“Misogynist dope-smoking morons know that abortion is wrong… Do you?”
Great title for a surprisingly great post by Lisa Wade on Huffington Post yesterday.
Writing about the movie Knocked Up, Wade’s intent was certainly not to further the pro-life cause but rather to browbeat pro-aborts.
But she did both, starting with that excellent question in her title….
In Knocked Up, a one-night stand and an unplanned pregnancy are the fodder for an astoundingly, catastrophically tragic comedy. What’s so funny?
An innocent child is forced into an experiment to see if a pot-bellied, pot-smoking, porn-peddler can get his sh** together and become a responsible adult….
That this moron is called upon to raise a child is the comedic premise of the movie….
Our objection is this: Knocked Up is not just a silly movie, it’s pro-life ideology disguised by [penis] jokes.
Knocked Up and pro-life activists share the idea that it is always better to raise a child than have an abortion. We learn this from the movie because they (1) associate a pro-abortion stance with unlikable characters (such as the pregnant woman’s mother) and (2) romanticize a man’s choice to be a father after going (way) out of their way to demonstrate that he is a terrible candidate for fatherhood. It is a sign of how powerfully the religious right owns the notion of morality that we accept that this man can be redeemed…. Like pro-life logic, this movie relies on the idea that keeping a child is always the best thing to do. That is, after all, why we’re supposed to be heart-warmed by this gross-out movie in the end.
Is deciding to keep the baby an inherently moral decision? Or might using an innocent child in an attempt to redeem an inveterate slacker be more immoral than not having it at all? Despite our cultural fetishization of biological parenthood, there is no alchemy that turns slacker lead into parenting gold…. Sometimes people shouldn’t be parents. (And at no point does anyone suggest adoption, even though there are waiting lists for adoptive couples who actually want a baby.)
The point is not that abortion (or adoption) would have made for better comedy. (Although, if one wanted to make a gross-out comedy, why not make it about abortion?) The point is the insidious pro-life message of the film: Even dope-smoking, misogynist morons (the antithesis of the pro-life contingent) “know” that abortion is wrong. Where does that place those of us who support abortion rights? Or choose to have one? Or (gasp) think that abortion, in some cases, might be good? It is almost unthinkable to identify as pro-abortion. Even adamant pro-choice activists frequently say that abortion is an unfortunate and regrettable necessity. The religious right wins when keeping a baby is always seen as morally superior to having an abortion.
The popularity of the film reveals some of our culture’s most unfortunate tendencies: we fetishize biological parenthood, ascribe to the mythology that love conquers all, and have abdicated the realm of moral judgment to the religious right.
But can’t love sometimes conquer all? Can an unplanned pregnancy straighten a jerk out? Have pro-aborts “abdicated the realm of moral judgment to the religious right”?
One point of correction: Wade maintains pro-lifers feign adoption, which is absolutely false. Remember this movie was made by romantic liberals, and it is actually they who “fetishize” biological child-rearing. Pro-lifers believe strong, stable, two-parent families are usually best, whether biological or adoptive, given the “choice.”
P.S. The pro-life message of Knocked Up isn’t “insidious.” It’s quite apparent.
P.P.S: I am so tired of the word misogynist.
My two previous posts on Knocked Up:
June 7: “Nice girls don’t”
July 18: “Is Hollywood censoring abortion?”
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I can’t wait to see this movie.
I thought it was about ‘Choice’ So, the choice is “gross out” because she kept the baby? I thought ‘Choice’ was about ALL choices.
Such a great movie. I can’t tell you how many friends told me that they finally found the kind of people in a movie that represent people with pro-life sentiments exactly the way that they are. Not all pro-lifers are stereotypes.
LOVEDDDD this movie. I can’t wait until I can buy it on DVD.
I hope the movie is a good as some have said. I saw the previews and thought, “Like that hasn’t been done 30 times before….”
Or might using an innocent child in an attempt to redeem an inveterate slacker be more immoral than not having it at all?
She makes it sound like the woman in the movie fell in love with a dolt and got pregnant on purpose to force him to grow up.
And notice that she gets bent out of shape that the guy does get his head out of his rectum. As I’ve seen men do. Guys who were losers hold the baby in their arms and do a 180. It changes them.
And if it doesn’t, there are adoption, single parenting, foster care, etc.
It makes no sense to deliberately create a baby with a bum for a daddy, but once you’ve made one, killing him on the grounds that his father is a jerk is punishing the victim.
Christina, that was a terrific point! Yeesh. What the heck are they so upset about?
Having a baby completely changed me. I was pro-abortion, anti-religion, refused to get married… All that changed when the test turned pink. I’m looking forward to my high school reunion. People won’t believe I’m the same person.
Michelle, I couldn’t agree more! Motherhood changes you. I’ve found that a lot of people put too much emphasis on material things. Where in the heck does that get you? Millionaires still commit suicide. That garbage will only make you happy for so long. A old neighbor of mine is 56 years old. She aborted 2 times in her early 20’s. Today she has a boyfriend, and he is much younger than she. I asked her one day if she ever regretted her abortions. She shocked me by saying that she very much did. She is extremely clingy with her b/f. I think she worries that he will cheat, or throw her overboard for a woman who can give him children. Their relationship has been strained for the past year. What if he dumps her? She’s in menopause now, so it’s not likely that she would ever become pregnant. She is so fearful of being alone! I worry about her.
You know, you kind of took things out of perspective. maybe adoption wasn’t mentioned because the girl wanted the baby?
I think its unfair of you to call the main character a “jerk” and a “misogynist” and a “moron.” He did stay with her, didn’t he? He didn’t leave the mother of his child high and dry, and he made an effort to become a better person. He quit smoking pot, got a good job, and got his own apartment. I would hardly call that man a “jerk” or a “moron.” He also went to doctors visits with her and never pressured her to get an abortion. I’d also like to know who these misogynists are in the movie.
“(Although, if one wanted to make a gross-out comedy, why not make it about abortion?)”
I don’t understand….what is funny about abortion?
“Pro-lifers believe strong, stable, two-parent families are usually best, whether biological or adoptive, given the “choice.””
As do pro-choicers. I think that it would be safe to say that everyone, regardless of their views on abortion, feel that all children need a stable home environment with two parents.
Anon, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t write that piece. A pro-abort did. I just posted excerpts from it.
I just think you should be more clear then, when quoting other people. I would have appreciated quotation marks, instead of ellipses, so I know what she wrote. Just trying to help. This is my first time reading your blog, and I thought that this was your response to the article. Whoops.
And I’m reading the actual article, at any rate, the person who wrote this was WAY too harsh. I mean, women choose to remain pregnant after one-night stands all of the time. My friend recently had a baby, and she and the father arent together anymore. Its like the author of this article just assumed that because she got pregnant, she’d have an abortion.
THe person who wrote this is just so ( i hate to say it) pessisistic. Babies do change people. It can happen.