might well be, in this case.
Thanks for that info. Rheumatic fever or TB, not just rickets – that makes more sense, with this character.
Just for the record, there is a form (actually, a couple of forms, all rare) of hereditary rickets. But it’s obvious from looking at someone if they have it, and near as I can tell it has no impact on childbearing–I know three women with rickets who have had children, and none of them mentioned it as a particular problem. So Iwould say rickets is an unlikely cause of this ailment.
Thanks, Manda Jo. Googling “hereditary rickets” brought up some good info.
The doctor who examined the character told her that her pregnancy would be difficult, but not dangerous.
It would have been nice if he had named the ailment, but the obliqueness of the show is half the fun. Frustrating sometimes, but it does encourage viewers to investigate stuff they wouldn’t otherwise.
And if you re-read my post, I did acknowledge that there are actors/resses with differing conditions, but since I am not a crip-maniac I dont track each and every one of them. Do note, I happen to myself be a cripple, and deal with it. :rolleyes:
You said:
Haj gave an example. No need to get your hackles up.
He also apparently didnt read in my post where I mentioned that yes there were in fact a number of handicapped actors/resses. Read a post, then reply is usually polite.
Come on - when was the last time they had an actually handicapped actor/ress playing someone that had their specific problem? Marlee Matlin/deaf, I know about her. I think there are a couple downs sndrom actors/resses, and I think there are a couple blind ones also…
is what I said. Notice I actually named one …hmmmm? Since I dont watch deadwood, I wouldn’t know about deadwood. I rarely notice someone with a handicap in a movie unless it is very obvious. I have seen more handicapped roles played by nonhandicapped people than played by people of the same handicap.
Auntie Pam, I’m reading between the lines here, but Alma was sexually abused by her father as a child.
I’m thinking that this could be a veiled allusion to the scar tissue and damage to her genitals that repeated childhood rapes would cause, which also explain why the doctor doesn’t believe a pregnancy would kill her, but would be very painful.
But, as you say, it’s all very oblique.
I thought that too (and so did everybody else) until the Season 1 DVD came out. Milch said in a commentary that Alma was abused emotionally by her father, but not sexually. He was explicit about it.
Color three million viewers surprised at that, because the hints were all there. :dubious:
The writers do a good job keeping us guessing, don’t they?
No shit? I don’t watch this show (don’t have HBO), but I’m fascinated by this. My 17 year old daughter has CP, and I’ve told her about watching Jewel on TV back in the day. I had no idea she was still working. What is her role? Is she a better actress than she was on (og help her) The Facts of Life? Of coruse, the fault there could have been in the writing, not the acting.
Jewel’s character cleans up in the Gem Saloon (and brothel). Her back story is that the saloon owner bought her from an orphanage, to give her a job.
She’s in almost every episode, and one story line from the first season focused on her. She asked the town doctor (played by Brad Dourif) if he would try to fashion her a brace, so that she wouldn’t drag her leg. (The saloon owner yells at her when she drags her leg.)
Doc made her a brace, and made her promise to take it off if it caused her any pain. His words to her really brought home the courage it must have taken Jewel (both of them) to face the day:
"Another thing…that the Greeks say – except I learned this in Latin is “Primum Non Nocere.” And that means “First, do no harm.” And this has been a great concern to me in your case. To interfere, even with the best of intentions and have you misjudge your capacities ‘cause you rely on some mechanical contraption and wind up hurting yourself, would be a poor use, indeed, of my very limited skills. You can get around now, Jewel. I can only imagine with what a difficulty and exertion and pain, but the moving around you can do is precious to you. I do not want to f*** you up.
Her acting has been fine, particularly in the final episode, where she danced with the doc, and she was trying to bring him out of his shell.
She’s a great character, and Deadwood’s writers use her well.