I think I may have offended one of my blog readers with my review for Angela Benson’s novel, Sins Of The Father.
Anonymous made the following comment on my blog:
Bastard? Interesting word to use. I didn’t know anyone still used that word. I wonder if God sees them as bastards. I’m guessing no. You might want to consider seeing them as God seems them.
When I used the word bastard, I was thinking of the way I used to see it used in old-time TV shows, plus, Angela Benson (the author) used the word herself in the novel at least a few times? I recall the wife of Abraham – Saralyn – used the word, and it was obviously in a distasteful manner. I was comparing the novel to TV, and that’s a word that I used to see crop up on TV drama shows.
The first time I heard the word bastard was when I was about ten or eleven. It was summer time, and you’ll recall on my soap opera post that I was bored out of my mind during those hot summer months. When I was ten/eleven, I wasn’t reading romance novels or watching soap operas yet, but I did watch a great deal of television. I was watching old black and white reruns of The Big Valley. Remember, these were re-reruns. I believe when The Big Valley first came on the air, I wasn’t even born yet. Anyway, it’s about this family living on a ranch or someplace like that, and the show had a western theme. Heath (A character played by Lee Majors. I really remember Lee Majors as the Six Million Dollar Man – that show DID air during my time – I remember it well in the seventies.) shows up at the ranch, and another character, can’t recall his name, demands to know who Heath is. Heath’s response is, “I’m your daddy’s bastard son.” Then they break out in a fight (kind of like Angela had Isaac and Michael doing in the boardroom at Abraham’s company – see, I told you this book was just like a TV show!) Anyway, I turned to my mom, and asked, “Mom, what’s a bastard?”
She told me it’s a child who’s born to parents who are not married. But she went on to say, “It’s not a nice word, and I don’t want to ever hear you say that word.”
Suffice it to say, I never used that word, until yesterday’s blog post, so, if I offended anybody, I didn’t mean to…honest! Nowadays, there is no stigma to being born out of wedlock. I don’t even know if there’s a term used for children born to unmarried parents? Single unmarried mothers are common nowadays and I believe bastard was a word used more back in the eighteen and early to mid nineteen hundreds, perhaps? I know tons of people born to unmarried parents, and I know a lot of children born to unmarried parents and I don’t think of them as bastards…honest! When I read Angela’s book, that was the first time I’d seen the word bastard in ages.
Now, on to another subject! Wendy commented and asked:
Cecelia said:
I think the entire book should be placed on TV. Seriously. I felt like I was reading a script for a movie and I was ready to cast the actors for the parts.
Wendy’s question:
>>who would you cast as characters for the parts?
Who would I cast? 
Abraham would be either Harry Belafonte or James Earl Jones.
Saralyn would be Diahann Carroll.
Issac and Michael? Well, remember in this soap opera post I talked about twins (or a variation of twins) being used in the soaps? Well, Issac and Michael would be played by the same person! Although they are not twins, they look an awful lot alike! I’d cast Shemar Moore to play both roles!
Deborah? Hmm. I’m not sure! Anybody have any suggestions on who should be cast as Deborah? I don’t know who I’d cast for the lawyer, the man that Deborah has a crush on, the man that’s old enough to be her daddy! I also don’t know who I’d cast to play Deborah’s and Michael’s mom! Anybody have suggestions for that?
Okay, I usually don’t blog about a book for more than a day! The few comments that came in sparked me to blog about the book again. If you enjoy soap operas and drama and TV, then I think you should check out Angela’s novel.
I’m sorry as well if anyone was/is offended by the use of the term in the book. That was definitely not the intent. As I responded in your other post, in the context of the book, the use of the term says more about the person using it than it does about the people it was meant to describe. It was said to demean and to cause pain. Unfortunately, some of us use words to do this kind of damage when we ourselves are hurting.
Cecelia, you went a bit older than I did for the parents. I had Denzel for Abraham, Angela Bassett for Saralyn and Whitney (the old Whitney) for Leah. I had Jennifer Hudson in mind with Deborah. I really do like the idea of Shemar Moore playing both Isaac and Michael. That’s something that never would have occurred to me.
I have to admit when I saw the post Cecelia put up I thought the word bastard was harsh. I didn’t think so in the book, because it fit in with the story. Saralyn would say that about the children. It was appropriate. You did your job Angela. You told the story.
Cecelia – don’t be so hard on yourself. Even we writers occassionally choose the wrong word. :0)
Oh – I like the cast!
What is the last guys name? The guy that plays on Criminal Minds? I love him!!! What about the doctor from CSI- NY, Hill Harper?
Martha, his real name is Shemar Moore. Since I don’t watch much nighttime TV, I’ve never seen him on Criminal Minds, so I’m not sure what his character’s name is on that series. I’m most familiar with Shemar through his role on The Young And The Restless. He was a regular back when I used to watch it. He was a photographer named Malcolm.