Sex Ed

I got a letter from the school just a day or so ago informing me that the fifth graders at Reagan's school will be shown some films related to "their changing bodies" and they will be separated by gender for the viewing. I don't really have an issue with this, but I do have a concern about how things will be approached after reading a news article this morning. I'm really more of a factual, straightforward, scientific kind of guy that would prefer for my children to know the correct names for the different parts of their anatomy and for my children to be comfortable using the correct names for the different parts of their body. It really helps to be able to speak clearly.

If I say that I have a bump on my skull, then everyone knows exactly what I'm talking about. On the other hand, if I said that I had a bump on my noggin', then you might wonder if I meant my thinking noggin' or my sitting noggin'. On the other hand, if you don't push the proper terminology, then it can cause confusion when someone uses it. For example, little Timmy tells his buddy, Jake, that he broke his ulna and Frank freaks out because he always thought Timmy was a boy. Or Susy asks her boyfriend if he'll check to see if her uvula is swollen and he starts thinking he's going to make it to third base. We've got to be educated on the correct terms for our body parts to avoid confusion. So, maybe you can understand why I'm a little concerned about the girls in New York state that have been suspended for using the word vagina in a presentation (full article here).

If you can't use the correct term for a part of your anatomy, then what are they going to be saying in these films that Reagan is supposed to watch? Surely, they won't say "See You Next Tuesday" (think about it, and if you still don't get it, call me) or anything that might be mistaken for a reference to cats. At least I hope they won't. I'm just not sure anymore. If we can't use the proper terms, then what other options are left to us? Would these girls have been suspended for using any term that referred in any way to that part of their anatomy? What if they had decided to not say anything at all and just showed everyone what they were talking about? Would that have been okay?

It just seems absurd to me that you can suspend someone for using the correct name for a part of your anatomy. I suppose that you could use a term in a context that would make it bad, like if I called someone a pain in my ulna. Maybe that's worth punishing, but my understanding is that their usage was nowhere near that line. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what kind of terminology Reagan learns for the different parts of her anatomy.

Please note:

The girls in the article were reading from the feminist play "The Vagina Monologues" written by Eve Ensler. The play itself has been the source of much controversy in many different venues, and I cannot take sides in any of those controversies. I do not know anything about the play, so I cannot say that I agree or disagree with the content.

Parasite

Nearly two months until the next episode?? Aaargghhh!!! It's just starting to get really good. You know the drill. Highlight below to read more.

I really thought that Claire was going to try to run when they pulled over to use the payphone, but I'm glad that she made the smarter move to ditch the Haitian at the airport. I use the term "smarter" loosely. It was smarter if she really needed to get away from him, but it was pretty stupid when he's the only guy that's actually trying to protect her right now. Of course, we knew that she would try to make her way to New York to meet up with Peter again, and I totally loved it when she met her grandmother. All of us watching together said, "I wonder if she's knows that's her granddaughter?" When Peter's mom opened the door, and we were all relieved when she identified herself as such to Claire. What a great scene.

So, now we know who in Claire's family is giving the Haitian orders that supersede HRG's. So, what does she know of the company? Is she allied with the Haitian to bring them down? How long as she known about Claire? What does she really know? You would think from the fact that she's working with the Haitian and that she's obviously aware that Claire is on the run that she would know something about the company. Does that also mean that she knows something about the abilities? Does she know about the secret that Peter, Nathan, Claire, and the others share? And what language were she and the Haitian speaking?

Speaking of Nathan, I was very happy to see that he's been working to bring Linderman down. If you recall, I was concerned several episodes back that Peter and Nathan seemed to drop their focus on stopping Linderman when their dad died. I wondered why it seemed like they were giving in and Nathan was taking money from him for his campaign. It was a relief to find out from last night's episode that he is actually working with the FBI to bring Linderman down.

Of course, the FBI was pretty stupid setting up surveillance inside of Linderman's own hotel. It's no wonder that Jessica was able to find and dispatch them. It's interesting, though, that Niki was able to come out briefly to leave a picture for D.L. to find and she was able to come out for an extended period to save Nathan, but where was she when the FBI guys were getting gunned down? Why couldn't she save them? I really don't understand how she works, and truthfully, I still don't much care.

It was awesome when Hiro met up with Nathan again and did the hush, hush, "flying man!" Pretty funny. And I think that he really hit the nail on the head in describing Nathan. He pretends like he doesn't care because he cares too much. What a great way to describe him. It showed through, too, in the way that Nathan gave Hiro access to the curator so that he could steal the sword. Then Ando showed up to save him. Another great moment. And Hiro has his power back. Did anyone else notice the change in Hiro's demeanor simply from holding the sword? It was pretty cool. He's getting much closer to the Hiro that met Peter in the subway.

Back to Nathan again. What made him think that it would be a good idea to try and kill Linderman with a pistol? First off, I never really believed that he would be able to pull the trigger. Second off, if he really was going to try and kill him, why do it so loudly? That's just a good way to get those 574 security guards to kill him, too. What's Nathan going to end up deciding, though? Does he want the "life of meaning" which translates into slave? Or will he realize that his life has meaning as a hero? I'm betting on the latter, but they've written it just so that we're not sure.

I love Malcolm McDowell as Linderman, too. "Now you can't have any of my pot pie." Definitely the best line of the entire episode. He's just such a great nice, bad guy that he's hard not to enjoy. I would have expected more of a godfather type, big office, big chair, self-appointed emperor of the world type of guy for Linderman, but I really like the direction that they went. A confident, but easy-going character with just enough hint of crazy to make you certain that you don't ever want to cross him. I mean, I really wonder if that pot pie doesn't have a few pieces and parts of the last guy that tried to kill Linderman in it.

HRG met up with his new partner, who is totally cool and totally hot all at the same time. You better believe that Leah would not have been uncaring if that girl showed up to take me on a business trip. I might as well not come home. Anyway, I love the way that they introduced her abilities when she came in the door as Simone. I figured from the preview last week that Simone wasn't really coming back, and I was glad to find out that I was right. She was a throwaway character, and I'm glad to be rid of her. Now if we could just get rid of the whole Sanders family, we'd have an amazing show.

Anyway, after they cleared out Simone's stuff, Isaac went back to painting. It seemed like he was looking for a high, but I couldn't really tell from the way the scene was cut whether he shot up or whether he stopped himself and dropped the syringe. Either way, he painted what appeared to be his own death. I couldn't be certain from the stretched out screaming face and the missing piece of his head, but it looked to me like he had painted artwork in the background and we know that Sylar is coming after him soon (probably next) so it seems to fit. Will Hiro show up earlier this time and help stop it? I hope so.

Back on HRG. I can only imagine how confused he must be to not remember what happened to Claire and his house. He's back to thinking that everything is a secret and thinking that he has to protect Claire. I'm sure that he was scared half to death not knowing for sure who has her or where. Last week we all wondered what happened to his wife and Lyle's memories. Did the Haitian have time to erase them or not? How cool to know that he did not. HRG used his wife to pass himself a message, and she knows at least a part of what he does for a living. Of course, the fact that his memory is gone means that he doesn't know for sure how much he told her, and when his new partner posed as his wife, she was able to easily pull him across the line. What's going to happen to him now? Where's his wife? Where's Lyle?

Mohinder, back in New York, is finally catching on to Sylar. Perhaps it was the DNA sample, or perhaps it was just the news article. Either way, at least now he knows, and he tried to stop him. A paralyzing agent to keep his powers at bay but not a powerful enough one apparently. Sylar managed to stop the IV and gave quite the inspirational speech to try and convince Mohinder to work with him. Mohinder has enough bottled rage that he never doubted what he would do to Sylar, though. What a contrast to Nathan's inability to kill the most evil man he knows. Mohinder pulled the trigger. I think it might have surprised Sylar a little, but not as much as it surprised Mohinder to see that bullet hovering in the air. Not to be rooting for the bad guys, but that was a pretty cool moment. Now Mohinder is in trouble and Peter inadvertently steps into the middle of that fight. I'm hoping two things: one, that Peter and Sylar have an awesome fight with them both using their variety of powers, and two, that Peter doesn't grow back that annoying lock of hair that Sylar cut off. And one other thing: it seems that we now know what Hiro was talking about when he told Peter that he looked different without the scar.