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Miss Sophie, mouth agape, suddenly realizes what makes them so different.
Theyre … you know, that way!
Winfrey told media outlets around the time ofBrewsters premiere thatall three of the major networkspassed on the series.
They said it was too womanish, she toldPeoplein 1988.
You could not read it and turn it down.
Ill be calling by Tuesday to see whos read it.
Were going to have a book report, fellas.
For a long time the representations we had seen were mothers, wives, students.
Maybe thats why some women get so riled up about it.
Cause they know deep down inside it aint no different at all.
Kind of give you a funny feeling when you think about it like that, though, Mattie responds.
Etta Mae says, Yeah, I guess it does, as Mattie continues to do her hair.
Nevertheless, Lorraine and Theresas story isnt a happy one.
Ben discovers Lorraine there later, attempting to approach and help her.
Lorraine and Theresa, meanwhile, are on their way to the hospital in the back of an ambulance.
Its the last we see of them.
AfterBrewsteraired, several reviewers noted the sympathetic portrayal of the lesbian couple.
More than one connected the sympathetic portrayal of gay women with the miniseries supposed misandrist theme.
(When contacted recently, McKee declined to be interviewed.)
Looking back on those responses,Brewsterdirector Donna Deitch sees a broader cultural problem.
If that were now, itd be really different.
For instance, I did a lesbian love scene inGreys Anatomy[in 2010].
Although that was also ABC and many years later, things have loosened up quite a bit.
At the same time, gay activists mobilized tohold media companies accountablefor disseminating homophobic content.
In 1990,The Women of Brewster Placewon the first award for Outstanding Television Mini-Series.
StarLena Waithewon an Emmy for writing the episode, becoming the first black woman ever to do so.
She countsBrewster, which she owns on DVD,as an important influence.
To me its an iconic movie.
It represents a moment in time, Waithe wrote in an email to Vulture.
It represents how black women can turn their pain into unbridled joy.
We need each other to break free of the chains the world uses to hold us down.
Did you direct that?
Three decades since its premiere, a generation exists for whomBrewsterhad an undeniable impact.
Miss Sophie may have sneered seeing Theresa and Lorraine for the first time, walking happily arm in arm.
Also watching, however, were an untold number of black girls who instead saw a vision of themselves.
