Feminist thinks “The Giver” is a slam to pro-lifers
by Kelli
On one hand, the depiction of “release to elsewhere” – especially of one of the unqualified babies, who is given a lethal injection and then dropped down a chute — could surely be used as grist for organizations who are deemed pro-life. (Especially given that in real life, abortion foes often use jarring images of fetuses to further their claim that abortion is murder, despite the fact that such images misrepresent the reality of abortion.)
On the other hand, the suggestion that birth control and family planning are necessary in a world of limited resources are in keeping with pro-choice sentiments. Further, the focus on “unqualified” babies who are at least several months old – not on embryos, fetuses, or zygotes (what those on the “pro-life” side often call “life”) – indicates that this “release” is NOT the same thing as abortion. (Thus, the story is much different from the one told by the likes of Rand Paul — the horror at ending a life is not focused on the contents of a pregnant woman’s uterus, but on a functioning, breathing, fully formed human baby.)
That the images of “release to elsewhere” are juxtaposed with murderous images – the slaughter of elephants, the killing of innocents by military forces – could be interpreted as furthering the pro-life claim that the taking of “life” is murder. However, the suggestion that murder of the past (war, genocide, etc) has been supplanted with a different kind of murder which is no better emphasizes the hypocrisy at the heart of the pro-life stance: that those who condemn abortion as “murder” also call for the killing of abortion providers and/or support war, resist gun control, and fail to condemn genocide. The quote the current receiver says to Jonas about murder not being eliminated just renamed is applicable here: Pro-lifers do not eliminate what they call murder (abortion and contraception); rather, they call reproductive choice “murderous” and name what they do (such as killing providers like Dr. Tiller) as protecting innocent lives. In doing so, however, they perpetuate the lack of choice that perpetuates so many of the murdering forces in our society: poverty, criminalization, the military machine.
~ Natalie Wilson, reviewing the dystopian movie The Giver, Ms. Magazine Blog, August 18
[Photo by Entertainment Weekly via disneydreaming.com]
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.
A 10 in the Olympic mental gymnastics event for Ms Wilson!
I think a few of my brain cells died just reading that gibberish.
A monochromatic world where individual choice is eliminated = pro-choice?
Protip for Natalie Wilson: Those that kill abortionists are not pro-life. Pro-lifers don’t call for the death of abortionists.
Um, what the heck did I just read?
So, Ms. Magazine is still a thing? I honestly had no idea.
such images misrepresent the reality of abortion.
No they don’t.
http://abortionno.org/abortion-photos/verifying-photograph-authenticity/
http://clinicquotes.com/are-the-pictures-on-this-site-real/
“embryos, fetuses, or zygotes (what those on the “pro-life” side often call “life”)”
um… that would be biology textbooks that refer to them as “life”.
“the military machine”
Ms Wilson is stuck in the 1970s use of ambiguous terms for that big bad scary something-or-other “machine” where soldiers run around with guns.
This is definitely one of the less intellectually rigorous articles I’ve read for awhile.
Her whole article just made me laugh.
Spin, spin, spin, as fast as you can. I can’t believe anyone actually published it with a serious face.
“the military machine”
Ms Wilson is stuck in the 1970s use of ambiguous terms for that big bad scary something-or-other “machine” where soldiers run around with guns.
It’s the military-industrial complex, dude!
Wilson’s article would have been much simpler had she just skipped the fluff and said what she meant:
“Dead humans. No. Matter. What.”
Wow – I rarely see movies, but this is enough to motivate me to see this one. If they dispense undesired babies to elsewhere, I think post-abortion women ought to have some sort of fore-warning before entering the theater.
“It’s the military-industrial complex” which includes political contributions, political approval for military spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and oversight of the industry (Higgs, R (1995)”World War II and the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex).
If that’s what she meant, then she is naming our political leaders as murderous forces in our society… hmmm, sounds about right.
Only someone living in a pro-abortion mental bubble believes that pro-lifers condone murder. It makes them feel better to image we’re hypocrites. What if we aren’t?
Your smug support for feticide is propped up by what? At least you don’t call for the murder of individual adults? And you “oppose” an archaic straw man? That’s all you’ve got?
No wonder the abortion fans are losing.
Your smug support for feticide is propped up by what? At least you don’t call for the murder of individual adults?
Kinda sounds like that, doesn’t it?
If they dispense undesired babies to elsewhere, I think post-abortion women ought to have some sort of fore-warning before entering the theater.
I’m not post-abortive, but I cringed at that scene when my daughter and I saw the movie. It was extremely disturbing for me. And the movie as a whole was better than I expected it to be. (The book was better, though, of course.)
Kelsey: A 10 in the Olympic mental gymnastics event for Ms Wilson!
Yeah, it does seem over-the-top……
So abortion photos don’t show the reality of abortion? I keep waiting for them to trot out the real reality of abortion photos. Still waiting. It doesn’t help their side when abortionists admit in interviews that our photos are legit. That that is what abortion does to a fetus.
So embryos and fetuses are not life? Who knew? So if scientists find a ball of cells on Mars they won’t declare “We’ve found life on Mars!!!!”? We all know that would be the headline the day after such a discovery. But a ball of cells–a zygote–in a woman’s womb. Well that’s “life”…not life.
Apparently my biology textbook in college was full of LIES!!! Human fetuses check off all the boxes on the checklist of life but yet, they are NOT life. They are ordered, they grow, they respond to their environment, they use oxygen etc… yet…they’re not “life” life. *collapses in despair*
It must be so mind-numbing and confusing to be pro-abortion. I think I’d have a headache every day if I had to engage in abortion apologetics.
I have found this Natalie Wilson….
http://faculty.csusm.edu/nwilson/
“Natalie Wilson teaches Literature and Women’s Studies at Cal State University San Marcos. Her areas of specialization include feminist theory, popular culture, women’s literature, militarism, pedagogy, and activism.”
She doesn’t look nearly as old as she sounds.