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Hollywood rarely tells the truth about abortion. 'Little Woods' is different.
Opinions
Hollywood rarely tells the truth about abortion. ‘Little Woods’ is different.
By Renee Bracey Sherman
April 23 at 2:46 PM
Renee Bracey Sherman is a writer and reproductive justice activist.
Pop culture has made some progress since 1956, when an addition to the Motion Picture Production Code that governed Hollywood movie-making declared, “The subject of abortion shall be discouraged, shall never be more than suggested, and, when referred to, shall be condemned.” But even by contemporary standards, in which characters are allowed to have abortions and movies can depict those decisions positively, Nia DaCosta’s debut feature film, “Little Woods,” is a politically urgent revelation.
Rather than making the decision to have an abortion the major source of tension in the film, DaCosta starkly depicts the sacrifices that families make to afford health care, dramatizing the recent onslaught of restrictions on abortion. And her character’s choices place abortion in conversation with our national debate about opioid addiction and drug trafficking to illuminate these well-worn subjects in new ways.
....
And “Little Woods” draws a blunt comparison behind the medicine we restrict and the medicine that’s all too easy to find. Throughout the film, oxycodone, an addictive, dangerous drug, is readily — although illegally — available. Abortion pills are extremely safe, but in “Little Woods,” they are harder to find. The lack of the latter pushes the characters toward dealing in the former. As Ollie puts it, “Your choices are only as good as your options are.”
This contrast starkly demonstrates the illogic of our abortion policy. And Ollie’s argument is one of the tenets of reproductive justice, a framework created by black women demanding we examine the community circumstances in which a person is making their pregnancy and parenting decisions. “Little Woods” forces viewers to consider whether our laws are producing the outcomes we want: A regimen that pushes a family to deal drugs so they can be in the best possible position to care for Deb’s son doesn’t exactly seem like a pro-life victory.
....
Hollywood rarely tells the truth about abortion. ‘Little Woods’ is different.
By Renee Bracey Sherman
April 23 at 2:46 PM
Renee Bracey Sherman is a writer and reproductive justice activist.
Pop culture has made some progress since 1956, when an addition to the Motion Picture Production Code that governed Hollywood movie-making declared, “The subject of abortion shall be discouraged, shall never be more than suggested, and, when referred to, shall be condemned.” But even by contemporary standards, in which characters are allowed to have abortions and movies can depict those decisions positively, Nia DaCosta’s debut feature film, “Little Woods,” is a politically urgent revelation.
Rather than making the decision to have an abortion the major source of tension in the film, DaCosta starkly depicts the sacrifices that families make to afford health care, dramatizing the recent onslaught of restrictions on abortion. And her character’s choices place abortion in conversation with our national debate about opioid addiction and drug trafficking to illuminate these well-worn subjects in new ways.
....
And “Little Woods” draws a blunt comparison behind the medicine we restrict and the medicine that’s all too easy to find. Throughout the film, oxycodone, an addictive, dangerous drug, is readily — although illegally — available. Abortion pills are extremely safe, but in “Little Woods,” they are harder to find. The lack of the latter pushes the characters toward dealing in the former. As Ollie puts it, “Your choices are only as good as your options are.”
This contrast starkly demonstrates the illogic of our abortion policy. And Ollie’s argument is one of the tenets of reproductive justice, a framework created by black women demanding we examine the community circumstances in which a person is making their pregnancy and parenting decisions. “Little Woods” forces viewers to consider whether our laws are producing the outcomes we want: A regimen that pushes a family to deal drugs so they can be in the best possible position to care for Deb’s son doesn’t exactly seem like a pro-life victory.
....
1 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
