Butterfly part 3

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

American doc emphasises he is not a pediatric endocrinologist - he helps children give birth to themselves.

Max : pink hoody / hairclips

The producers and Susie Green can insist that it’s a fictional account and not biographical so they can take as much artistic licence as they want, but you can bet if it was an unflattering portrayal she’d be suing for defamation.

Last night's viewing figures - 2.5 million for Butterfly against 5.1 for the new drama on BBC 1 (which is higher than eps 2 & 3 of Butterfly combined.)

Not as brave and stunning as ITV hoped, I imagine.

So 2.8m, 2.3m and 2.5m. Feeble figures indeed, especially since it was so heavily promoted.

I'm not watching so correct me if I'm wrong but from the description, social services were very much painted as the bad guys?

No - I think it was quite even handed and balanced as regards social services

I finally got round to catching up with this on ITV Player.

Mermaids part in it was very sinister. Ferrybank clinic tells parents that puberty blockers are not the right way to go, at least not yet. Mermaids rep knows that yet does not hesitate to give the mother the details of the Boston hospital so she can whisk the child away for treatment - despite the experts recommending that they don't start medical treatment.

Then in third episode, Mermaids rep suggests using the fact that the mother was so desperate to get treatment that she broke the law, as leverage to persuade the clinic to change their minds!

FFS!

I really hope this helps at least some people wake up to the uber-dodginess of Mermaids.

The thing I found most creepy, though, was in the first episode they use actual photos of Jackie Green in the slideshow the Mermaids rep was giving.

I find that extremely inappropriate.

Although the viewing figures were low, I find it troubling that two and a half million people watched an extended infomercial for Mermaids.

A lot of people seem to believe the illogical/un-evidenced notion that people can be 'born in the wrong body' (perhaps they believe in reincarnation or something?). Its disturbing what may happen a result of all of those people engaging with this propaganda. Of those two and a half million, how many have gender non-conforming kids? How many feel socially insignificant and long for the attention they would get if they were a parent of a 'transkid'?

I think the risks of child abuse resulting from that programme are real.

It really feels as though the GNC shift of the 70s and 80s never happened. If you showed children Culture club now they would all think Boy George was trans. Or Annie Lennox, Marc Bolan, Grace Jones etc etc.

Yes vix
Although drag queens are visible - it is still 'crossing' to the other side into a (often pretty offensive) caricature of a woman. The whole thing about blokes being able to tart themselves up as much as women without 'crossing' on a night out is a bit lost.

Yes. No David Sylvians now.

Do you think it was scripted this way to enable ITV to say "we did this as a warning, to show how dysfunctional families are surgically transitioning kids", to fit public mood in the future?

I'm massively fucked off at the "only girls hug like this" line. Fuck you ITV. What a total dishonour to every sensitive and affectionate little boy out there

Very unsatisfactory ending. It appeared Max/Maxine was starting treatment with puberty blockers but that's as far as it went so there was no real conclusion. Unless there will be further series in which we see how Max is getting on.

Annoying programme, I could have shaken both parents but particularly mum. She was so useless.

Max/Maxine is astonishingly pretty, beautiful eyes.

I think ITV slipped up by giving Mermaids such a large role. It meant many people like me knew it would be one sided stereotype filled tosh so didn't watch it.

It was certainly that, 2rebecca.

Did anyone else find it disturbing that when they were cheering at the end, it was because they had emotionally health professionals into going against their advice and that of social services, on the basis that a 12yo may kill themselves? The whole thing was like a parody. Even the American doctor came across as creepy and exploitative.

Agree with pp that the ending was in shocking taste.

Cheering and whooping in the car because Max/ine was embarking on a lifelong journey of medication and sterility?