OBVIOUS CHILD

"Your pee smells like Cheetos" and "fucktard" are among the excellent lines in this short, Internet-viewable film. That alone should recommend "Obvious Child," but it gets extra points for representing what sex, love, pregnancy, and life are like for some young women.

Note: this post/that film is probably not suitable for people actively dealing with infertility and similar grief, so stop here. Also: SPOILER ALERT about the film follows.

Unlike "Juno" and "Knocked Up," Obvious Child doesn't gloss over...

the abortion possibility. Sure, it's got the foul-mouthed perkiness and only-in-the-movies moments, but it doesn't cheerlead on behalf of teen pregnancy, employ scare tactics about clinics, or use wacky euphemisms to avoid discussing abortion.

I've never been PG myself, but if I had been accidentally so in my younger years, I'd hate to be surrounded by the recent spate of media and films implying that having an unplanned baby is the coolest, perhaps only, nway to go. UGH. I don't decry anyone's choices to carry or not-carry their embryos to term—it's up to them—but I do wanna see more choices represented in the media and pop culture. Celebrating motherhood in general and single motherhood in particular has been a trend in the last few years, and it's opened up some good discussions.

But sheesh. Even sci-fi thrillers these days, like "Children of Men" and the "Battlestar Galactica" remakes center on procreation and the precious importance of babies. Babies are important, yes; can we just have a wider, sparklier array of female examples in pop culture—women who don't have kids, perhaps wrestle with the issue or have grief around it, yet still manage to be loving, fulfilled, well-rounded human beings? Is our role in culture and biology *still* primarily dependent on our status as babymakers and mothers? Can we see a little variety—say, over-40 childfree women who aren't hyper-promiscuous, career-obsessed, bitter, and all those other clichés—a little more often in the media we consume? Or is that asking too much?

Having babies isn't the only route to happiness, love, or fulfillment as a woman. It's hard enough to get that across in our culture without these bullshit films making teen pregnancy seem über-hipster and coercing unfit boy-men into becoming fathers a charming, feminine act.

We have choices, and abortion is definitely one of them. So, hurrah for reality being portrayed in at least ONE film.

Comments

[jennifer]

Check out the movie "Julie and Julia" for a portrayal of a woman who never had children but went on to lead a full fabulous life - without any of the stereotypical qualities you talk about.

[magdalen - tiffany]

thanks jennifer -- i do want to see that one. i heard that Julia Childs/Meryl Streep has a weepy moment over having not become a mom...?