I rarely go there. But I'm beginning to wonder if the consensus we're all alleged to share -- the less abortions, the better -- still stands.
Exhibit A: this piece in which the writer seems pissed off that the female lead in "Knocked Up" doesn't consider a visit to Planned Parenthood.
As the mother of a 1-year-old daughter, I think I can say that if she turned up pregnant in her early 20s under exactly Alison's circumstances—single, barely acquainted with the father, financially dependent (she lives with her married sister), weeping miserably at her first sonogram—I would encourage her to at least consider the possibility of abortion ...
Wouldn't that make a delightful comedy?
Meanwhile, a film executive frets:
“At a time when women’s reproductive freedom is under attack in the courts, why wouldn’t it come up as part of the conversation?” the executive said. “Are you making a statement by assiduously avoiding the discussion?”
So has Hollywood been taken over by Phyllis Schlafly? Not bloodly likely:
As a liberal who writes about film, there are few things that I find more irritating than the tendency of other liberal film writers to treat the 95 percent of Hollywood films that push (explicitly or implicitly) liberal ideas as if they were utterly apolitical and commonsensical, and then react with shock and despair on those rare occasions when a movie with conservative themes makes its way to theatres.I seem to recall two recent films, The Cider House Rules (which the Times article mentions but dismisses) and Vera Drake (which neither article mentions at all) that netted Academy Award nominations (and one victory) for actors playing heroic abortion providers. ... When actors start getting nominations for playing anti-abortion activists, then I'll expect to see a raft of articles about Pro-Life Hollywood.
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