Sam's Blog - Obvious Child

Society likes to make up its mind about certain subjects through the use of film. As many know, films can be an outlet to give an audience a fresh perspective on a subject, or lay out a facet of an idea and let people chew on it even after the credits roll. This is the beauty of a good film: it leaves an impression on you, and allows you to form your own opinions on subjects that you may not have had any experience with prior to watching.

Obvious Child is a refreshing example of a film that delves into the world of a woman who has abortion on her mind. Donna Stern (Jenny Slate) is a twenty-something standup comedian/bookstore clerk living in Brooklyn. After a dismal breakup, Donna has a fling with a stranger that results in a pregnancy. One look at her financial situation makes her quickly decide to get an abortion, but first she wants to tell her one night stand... however, various circumstances make it harder and harder for her to tell him.

The film is clearly a vehicle for Jenny Slate to strut her stuff, and she does it well: the film is peppered with silly situations and one-liners, making it enjoyable simply from a comedic standpoint. Plot-wise, the beginning is a little expository, but as Donna begins to tackle her problem head on, the progression of the story becomes a little more comfortable. Donna is a very relatable character, wearing her emotions on her sleeves and, while this reveals the fact that she's kind of a mess, it also reveals that she's a sweet person. It is easy to take this journey alongside her as she comes closer to the day of the abortion.

Unlike other films that grapple with the idea of abortion, Obvious Child does not try to weigh you down with the typical debate: it avoids meddling with both the pro-life argument ("Getting an abortion is like murder") and the pro-choice argument ("it's your body and you should be the one to decide what happens to it"), ultimately skipping past the theoretical part and focusing on the situational part. This can be seen both as a positive and a negative: while it's refreshing to see a film that doesn't try to shove politics down your throat, it is also a bit cavalier with the subject (example: every single one of the female characters in the film has had an abortion).

The message is very clear that abortion is a perfectly viable option (just a heads up for you pro-life supporters), and so the filmmakers opted for a story in which the main character does not change her mind at the very last minute and keep the child... in keeping with that goal, the film lacked a certain amount of conflict, peripherally anyway. But it is Donna's internal struggle that should be focused on, the shoes of which any woman can try on and relate to. Finally we see an honest depiction of a woman's struggle, instead of just the effect of society on said woman's decision.

Come check the film out at the Midtown Cinema!