Feb 19 2008
Abortion and 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days
Upon looking for reviews of the movie 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), I find that it has been adopted by the film-goers of the pro-life (hate this vocabulary) crowd as a movie against abortion.
It’s interesting to me that anyone can watch a movie with an agenda in mind. While this movie is obviously politically charged, I don’t think it makes any clear-cut statements about abortion. I don’t think anyone can make a clear-cut statement about abortion in a practical sense, not as it involves humans. To do so undercuts the seriousness and complexity of the issue at hand.
I walked out of the movie mostly untouched by the actual abortion because anyone with a brain knows that it would be a traumatic experience. What I was touched by was what the illegality of that act forced them to do. The emotional experience after the abortion is nothing compared to the tension of obtaining it illegally – just watch which aspect takes up the majority of the movie.
There was a moment, when they were working out the cost of the abortion, that I wanted to get up, step onto the screen and lead the girls out the door, saying, “That’s too much, just walk away.” But that’s not an option in the film, and we know it. Whatever the cost is, they pay it, because they have no other options.
The harrowing experiences the woman in this film encounter in order to obtain the abortion prove that they have no other options. That obtaining this abortion illegally is the most attractive option they have is the most disturbing aspect of the film – and that says as much about society as it does about abortion. Abortion is ugly – a society that leaves women in the lurch is much uglier.
Note: I hate the trappings of the “pro-life,” “pro-choice” discussion in this country. No one is against either of those ideals, idiots. Stop simplifying your point of view to make everyone else seem stupid or mislead.