Television becomes our feminist preacher
– Plus exciting alternative to rigged criminal justice system
Bettina Arndt, Mar 06, 2026
‘It comes across as a laborious exercise in moral posturing, reeking of performative empathy, as the ER’s raw, unfiltered brutality is paused for a sanitized, educational interlude that virtue-signals the show’s progressive credentials.‘
The HBO television drama series, The Pitt, is brilliant entertainment. The show has won a stack of awards for its authentic, gripping portrayal of the grisly medical cases staff confront in a Pittsburgh emergency room.
In the second series we witness this constantly overwhelmed, high-stakes environment during a chaotic July 4th shift, with staff juggling life-or-death traumas amid bed shortages, diversions from other hospitals, and other crises. The heroic staff routinely cope with these relentless dramas with rough, gallows humour, sarcastic one-liners, and dark banter that keeps morale afloat amid the chaos.
But suddenly the mood changes. We are told of a new patient in triage – a “sexual assault survivor.” The atmosphere snaps into hushed solemnity: jokes vanish, voices drop, and the entire team shifts to gentle, deliberate, almost reverent tiptoeing.
Somehow, in the overflowing ER – where beds are scarce and staff stretched thin – there’s instant allocation of a private room, specialized lighting, and three dedicated professionals for hours of solemn and meticulous evidence collection.