Looking over my entries this week one of the things I'm realizing is how often my note on POSE seems to be, "You know that thing we've seen a hundred times before? Check out POSE, because they do it differently and it's pretty great."
Today's entry is much the same. In POSE 202, "Worth It", written by Janet Mock, Blanca reveals to her children what we've known since the pilot, that she's HIV+. It's the kind of reveal you see over and over in dramas, particularly if they've been any length of time. Some shows will build whole seasons around a medical secret.
To its credit, POSE does not go the Blanca Has a Secret route. In the pilot her HIV diagnosis actually motivates her to live a bigger and more generous life. It's the inciting incident of the series, and the first season follows Blanca as she fights to build that life.
The reveal of her diagnosis in season two is similarly presented within the broader context of Blanca's life. Instead of revealing to her family that she has AIDS, she tells them the story of her early life as a transgender woman, the years she spent longing for love and letting men who were attracted to her do whatever they wanted out of that longing. She talks about how much her life improved when she started to demand respect for herself, but also how by then certain things about her life were already decided. And that's what brings her to her diagnosis.
As with so many episodes of POSE, one writing lesson is about keeping the focus on the character's humanity. Illness stories can slide so easily into Sickness Porn or Ones To Grow On. Even if there's good intention in some such ideas, they're fundamentally dehumanizing.
But talking about "the character's humanity" is also another way of saying keep the focus on the character's choices. When it comes to AIDS, cancer, dementia, pregnancy, what have you, every story has already been told. The only thing that makes my story interesting is the specificity of my character's choices. Blanca's way of talking about her illness stands out so strongly precisely because it comes from who she is and what she wants for herself and her family.
