Just give your baby away! Yeah, as if THAT isn't disturbing and cruel.

Rating: 1/10 (16 February 2008)

As a movie it's good, it's sympathetic, the performances are good, and SOME of the characters react a BIT differently than the usual Hollywood boilerplate.
However, the underlying message is such neo-KKKon propaganda, and is so in line with the present-day-neo-KKKon culture of today (Thou Shalt Not Portray An Abortion In A Movie Unless It Leads To Mental Breakdown of The Woman Having It) that I want to give this a well-deserved *1*. Now that this self-censorship on a somewhat positively portrayed teen pregnancy has stretched it's vile claws to indie productions as well, we must fear that even with Hillary Clinton as president we'd have an abortion ban in less than 3 years. I've seen over 3200 films. Only in ONE a pregnant woman actually went through with the abortion: Holly Hunter in "Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)". And yes, this was of the "You - think - you - can - have - an - abortion - just - like - that - but - you'll - be - sorry - in - the - end"-type. In ALL other films, they give the baby up for adoption, or keep it in the end (Sex in the City! I mean, WTF!?). This, is HIGHLY unrealistic, since American women do have abortions, like 10s of thousands per year. 100s?
(EDIT: Just saw "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - Phoebe Cates - and in that one teen pregn ancy and abortion are portrayed realistically via JJ Leigh.)
There is a Canadian show that dealt realistically with teen pregnancy: Degrassi High, were a 14 year old girl got pregnant by a class mate, and in the end had the courage to tell her mother, so they decided that it was irresponsible to let her have it, so she had an abortion. But ... of course this episode was censored! Ny NBC.0 And of course... the girl had a mental breakdown!
A REAL refreshing, daring and new take on teen pregnancy would surely be, telling the sensitive, yet funny and touching story of the struggle of a 14 year old getting pregnant and her hilarious but yet heart-gripping search for an abortion clinic willing to perform a 20 week abortion. This search could take Ulyssesic dimensions, with sardonic comments by said 14 year old on parents, on school, on church, on clinics, on doctors and Jehovah Witnesses ... But yeah, guess which country would be TOO conservative for THAT .... I mean, if you can make light of the psychologically damaging experience of giving your kid away to TOTAL strangers, why not about the less psychologically damaging experience of abortion? I really, really, do think that the bond between mother and child after NINE months AND after giving birth to the kid, is far stronger than after 12 weeks or even 22 weeks (in which period it's not even viable) of pregnancy. So, the heartbreak of giving a real live kid away, must be GREATER than whatever guilt over an abortion.
This movie is Just So Wrong. On so many levels.
1/10 The Melancholic Alcoholic.