In A.O. Scott's review of "Knocked Up" in the New York Times, he expressed admiration for "a funny, knowing riff on the reluctance of movies and television shows even to use the word 'abortion.'" I thought that was one of the most brilliant bits in the movie, and not just because it emphasized the entertainment industry's squeamishness about the "a-word," but because it also captured men's unwillingness to interfere with (or face up to) "a woman's right to choose," and the way abortion has been swept under the carpet by the new right-wing Political Correctness. No longer is abortion considered a difficult and regrettable personal choice; the new PC has restored the shame and guilt from the old Scarlet Letter days of back alleys and coat hangers. That's one of the things I think "Knocked Up" was satirizing: Don't mention abortion! (The Bush administration cuts funding to any family planning counseling facility, in Africa and elsewhere, that acknowledges abortion as an option for women.)
In the Genuine Canadian Magazine (says so right on the cover) cinema scope, Associate Editor Jessica Winter offers this take:
As funny and endearing as Judd Apatow’s proudly vulgar new comedy can be, it may give the viewer nostalgia for the sequence in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982) when Jennifer Jason Leigh falls pregnant by a guy she shouldn’t be with, promptly gets an abortion, and rides back from the clinic with her brother, who takes her out for a cheeseburger. And that’s it: no apparent self-torment, no post-facto breakdown, no further discussion. Twenty-five years later—plus a nationwide swing to the right, the founding of Operation Rescue, and that deathless Ben Folds Five song—"Knocked Up" presents us with a similarly unpromising scenario: smart twentysomething who just got a big career break has inadvertently fruitful one-night stand with unemployed shlub. Yet in this case, abortion is only briefly suggested by third parties and dismissed out of hand. That’s not to say that the outcome is unrealistic: When Allison (Katherine Heigl) bursts into tears at the sight of the heartbeat on the sonogram, it’s obvious that ending the pregnancy simply isn’t an option for her—just as bearing a child simply isn’t an option for Leigh’s teenage character in "Fast Times." Still, when the closest a movie like Knocked Up comes to even saying the word is “rhymes with shmashmortion,” it’s clear that we’re considering less a depiction of life as actual people live it but rather a pop-culture product that embodies the squeamish contradictions of the mainstream moment a little too accurately. This is a movie, after all, in which Allison always has sex with her bra on but we get an extreme close-up of the baby’s head inching through Mom’s conspicuously bald vagina. Who knew the miracle of childbirth could be liberated from the dark shame of pubic hair?Winter says that we can "blame the MPAA" for the missing pubic hair.
How will the movies handle -- or avoid mentioning -- abortion once the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, I wonder?
"How will the movies handle -- or avoid mentioning -- abortion once the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, I wonder?"
On the plus side, we'll get some great movies chronicling the pain and sorrow of living in a society where a woman cannot control what she wants to do with her own body. After many years, attitudes will change back and forth between complacency and denial. People always have to fight for or against something or other. When people want to give up their rights rather than gain them, the process just moves considerably faster.
Don't many hospitals shave the mother before child birth? (My mom told me she was, which just goes to show that sometimes a little evasion can be a good thing.) Even if that's not done anymore, in today's world, I don't think it's that much of a stretch that Allison would be shaved. However, the sex with a bra on was a little silly.
Apologies to those of you who feel everyone already knows this, but I had to search for it, so maybe someone else doesn't know the "deathless Ben Folds Five" song is Brick, which you can read more about (meaning & lyrics) here:
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=2
It's worth noting that there's a deleted (extended) version of the "shmashmortion" scene online (I think it's at Funnyordie.com, but I saw it linked from Ain't It Cool yesterday) that has the male roommates going into a three-minute riff on the morality of abortion (and they use the actual word) and opinions on the moment life begins.
So I think those reviewers who have been arguing that Apatow's film suggests a right-wing, anti-abortion political view (especially since the film never says the word) now have something to consider. It seems there was an editorial choice (or MPAA mandate?) to remove the conversation, casting things in the light Jim and those he quotes describe above, but apparently the movie wasn't written to sweep the topic under the rug, as some (like Slate's Dana Stevens) have been suggesting.
There's actually a pretty funny deleted scene floating around the internet where Ben's friends debate abortion. And yes they do actually use the word.
I hadn't thought of it in the broader "current state of entertainment" sense, but I know that there are many women for whom abortion is not a viable (literally) option. Just not on the radar in any sense, even for an unplanned pregnancy.
And I did think the sex w/a bra, yet the full-on shot of the baby crowning (shaved no less - doctor's choice? mom's?), was a little odd. Just a weird dichotomy.
I think it's interesting that Ms. Winter is perfectly comfortable with the character in Fast Times simply deciding to have an abortion and that's that, with no "post-facto breakdown", but feels that in Knocked Up the character can't come to a different conclusion without needing hand-wringing and a post-facto breakdown and explaining of her reasoning. In both cases the characters are fully aware of the options available to them and make their choices. What's the big deal?
I guess personal experience counts for something: I had a cousin who was on life's fast-track, so to speak, she had a full-ride lined up to UC Berkeley, was a nationally-honored performer and a straight A student coming out of high school. Somewhere between graduation and the fall semester she got pregnant and I don't think she ever, at least outwardly, considered abortion. I suppose a direct experience like that makes the plot point seem far less of a reach to me.
I do understand your concern about the uneasiness of movies to discuss the issue directly, but there are plenty of issues that don't get touched in mainstream movies, why cherry-pick this one? When was the last time you saw a mainstream film take up campaign finance reform or stem cell research or social security? (Not a movie [yet], but Christopher Buckley's recent novel on Social Security, Boomsday, is hi-larious). I'm also amused by the term "Right-Wing Political Correctness" because I hear so much from those on the right wing who decry "Left-Wing Political Correctness". Fascinating.
Finally, having seen this film, Waitress and A Mighty Heart, that's 3 movies with prego heroines in the last 6-8 weeks. What's the deal with that?
Interesting points, Jason. I've written about this before, but I've been trying to call attention to what I see as an obvious but overlooked fact: that condemnations of left-wing "Political Correctness" have themselves become the latest form of PC. The Bush administration has been exceptionally good at using language to avoid "offensive" connotations: Just Say No to "occupation," "guerrilla warfare," "escalation," "civil war," Social Security "privatization" -- it's "liberation," "insurgency," "augmentation," "sectarian violence," "personalization" with "private accounts," etc.
In Winter's case, I should point out that she did say that the decision Heigl's character makes to keep her baby is not unrealistic and that "ending the pregnancy simply isn't an option for her" -- as having the baby wasn't for Jennifer Jason Leigh in "Fast Times."
Meanwhile, you pose a mighty challenge: If somebody can make a funny or engaging movie about "campaign finance reform or stem cell research or social security" -- I'm there! (Can anybody think of some examples of films that have? "Bullworth"? "Idiocracy"?)
The movie Man of the Year with Robin Williams was a movie about electronic voting reform.
This to me is a weird post. When I saw the film there was nothing that seemed politically slanted for any reason nor leashed by a higher power (unless you want to talk about how many times Spidey 3 is mentioned...)
In my perception it was a movie much more concerned with the characters and there decisions based on what they felt was important to them. For anyone to argumentatively suggest that because a character decides that abortion isn't an option means that the filmmaker is saying that a woman doesn't have the right to chose, is simply and utterly ridiculous. And even though the word wasn't mentioned in the final cut (no matter how many scenes you see on-line, the movie that exists is the one in theatres) these characters struggle with that decision. They talk to their family, their friends...they struggle with this. They think it through. Many abortions unfortunately are decided on by people who are far too young and too emotionally unstable to be able to make a wise decision one way or the other. It was good to see the issue being dealt with, even though the word I guess wasn't being said, in a way that showed an openness to understanding from peers.
Plus who are these people writing all of these reviews. Just look at Apatow's work. It's always been about the character first. I hate arguments by short sighted people.
I always thought PC was left wing as well...at least that's where it started. I don't know if I would call what the Bush people do PC as you do Jim. I would say that's more, well, fogging the truth.
"Bulworth" is brilliant. I don't think "Wag the Dog" dealt exactly in the terms you ask about, but it certainly dealt with the fogginess of politics and how situations can be re-represented, like the Bush peeps practice. I would consider Michael Moore to be more comedian than documentarian with all of the below the belt pot-shots he takes in his films. Yes, we know Bush can't speak...thank you...yeah I guess that must be why 9/11 happened! Thanks Michael! "Bob Roberts" dealt with lots of issues like that -- that was quite a fun film, and it proceeded "Bulworth" I think.
That is true, Jim, but the rest of the piece seems to contradict it. Or at least make the case that putting the character in that situation (where abortion is not an option) is either dishonest or represents some measure of social regression from the days of Fast Times.
Then, continuing throughout the full piece, she makes references to the ways in which the film departs from her vision of "real life". She writes, "It sketches a world without abortions or pregnant sex or frustrating first-time job hunts or skeptical landlords or status anxiety or run-ins with the Department of Homeland Security." She makes an argument in favor or more "realism" but never makes, at least to me, a convincing case why this would necessarily make for a better film, rather than simply a different film.
My personal thought is, by putting the characters in a world where abortion isn't an option, you can make a case for it (if she could have an abortion, they would all be spared the troubles of this imbroglio) and against it (because she carries the child to term Ben is forced to grow up and the Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd characters hash out their marital issues, etc) in a world where it is an option, and you can appreciate the existence of choice. If it is a possibility in the movie, there is less to be digest on this particular issue, at least in my view.
I do agree with your comments about the current Republican penchant for euphemisms; I recall a brief period when the "War on Terror" became the "Global Struggle Against Extremism"
Sean, Phillip, Jason, et al.: First, I don't think anyone (Scott, Winter, or me) would say that the movie didn't make the pregnancy decision work for the characters. (Winter specifically mentions that she thought it did work as a personal decision. I don't happen to agree with her characterization that the movie "sketches a world without abortions or pregnant sex..." These characters, for various reasons, don't have abortions and can't handle pregnant sex, but I don't think that's the same thing as implying those options don't exist. I like Winter's reference to Eric Bana in "Munich," though. How did they miss THAT joke?)
But, of course, you can't make a movie -- certainly not a comedy -- centering around an unplanned pregnancy and NOT get into politics, for the simple reason that the issue of abortion is a volatile political issue in America -- and has been especially so since Roe v. Wade. Movies always reflect the time, place and social context in which they're made, and the idea that a Hollywood movie could make JOKES about the subject of abortion at all is a fairly recent one. That itself is a reflection of the times.
I didn't see the Slate thing, but I sure don't think "Knocked Up" itself is trying to sweep the idea of an abortion under the rug. I do think it's commenting on something that's happening in contemporary American society -- again, in a way that studio movies even in the relatively recent past could not (or would not) have done. The effects of Roe v. Wade changed things profoundly (perhaps almost as profoundly as the Pill). And the decision was only handed down in 1973 -- not very long ago -- and based on an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment as having a "right to privacy" that current Supreme Court justices contest. So, my point is, a movie like "Knocked Up" is the product of a country in which abortion has been legal for 24 years, but might not be indefinitely. (It and "Citizen Ruth" may prove to be fascinating time capsules in a few years.) Certainly before 1973, "Knocked Up" would have been a very different movie. And the awareness of Operation Rescue and the anti-abortion movement obviously has resonance today. That's why Apatow shot FIVE HOURS of debate about the issue of abortion. He always knew what his characters would do, but he also knew their decisions were being made within a certain historical and cultural (and peer-pressure) context, and he couldn't just avoid that elephant-in-the-room reality. Here's what he said about it in an interview on Answers.com:
"From the very beginning we knew we wanted to have a moment where Seth and his idiotic stoner friends debate abortion. We actually improvised for five hours, these guys debating the issue. Some of it you will see on the DVD. And it’s very, very funny, but really shocking and disturbing. It may have killed Jerry Falwell (laughing). It may be, I think that that he knew it was out there and he just could not handle it. But it is part of the movie, because the movie is about two people trying to decide how they are going to handle the fact that a baby is coming. The first decision you make is, ‘Am I going to keep the baby?’
"Part of what is interesting to me is that it’s two people trying to do the right thing and keep the baby. They are trying to decide if they ever could like each other, which is probably something most people don’t do and that’s what hopefully makes it an original concept. I am pro choice and I don’t think anyone should tell anyone else what to do with their bodies or their points of view. I think those decisions are very personal and no one has the answer, so I am pretty solid in that position. But, I also think it’s a very interesting story when you decide not to get an abortion. I am also kind of surprised that it’s shocking to people that they don’t get an abortion because some people say, ‘Wouldn’t they just get an abortion?’ Is it so weird that in this day and age that people are uncomfortable doing that? So, everyone has their own take on it and subjective view on it."
http://movies.about.com/od/knockedup/a/knockedja052707.htm
What Apatow is describing in those last few sentences is now euphemized as "choice" -- and it reflects his belief that keeping or not keeping a baby is a personal choice best left up to the individual(s) involved. That in itself is a political attitude. (I think Jason put it perfectly.) Believing that abortions should be outlawed would be another. And, I suppose, believing that abortions should be mandatory for the unwed would be yet another. So, I think to do the movie justice you have to see the characters' personal decisions in the context of the legal and moral status of the abortion issue in 2006-2007. Otherwise you won't get some of the jokes.
P.S. I also hope you realize that the president's name in the headline was intended as a crude, off-color pun.
P.P.S. to Phillip: Perhaps this is a better example of right-wing / left-wing PC. From Wikipedia:
Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life." Similarly each side's use of the term "rights" ("reproductive rights", "right to life of the unborn") implies a validity in their stance, given that the presumption in language is that rights[24] are inherently a good thing and so implies an invalidity in the viewpoint of their opponents.
Pro-life and pro-choice individuals often use political framing to convey their perspective on the issues, and in some cases, to discredit opposing views. Pro-life people tend to use terms such as "mother", "unborn child", "unborn baby", "pre-born infant" or infanticide. Pro-choice people tend to use terms such as "zygote", "embryo" or "fetus". Each side accuses the other of using a preferred set of loaded terms.
- - -
Those who were against legalized abortion used to be known as "anti-abortion," Those who were in favor of it, however, were not "pro-abortion." So, to make things sound more positive and equivalent, the former became "pro-life" and the latter "pro-choice."
I was glad to hear someone talking about conservative political correctness. I don't get Philip Kelly's distinction about "fogging the truth"; in my mind that's exactly what the term means or possibly "disallowing of statements of uncomfortable fact in a discussion" which isn't much different. As to where it began, it was probably Adam and Eve or something. I think pc conservatives play the patriotism card or the anti-religious card the same way that pc liberals play the racist card or the misogynist card. All that said, when it comes to choice I'm pro-legalization and not pro-abortion, and hate to think any circumstances would require a movie character to "automatically" choose abortion and am not at all bothered if it isn't an option. Is "legal but rare" pc?
What you said, Dane! Great examples. I remember when Fox News made a point of quitting using the term "suicide bomber" in favor of the spectacularly inane "homicide bomber." (One of those meaninglessly redundant phrases like "final destination.") I guess they didn't think there was any significant distinction between a bomber who killed people and a bomber who also killed him/herself. But it was a political move -- just in case anyone would be inclined to feel at all sorry for, or sympathetic to, a "suicide" bomber.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108329,00.html