A Pro-Choice Film Festival
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you might have heard a bit of news about the US Supreme Court. Specifically, a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked, and it looks as though the landmark case Roe v. Wade, which codified a woman’s right to an abortion in all 50 states, will soon be overturned.
This news was upsetting to many but surprising to few. Donald Trump was only in office for one term, but because of timing and the corrupt machinations of one Mitch McConnell, he had the ability to appoint three very conservative justices to the Supreme Court. The prevailing wisdom is that the ramifications of these appointments will be felt for decades.
Personally, I suspect that the next period of American history will be rough. And, I do have hope that the court’s attempts to recriminalize abortion will likely fail, for one simple reason. No American woman under the age of 50 can remember a time when abortion wasn’t legal. They take the right for granted. It’s part of their permanent wiring. In other words, it’s hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Now, this column is usually about pop culture, specifically television and movies, but the court’s radical conservatism is on my mind this month for obvious reasons. So I thought I’d recommend some films—some new, some old—that celebrate a woman’s right to choose.
The Cider House Rules (1999). The wonderful Michael Caine won his second Oscar for playing Dr. Wilbur Larch, an OB/GYN in the 1940s who runs an orphanage but secretly performs illegal abortions on the side. It’s a movie that evokes the period beautifully while telling a story that movies simply couldn’t tell during the Second World War.
Love With the Proper Stranger (1963). Released a full decade before Roe v. Wade secured a woman’s right to choose, Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen starred in a film about two young New Yorkers in search of someone to terminate a pregnancy. It’s sobering to see what abortion looked like in the 1960s: unsanitary, unsafe, and ultimately terrifying. In this film, Wood’s character doesn’t undergo the procedure—not by choice, but by not having a real choice.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). While most people remember Sean Penn as a hilarious stoner who has pizza delivered to history class, the emotional heart of this high school “dramedy” is Jennifer Jason Leigh as a high school freshman who gets pregnant by a smooth-talking ticket scalper who abandons her on the day of her scheduled abortion, forcing her to pay for the procedure alone. Watching the film, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this confused, impulsive, 15-year-old should be a mother, and her choice is both simple and obvious.
Cabaret (1972). Released the same year the oral arguments for Roe v. Wade were being made before the Supreme Court, this film features a brilliant, Oscar-winning performance by Liza Minnelli as the indomitable, breezy, annoying flibbertigibbet Sally Bowles in 1930s Berlin. After cheating on her lover with a married aristocrat, she finds herself pregnant. Not knowing who the father is, she is prepared to terminate the pregnancy (illegally) when her erstwhile lover proposes, leaving her with a choice between him and all her dreams. That, and the slow rise of a fascist government in the background make this film especially prescient these days.
Obvious Child (2014). Literally marketed as an abortion rom-com, this indie comedy was written and directed by Gillian Robespierre and stars Jenny Slate as a comedian who rebounds from a humiliating breakup with a one-night stand, and…you guessed it: a few weeks later, she discovers that she’s pregnant. She immediately schedules her abortion, but meanwhile keeps running into the rebound, who seems like a perfectly nice guy. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s surprisingly sweet and absolutely pro-choice in tone and content.
Dirty Dancing (1987). Yes, that Dirty Dancing. You might have forgotten, but the whole reason Baby got out of the corner and danced with hunky Johnny Castle in the 1963 Catskills is because his partner Penny is pregnant. In addition to rehearsing with Johnny, Baby borrows money from her rich father to pay for Penny’s abortion, during which Penny is gravely injured when the illegal procedure is botched.
And there are more where those came from: Imelda Staunton is brilliant in Vera Drake (2004), Laura Dern is hilarious in Citizen Ruth (1996), and Lily Tomlin is acerbic and fabulous as the title character in Grandma (2015). Every single one of these films is entertaining, which doesn’t diminish their importance—rather, it heightens it. The right to choose is as American as movies themselves. For that reason, I believe it’s here to stay. ▼
Eric Peterson is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) educator; co-host of The Rewind Project, a new podcast about old movies; and is the author of a new novel, Loyalty, Love & Vermouth.