Should Catholics watch "The Knick" TV show? (Spoiler alert)

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Lately I have been watching the Cinemax series The Knick, which takes place in 1900 at a New York hospital. It’s a fascinating show that not only attempts to accurately portray surgical techniques and medical care at the turn of the 20th century, it explores the various social issues of this time. Unfortunately, there is a certain subplot that disturbs me quite a bit. (If you don’t want spoilers, stop reading here.)

One of the characters is a nun who works at the hospital. At first, she is portrayed as a stereotypical Irish nun, but a few episodes in, we learn a secret about her. She provides “back alley abortions” for poor women in the hospital basement. The hospital ambulance driver who also is the undertaker discovers Sister doing this, and blackmails her into splitting the money she earns from abortions with him. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League was not pleased with this subplot, and wrote an article decrying a particular episode involving this… So my question is should pro-life Catholics watch this show? Even though It portrays medical treatments in a very graphic manner, in the few episodes I’ve seen we have not actually been forced to witness an abortion. I’m wondering what other people think. It does bring up the complexity of the abortion debate, so would it actually be good to at least get Catholics to learn some of the arguments for it, so they can be prepared to rebut them? I’m curious as to people’s answers.
 
Ignatius said:
What complexity could there be in killing and dismembering an innocent baby in her mothers womb?
Click to expand...
I wondered if I should have made myself clearer. I am pro-life and I agree 100% with the Catechism. Forgive me if I’m wrong but I thought it was perfectly appropriate to admit that many things are going through a woman’s mind when she is faced with an unexpected or dangerous pregnancy. I simply meant that the show recognizes the fact that poor women with an unexpected pregnancy are going through a very difficult time and they are not just saying, “I don’t feel like having a baby.” I’m still wondering if it is a good idea for a pro-lifer to watch the show as long as it doesn’t cause him to become “pro-choice.”
 
Whether you watch it or not is your choice.
They will probably not show an abortion being performed, since pro-choice people want the subject to remain hazy and vague in the viewers’ minds.
The women who are pregnant are not really thinking about the baby, or if they are, they think of it as potential only, not as a real baby or person. They are focused on the harm they think it will cause to their own life and plans.
That;s why when women see an Ultrasound, a huge percentage of them cancel their abortions.
It’s always a risk when we watch movies and TV, since the liberal agenda pushes into everything subtly, We need to use caution.
 
Well we watch TV shows where people murder others fairly often. And I don’t think that’s wrong. A fictional depiction of somebody doing something immoral doesn’t necessarily make one act in an immoral way, nor does it indicate that the behavior is moral, in and of itself. The nun as a fictional character is doing something that is wrong, and it something that many real people have done, that is wrong, it’s no more bad to watch something that’s wrong in a fictional context than it is to be aware that it happens in reality.
 
I have been watching the show and was extremely disappointed that Sister Harriet is an abortionist. At first I assumed she was a stand-in for Margaret Sanger, I also thought it was a cruel mockery of church teaching but as the plot progresses its becoming apparent that Sister is starting to question whether she has condemned herself while dealing with the internal conflict of wanting to “help” women but knowing that her solution.is no better than what these women do to themselves without her “help”. She speaks about limbo and other ancient misunderstandings (this show is set in 1900) and its plain to see that she isn’t very well cathechised even though she is a nun (believing that babies quicken instead of being created body and soul). This conflict keeps me watching because I want to see this character wrestle with her demons, repent and receive forgiveness. She is starting to see her bad judgment leading to disaster and hopefully she’ll start to read the writing on the wall and realize that its not for her to judge whether women have a “right” to her help. Hoping. Unfortunately, the show’s creator is an atheist so I’m not holding my breath but then again not every atheist is pro choice either. I can also see parallels to catholics who may be pro life but pro artificial contraception-one is a sin, one is ok-maybe this is the mirror that needs to be shown to we “devout” catholics who may do what’s obligatory on Sundays but carve out convenient exceptions for ourselves while pointing fingers at what others do.

I don’t believe it is harmful for a catholic to watch a graphic show as long as they are not looking to be sold on the validity of behavior that is contrary to church teaching in the plot lines of it. I’ve had some good discussions with my adult children about the show’s content and what we know is the truth as catholics. Sadly, the days of “clean” tv are dead and buried. People want grit and reality nowadays and it is being dished out in spades. The good that I pray that comes from watching shows such as The Knick is that it may shock some people into looking at the hard truths of what it is they claim to believe and maybe just maybe some viewers may also wrestle with their own demons and find their way out of darkness and back into the light of truth.

Mary
 
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