I'd Take Juno Over Jenny Slate's Anti-Juno Any Day

I love the brilliant opening scene of Gillian Robespierre's short film, Obvious Child, starring SNL's newest cast member Jenny Slate. Nothing screams "hipster" like breaking up in a New York thrift store, half-buried in a turtleneck. Genius.

But as far as message goes, I felt like this short film fell flat. Its explicit purpose is to preach the pro-choice counterpoint to the anti-abortion undercurrent so winningly portrayed in films like Juno and Knocked Up. I was unswayed. I can't help wanting a little hope and redemption in my entertainment (not to mention real life). That's why the plots of all of the recent pregnant-mama films resonate: Selfish, naive young people get pregnant and decide to stop living entirely for themselves and take responsibility for their actions. And we cheer for them, because we want their fictional careless escapades to be redeemed by some warm-hearted selflessness.

I can hear the criticism piling up already. "But it's not responsible to get pregnant! Abortion is the responsible thing to do, unless you're the privileged daughter of a well-known politician!" That's certainly an argument that has a lot of traction in our society today. But for me the most poignant line of Obvious Child was when leading-lady Donna, who fits the classic selfish and naive stereotype to a tee, tells her mom over the phone, "I'm going to have an abortion today." Her mother’s calm, scripted voice doesn't waver with the slightest bit of emotion, and soothingly assures her, "Well, you know, that's probably the best thing to do. You're so young. You have your whole life ahead of you." Except, from what I can tell, Donna is a self-absorbed partier in her late 20s or early 30s, prone to one-night stands and brainless conversations with her best gal pal. If I had to flash-forward to a Donna in 20 years, I feel like I'd imagine her living the same old self-absorbed way, only with more wrinkles. All of which is to say, a little dose of reality might do her some serious good.

There's a lot happening on the political level regarding abortion these days—a lot of scientific questions, economic questions, and moral questions being debated and legislated on. The latest Gallup poll indicated that 51 percent of Americans consider themselves to be pro-life. After watching Obvious Child, I feel pretty confident that until the pro-choice movement finds some heroines that have a little more heart, most of us will take Juno over Donna any day.

Tags: abortion, jenny slate, movies, pro-choice, pro-life

Abigail Pilgrim Documentary film producer and freelance writer.

Comments

beyond whether we approve of the young woman

By: lorikay4 | Mon, 10/05/2009 - 08:27

The point is not whether the young woman in the film 'deserves' our sympathy and access to abortion with or without finger wagging and scarlet A wearing. Rather, our judgments regarding the quality of the film in question should rest on whether it is believable and a coherent piece of art, however small. Realistic, resonant fictional portrayals of women's lives will have 'admirable' and not so admirable actions and decisions in them. Ms. Pilgrim exhibits an inability to separate her political preference against nuanced and realistic portrayals of abortion being a part of life; one part, not a central tragedy. She would like the film to reinforce the preferred morality play outcome of unplanned pregnancies in her political universe, that of pregnancy as a combination of punishment for sexual freedom and 'grow the hell up' tough love which magically transforms young women who live for themselves into moms who live for others.

I watched this film and

By: susanstohelit | Fri, 10/02/2009 - 09:40

I watched this film and thought it was an extremely well-crafted, realistic short. Donna is hardly some irresponsible partier - she goes out to a bar after having been dumped by her cheating boyfriend of 2 years and she hooks up with a sweet guy to make herself feel better. She uses protection, even though it winds up breaking, and makes the responsible decision that for who she is at that moment - a young, single freelancer - having a baby would be a bad idea. I completely reject this conservative nonsense that women who have the audacity to have casual sex should be "punished" if they get pregnant by being forced to carry the pregnancy to term. How is that good for a child or for the woman? In the end, she even winds up with the guy she slept with in the first place - a guy, by the way, who is decent and caring and goes with her to her abortion without trying to talk her out of it or question her decision, and who stays with her afterward. Donna and Peter came off as very realistic 20-somethings who are making the right choices for themselves.

She met an adorable guy

By: Amanda Marcotte | Fri, 10/02/2009 - 08:18

Who went with her to get an abortion, took care of her afterwards, didn't freak out, and seems to like her for who she is instead of projecting a bunch of nonsense on her.

Sounds like hope (for her future with this guy) and redemption (of dude kind after she got dumped so cruelly) to me.

should be clear by now

By: lorikay4 | Thu, 10/01/2009 - 14:07

Emily, search her contributions here and on Slate, and it will be clear that she's from the woman-punishing branch of the Hezbollah branch of the Theocratic Party.

OMG

By: emilyk | Thu, 10/01/2009 - 13:59

which side are you on anyway?

Why does everything have to be a Hallmark moment?

By: violetprofusion | Thu, 10/01/2009 - 12:19

It's fine to criticize the characterization in a work of fiction if you find the characters to be dull, tedious, cliched, or distracting. But the character made a choice, and it was the best one she could have possibly made in her (fictional) universe. Why does there need to be a pat Hallmark Moment homily here?

Twentysomethings--even batty fictional ones--who have the money and free time to drink, party, and have silly conversations with friends aren't by default "irresponsible." Nor do they have to have pithy revelations and epiphanies over an unwanted pregnancy. Nor do they need to have some set range of emotions about the whole thing.

Now, if the film didn't depict this very well, and if you were turned off by the scripted blase nature of it, that's fine. Also, if you found that the the dialogue was lousy and the characterization was insipid, you're well within your rights to dislike the film.

But it's possible that the point wasn't to create a heartwrenching decision and a swirl of soaring emotions. In real life, it isn't like that for many women; sometimes it's just a straightforward decision that doesn't involve a lot of gut-wrenching soul-seeking. Why can't this be portrayed in fiction too?

As far as "a dose of reality might do her some good" goes--having an abortion IS a dose of reality. If the condom broke or the Plan B didn't take and you find yourself with an unwanted pregnancy, your body goes through a whirlwind of hormones. You have to find a doctor who'll perform the procedure, somehow pony up the cash for it, and somehow rearrange your life to give yourself time to recover from it. It is uncomfortable and expensive.

What kind of "lesson" or "responsibility" should the character have learned from this? "Hope and redemption" is all well and good, and if you feel the film didn't supply enough of that, it's fine. But sometimes abortion isn't about that, in real life as well as in fiction. Sometimes it's just another uncomfortable, expensive thing that one does to get by. It sounds both blase and crushingly nihilistic all at once, I'm sure, especially if one is seeking warm glowing vindication/redemption--but much of life is that way. And what better mirror for that than fiction?

I'm with you, LoriKay

By: P Starling | Thu, 10/01/2009 - 12:13

I really hate the idea that somehow, a woman "deserves" a child, not because she'd be a good mother or wants to have a kid, but because she needs a good smack of The Real World. This isn't the crying doll they made you haul around in 11th grade health class. This is a real human being who deserves more than to become his or her mother's penance for being shallow, drunk or stupid.

The argument actually cuts to the nasty underbelly of the anti-abortion movement: the idea that women who are slutty enough to get pregnant really should be forced to take the consequences of their actions and raise the child. That attitude isn't pro-women, it isn't pro-life, and it isn't pro-child. It's the new and updated Scarlet Letter, brought to you by modern Puritans. The whole idea that women have debased natures through Eve but are redeemed through suffering in childbirth and motherhood--well. It's an ancient justification for mistreating women, but we could just damn well do without it these days, don't you think?

can't let it go

By: lorikay4 | Thu, 10/01/2009 - 11:23

Why oh why do conservatives fantasize so longingly about making young women (and it's always and only young women) grow up via facing down the barrel of unintended pregnancy?

This is so tellingly punitive, and you people who are so into babies for everyone, at all times, no matter what, can't decide whether they are unalloyed blessings or a club to thwack badly behaved and unchaste young women with. Which is it today, let us know, wouldja?

Where do I go to hear conservatives bemoan the triviality and sexual irresponsibility of the impregnators in this story? I'm dying to know.

Abortion rights are not just for future Nobel Prize Winners in Peace and Medicine, they are also for people who wouldn't be doing themselves or the children in question any favors by becoming a parent at a given moment of their lives. We don't require abortion to be legal only when we can make the case to people like Ms. Pilgrim that we are only having to have one this once because we screwed up, and otherwise we are good girls, we are scared $hitless and we'll never have a 3rd drink at the same party as our ex-fiancé again. Legal abortion is a right, not something judgmental sexists like her get to hand out like grudging hall passes to getting on with our lives.

Yes, young and selfish people

By: LauraPalmer | Thu, 10/01/2009 - 10:58

Yes, young and selfish people must at some point grow up and begin to realize that there are other people to think about. But deciding to keep an unplanned pregnancy from a one-night-stand should not be the catalyst for doing so. Growing up and having a baby have often been connected, in so far as one follows the other, along with marriage and getting one's first "real world" job. Today though, many people are able to become wiser, more aware individuals without getting married or popping out babies. In fact, your point that getting pregnant and deciding to hold off on partying and hooking up because your going to "settle down and grow a family" (to use a quote from the film) is terrible logic! Getting pregnant doesn't immediately change one's habits or lifestyles. And it doesn't always force people to grow up either.

Also, this is a short film. We see very few glimpses into Donna's life and therefore don't really have the whole picture. She was brutally dumped so she goes out and gets drunk with her best friend. That's a very reasonable response. You can't assume that she parties all the time. And she's not drinking in any other scene. In fact, she takes care to plan an abortion and goes to the appointment before she's even showing. I'm sorry, but that is what we call responsibility. And that's a trait one often equates with being a grownup.