| rdfs:comment
| - Nowadays, when an actress gets pregnant, this event is usually written into the show as the character getting pregnant. However, sometimes the writers decide not to include the pregnancy, perhaps because it can't be written in convincingly, it doesn't fit with the storyline, or perhaps it's just that Status Quo Is God. In this case, they commonly resort to various (ineffective) tricks to avoid the actress' bump being noticed, such as
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| abstract
| - Nowadays, when an actress gets pregnant, this event is usually written into the show as the character getting pregnant. However, sometimes the writers decide not to include the pregnancy, perhaps because it can't be written in convincingly, it doesn't fit with the storyline, or perhaps it's just that Status Quo Is God. In this case, they commonly resort to various (ineffective) tricks to avoid the actress' bump being noticed, such as
* The actress wears lots of loose, baggy clothes.
* The sudden, unprecedented wearing of heavy overcoats etc. which are much too big for her, with absolutely no explanation-- particularly for a character who normally wears form-fitting clothes.
* She carries lots of bags in front of her belly
* She sits down a lot; in the late stages of pregnancy, this often entails some sort of blanket over herself to hide the bump. Such "supine shots" are filmed for prolonged periods, with no direct views of her ever actively getting up or sitting down.
* The cameramen just make sure to never get shots below their upper chest.
* The camera shoots her from far away if they need full body shots.
* She suddenly wears black. Lots and lots of black... without a funeral (or Matrix) in sight (for clarification - black helps hide the shadow that the actress' suddenly much larger stomach casts, as well as its shape).
* The excessive use of body-doubles for all revealing body-shots with the face conspicuously obscured-- after which the camera will flash conveniently back to the actress with her face showing and body obscured. (Naturally, this sad trick only makes the attempt at deception more obvious).
* Worst of all, is the attempt of wearing high heels etc. to make her look more height-weight proportionate; this succeeds only in making her appear even more like "the elephant in the room" by towering over all else around her with her increased size. Even worse, when she walks, she typically becomes a lumbering hulk, lurching and teetering around on the heels like Frankenstein's Monster due to her increased height and decreased balance. Alternatively, the character might just be written to put on a lot of weight, due to a sudden "eating binge" or whatever (see "Frasier" below). Note that this trope does not include cases where the actress' pregnancy is written into the show - that's Reality Subtext.
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