The Healthy Response

[lillibet]

I've been thinking about Juno and about Knocked Up, both of which deal with surprise pregnancies and the decision to keep the baby and both of which have inspired the critics to question why abortion isn't examined more closely as a choice in either movie. I haven't seen either one--I just don't get to the movies much these days--so I can't actually judge whether this is true.

But it occurs to me that the problem is that abortions don't make a good story. I mean "Julie found herself pregnant, examined her options, and decided to have an abortion. No one outside her family and the father--all of whom supported her right to choose--ever knew, she went back to school the next day, and while she occasionally wonders what that baby and her life with it might have been, she has no regrets." There's no hook.

This is unfortunate, because I think that's a pretty typical story and one that actually should be told. This is related to the gay-villain problem, I think. "Kyle realized he was gay in high school, came out to his entirely supportive parents, joined the Gay Alliance, had a couple of relationships and a few casual encounters before meeting Jim. They bought a condo together and had a lovely wedding. Both enjoyed professional success, neither succumbed to a tragic illness, and they lived reasonably happily ever after." Not really a movie in that, either.

A friend once sat next to a tv writer on a plane. He talked about his days on the staff of Dynasty and said that the secret to writing soap operas is that no one is ever allowed to have a healthy response, because that kills the story. If everyone always reacts negatively, then the drama never ends. I think of this often, from the comfort of my largely-boring, very happy life, and wonder how to make healthy reactions dramatic, how to tell stories about quiet contentment, how to create positive narratives about drama-free lives. Because those can be just as revolutionary as any shouting in the street and are, in some ways, more symptomatic of the real changes that our society is experiencing. And that's pretty dramatic.

Comments

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

Have you read Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswick Journals? I haven't read them all, but what I did read was deeply satisfying. So satisfying, I haven't been back to re-read them because I'm too afraid they won't hold up to more scrutiny. That happens with me and books sometimes. I feel that way about The English Patient and Possession too.

Hmm, maybe The Crosswick Journals are just what I need right now:)

[tcb.livejournal.com]

that's a really good point. happy stories that don't involve drama don't make for good film. I'm sure there is an exception or two out there, but even happy stories go through drama before the end.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i wrote a werewolf novel about pacifism, basically, and i think the response is "witty dialogue". ;)

[orbitalmechanic.livejournal.com]

But that doesn't explain why we don't, for instance, have (many) gay romantic comedies, or movies in which someone has an abortion and it isn't a big deal. If it's not a story, why not just throw it in as a sidelight, like all the people with children or people on successful birth control or successful couples who have other stories.

I think the real problem with both your missing-story examples is that people think they have to be The Story. There's an assumption about what it means to have an abortion or what it means to be gay, and it's a BIG DEAL. Now that I think about it, it's interesting that the pro-gay argument is "this is just another happy couple in love" while the pro-choice argument is a lot more like "you're condemning women to suffering"--something going on there about who gets to frame the debate in the first place. Huh.

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

I think one of the reasons you don't see this (and I've said this before in other places, so pardon me for being a broken record) is because as soon as you add a gay couple or an abortion or, hell, even something so uncontroversial as a stay-at-home househusband, you're making a statement with your movie/play/novel, whether you want to or not. People notice, and suddenly your plot or theme or thing-that-is-particularly-important-to-you has to fight for attention with the fact that someone's gay or having an abortion or taking care of the kids while his wife goes to work. And then people walk away from your movie and say "And what was with that abortion scene? It just seemed weird and tacked on and unnecessary." I think it's really hard to make that *part* of the movie without making the movie *about* that.

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen Hal Hartley's movie Trust (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0103130/)? The film is about a high school-aged girl who gets pregnant out of wedlock and struggles with the choice to keep the baby and start a family with another man she knows, or to end the pregnancy. It's pretty compelling and does make an interesting counter to your thesis.

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

i agree with what others have said about making it part of the background and character, while The Story is some other conflict or adventure. For some reason Maupin's Tales of the City sprang to mind, and I don't even remember if there was much conflict in that.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

In a way, it would be nice to see a movie made whose main theme was the women who have to go to an embattled abortion clinic in order to get one.

But, as with folks above, you do need some form of dramatic hook, and as subject matter, most things with no drama do not make for good movies.