| “ | My father never accepted me. Ever. Till the day he died, he called my partner, the woman that I love beyond measure, he called her my 'friend'. As if our love was less than. And our love is not less than. But it was painful, you know? It still is. | ” |
–Bette about Melvin, "Less Is More" | ||
Melvin Porter is a recurring character in seasons one and two of The L Word. He is portrayed by Ossie Davis and debuts in "Lawfully".
Melvin is the father of Bette Porter and Kit Porter.
Background[]
Melvin lives and raised his children in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2][3] He is seemingly a businessman who travels for work.[4] Moreover, Melvin appears to be a prominent figure in his community and is acquainted with political leaders including President Bill Clinton and Gloria Steinem, the latter of whom attended his funeral.[5] Melvin is also a staunch Christian[6] and believes homosexuality is a sin.[2]
Melvin was married to an African-American woman with whom he had his first daughter Kit, but left her for a Caucasian woman named Maxine.[1] He married Maxine and had his second daughter, Bette, with her.[6][1] Melvin would read to Bette when she was little, and Bette's favorite childhood books were Aardvark Makes Pasta and Monkeys Go on Strike.[7]
According to Melvin, Maxine was the smartest woman he ever met and although they had some heavy arguments, she was never condescending to him.[6] When Bette was little, Maxine found out Melvin was cheating on her and walked out on the family.[1] Even though Melvin loved her dearly, he let her leave and did not try to salvage his marriage.[6] Decades later, Melvin still carries an old photograph of him, Maxine and Bette in his wallet.[2]
Melvin's oldest daughter, Kit, struggled with addiction, and Melvin is disgusted by what he sees as her life of indecency.[4] Kit once hid drugs in her younger sister's teddy bear and Bette took the blame when Melvin found the drugs, even though Melvin knew it was Kit's.[8] Around 25 years before The L Word, Kit gave birth to a son, David Waters;[9] Kit was not around due to her alcoholism and David was raised by Melvin.[10] Upon his introduction in The L Word, Melvin is estranged from Kit and has not seen her for 13 years.[4]
Melvin's other daughter, Bette, idolizes him and desperately craves his approval.[4] Bette is the apple of Melvin's eye and he is extremely proud of her career achievements. On the other hand, he doesn't accept her sexuality[2] and barely tolerates her relationship with Tina Kennard, refusing to call Tina by her first name.[4][6]
The L Word[]
Season 1[]
Season 2[]
Physical appearance[]
Personality[]
Episode appearances[]
| The L Word, season 1 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| "Pilot" | Absent |
| "Let's Do It" | Mentioned |
| "Longing" | Absent |
| "Lies, Lies, Lies" | Mentioned |
| "Lawfully" | Appears |
| "Losing It" | Absent |
| "L'Ennui" | Mentioned |
| "Listen Up" | Mentioned |
| "Luck, Next Time" | Mentioned |
| "Liberally" | Absent |
| "Looking Back" | Absent |
| "Locked Up" | Absent |
| "Limb from Limb" | Absent |
| The L Word, season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| "Life, Loss, Leaving" | Absent |
| "Lap Dance" | Absent |
| "Loneliest Number" | Absent |
| "Lynch Pin" | Absent |
| "Labyrinth" | Absent |
| "Lagrimas de Oro" | Absent |
| "Luminous" | Absent |
| "Loyal" | Absent |
| "Late, Later, Latent" | Absent |
| "Land Ahoy" | Appears |
| "Loud & Proud" | Appears |
| "L'Chaim" | Appears |
| "Lacuna" | Mentioned |
| The L Word, season 4 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| "Legend in the Making" | Absent |
| "Livin' La Vida Loca" | Absent |
| "Lassoed" | Mentioned |
| "Layup" | Absent |
| "Lez Girls" | Absent |
| "Luck Be a Lady" | Absent |
| "Lesson Number One" | Absent |
| "Lexington and Concord" | Absent |
| "Lacy Lilting Lyrics" | Absent |
| "Little Boy Blue" | Absent |
| "Literary License to Kill" | Absent |
| "Long Time Coming" | Absent |
| Generation Q, season 1 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| "Let's Do It Again" | Absent |
| "Less Is More" | Mentioned |
| "Lost Love" | Absent |
| "LA Times" | Absent |
| "Labels" | Absent |
| "Loose Ends" | Absent |
| "Lose It All" | Absent |
| "Lapse in Judgement" | Absent |
| Generation Q, season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status |
| "Late to the Party" | Absent |
| "Lean on Me" | Absent |
| "Luck Be a Lady" | Absent |
| "Lake House" | Absent |
| "Lobsters, Too" | Mentioned |
| "Love Shack" | Absent |
| "Light" | Absent |
| "Launch Party" | Absent |
| "Last Dance" | Absent |
| "Last Call" | Absent |
Quotes[]
Quotes by or about Melvin from The L Word and Generation Q.
- Bette: "Dad, we're a couple. We are starting a family."
- Melvin: "If that makes you happy."
- Bette: "Well, doesn't it make you happy? I mean, you're going to have another grandchild."
- Melvin: "That is biologically impossible. Unless there's been a medical breakthrough that I don't know anything about, the possibility that this child will be my grandchild does not exist. Therefore, I am happy if that's what you want in your friendship with Miss Kennard. But, I cannot realistically be asked to participate in this fiction of your creation."
- -- in "Lawfully"
- Tina: "Bette and I have gone through so much to get here. We've talked about how our child could truly reflect who we are, when we're so limited by biology. That's why we decided to use an African-American donor. So when we look at our child, and you look at your grandchild, we'll all be looking into a familial face."
- Melvin: "A black man is the father of this child?"
- Bette: "The donor, dad. He's an African-American artist."
- Melvin: "An African-American. And because of that I'm supposed to feel closer to this child? Because all of us blacks are somehow connected? We can traced back to some tribe in Africa, where we were beating drums? That is absurd. You are an Ivy-League-educated woman. How is this logical?"
- -- in "Lawfully"
- Kit (about Melvin): "Bette, what did you expect? He's an old-fashioned man. A bigot in his own right. Someone's got to talk some sense into you about that man because he is not the saint you think he is--"
- Bette: "Kit!"
- Kit: "Oh, girl, c'mon, you never want to hear the truth! You are so brainwashed. What do you trade to feel his pride, hmm?"
- -- in "Lawfully"
- Kit: "Tell me something. When was the last time you saw me shitfaced?"
- Bette: "That's not the point."
- Kit: "No, the point is that you and David have been brainwashed by Melvin into thinking that I'm some kind of a falling-down drunk. I've got it under control."
- -- in "L'Ennui"
- Bette: "Allyn Barnes was my teacher at Yale. She's probably one of our most important living artists."
- Melvin: "Never heard of her."
- Bette: "She's the reason I wanted to go into the arts."
- Melvin: "I thought that was your mother's influence. She was a great artist. You remember her watercolors, don't you?"
- Bette: "Of course I do, daddy. I have all of them."
- -- in "Land Ahoy"
- Allyn: "Melvin, you seem to be missing the point of the painting. It's about the fleetingness of fortune."
- Melvin: "I just see it differently."
- Allyn: "You don't think that the man in the painting is enjoying his life?"
- Melvin: "I don't. Of course I don't. He looks miserable. Spiritually void. The only true abundance is harmony with God."
- Allyn: "Ah, so faith assures prosperity, is that what you're saying?"
- Melvin: "Figuratively speaking, yes."
- Allyn: "There it is. The dangling carrot of the Ashcrofts and the Bushies."
- Melvin: "I beg your pardon. I have nothing in common with the Ashcrofts or the Bushies."
- Allyn: "It's mercenary Christianity, keeping us mortals in thrall through a combination of fear and payola. It makes me want to go back into a cave and never come out again."
- Melvin: "That would be your prerogative, madame."
- -- in "Land Ahoy"
- Melvin: "Your mother and I...we had some heavy arguments. Smartest woman I ever met. But she was never condescending."
- Bette: "Daddy...if you loved her so much, then why did you let her leave? Why didn't you try to salvage the marriage?"
- Melvin: "You wouldn't understand."
- Bette: "Give me a chance."
- Melvin: "You would've had to have experienced that bond of marriage to appreciate how much I hurt your mother."
- Bette: "I think I might be able to understand that, daddy."
- -- in "Land Ahoy"
- Melvin: "What have I done?"
- Bette: "What are you talking about?"
- Melvin: "I've loved you. I have supported every endeavor you've ever undertaken. I've given you every opportunity to follow your every dream. I don't understand why you want to punish me."
- Bette: "I'm not punishing you."
- Melvin: "I do not understand, and you're such a beautiful woman."
- Bette: "Daddy."
- Melvin: "Don't you ever think about the day you're going to stand under judgement before God? What are you gonna say to him when he opens the book of life and reads your sins?"
- Bette: "I will say, 'I am your creation, and I am proud.'"
- -- in "Loud & Proud"
- Melvin: "Where's Benjamin?"
- Kit: "He's with his wife and kids."
- Melvin: "You shouldn't have let him go. If he's the man you want to be with, then you should be with him, whatever the cost."
- Kit: "Like you did with mom?"
- Melvin: "I did what I had to do to ensure my happiness. Sometimes it comes at a price."
- Kit: "Yeah, it does."
- -- in "Loud & Proud"
- Melvin: "Maxine...don't run away again. Stay with our little girl. I know I let you down, Maxine. I was weak. I didn't mean to. But I need you...to stay...and look after my girl."
- -- in "L'Chaim"
- Melvin: "And you. If you think Benjamin is going to leave his family for you--"
- Kit: "I don't, daddy."
- Melvin: "What do you mean, you don't?"
- Kit: "I wouldn't do that to another man's wife."
- Melvin: "It's human nature to pursue one's happiness over someone else's misery."
- Kit: "Not always, daddy. After her mother stole you from my mother, you fell in love with someone else, didn't you, daddy?"
- Melvin: "That doesn't matter."
- -- in "L'Chaim"
- Bette: "My father never accepted me. Ever. Till the day he died, he called my partner, the woman that I love beyond measure, he called her my 'friend'. As if our love was less than. And our love is not less than. But it was painful, you know? It still is."
- -- in "Less Is More"
Gallery[]
Notes and trivia[]
- Ossie Davis passed away on February 4, 2005, shortly after Melvin's final episode "L'Chaim" was filmed. The credits of the episode include a dedication to him.
- In "Lacuna", photos of Melvin with Bill Clinton and Gloria Steinem were shown at his funeral. These were actually pictures of Ossie Davis himself; Davis was a prominent civil rights activist.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The L Word, 2x12: "L'Chaim".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The L Word, 2x11: "Loud & Proud".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The L Word, 1x11: "Looking Back".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 The L Word, 1x05: "Lawfully".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The L Word, 2x13: "Lacuna".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 The L Word, 2x10: "Land Ahoy".
- ↑ The L Word, 1x09: "Luck, Next Time".
- ↑ The L Word, 1x02: "Let's Do It".
- ↑ The L Word, 1x07: "L'Ennui".
- ↑ The L Word, 1x04: "Lies, Lies, Lies".