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heartbreakerwgst-blog · 8 years ago

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Media Portrayal of Abortion

As society becomes increasingly aware of the fight for women’s equality and sexual freedom, media portrayals of female characters have heightened in complexity, taking on vital issues that affect women across America. One such issue is abortion. Hollywood has long been reluctant to portray a realistic account of terminating a pregnancy, despite the fact that 1 in 3 women in America will have an abortion before the age of 45 (Center for Reproductive Rights). To complicate the situation, when Hollywood does attempt to tell such a story, writers and producers of media often fall back on common misconceptions about the procedure and misogynistic stereotypes.

Take for example two films from the year 2007, “Juno” and “Knocked Up.” Both films feature unintended pregnancies, and while the titular character of “Juno” is frank in expressing her intention to end her pregnancy, she is quickly talked out of the procedure by a protester outside of the Women’s Health Clinic. In fact, very little time at all is given to the clinic in this coming of age film, and it’s depiction is far from the reality of clinics throughout America. The clinic’s parking lot is nearly empty, a suggestion that no one is in need of the services provided, and a more insulting misrepresentation is the depiction of only one protester outside the building. This protester, a sullen, quiet Asian-American teen lies to Juno about the development of her fetus, announcing “It has fingernails!,” and this lie weighs heavily on Juno. To have only one, quiet protester present outside the clinic is a cruel injustice to abortion care providers who risk their safety regularly to perform their jobs as well as the women who brave the shame and intimidation which these protestors usually inflict in their attempt to deter women from entering clinics. In fact “Juno” came out at a time when “clinics in Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere [were] experiencing dangerous and ugly mass protests by impassioned extremists, some of whom the police [could] barely contain” (Shostak). The next misrepresentation comes from inside the clinic, where the receptionist loudly and publically questions Juno about her intimate life, which understandably rattles the young woman. This would not happen in a real clinic, where receptionists go through a training process wherein the learn to treat patrons with respect and care. Next, the camera pans to perpetuate even more gross misconceptions about abortion clinics: the only people present in the clinic are melancholy women, each isolated from one another. This is another stereotype towards those who receive abortions, as many are relieved to have this medical option available to them and are surrounded by supportive friends or family at the clinic. “Juno” misses an opportunity as a film heralded as “destined to become a classic,” to show the true face of abortion clinics and the experience of visiting a clinic, even if Juno herself chooses not to follow through with the procedure (Richard Roeper). “Knocked Up,” a film about a one-night stand turned unexpected pregnancy, does a tricky thing in a film about unintended pregnancy, it never once utters the word abortion. Instead the characters briefly consider getting what the describe “a shmashmortion at the shmashmortion clinic,” before quickly dismissing the idea (“Knocked Up”).

Another influential piece of media to misrepresent abortion is Netflix’s original political thriller “House of Cards.” In the first season of this hit show, the vice president’s wife, Claire Underwood, unapologetically admits to having received an abortion in a TV interview. Netflix could have used this opportunity to show a woman in a place of power championing a heavily stigmatized medical practice, but instead, due to the stigma, Underwood lies and says she received her abortion because the fetus had been the consequence of a rape. In doing this, not only does the show perpetuate another societal stigma, that women often lie about experiencing sexual assualt, “House of Cards” also feeds into the notion that an abortion can only be acceptable if the fetus was the product of rape. Later on in the season, Underwood’s doctor tells her that her abortions (she has had three) have impacted her ability to conceive another child. This is all-too-common misconception of abortion, that it affects a woman’s ability to get pregnant later in life, is in fact completely false. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures and it is incredibly unlikely for an abortion to adversely affect a woman’s ability to conceive.

But there are more positive portrayals of abortion in film media, take for example the 2014 romantic comedy “Obvious Child.” The film deals with abortion directly, with it factoring to a major part of the central plotline of the film, without reducing the main female character, Donna Stern, to an overly emotional, “weak” female character. Instead, the film is able to find the humor in the situation, and addresses abortion for what it is in America: a serious, but common, medical procedure. Abortion is a common choice in the life of the American woman, and it is more than empowering to see this reality depicted truthfully on screen. Or, in the 1973 season of popular soap opera “All My Children,” just months after the Roe v. Wade decision, Erica Kane underwent daytime TV’s first legal, safe abortion. The episode portrayed her decision to end the pregnancy head on, she simply did not want another child. This honesty helped open the door to other beloved TV characters receiving abortions simply because it is the right choice for them. One such character is fan favorite surgeon Cristina Yang from the long running medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” During the show’s eighth season, Yang confidently chooses to have an abortion, knowing it is the right choice for her and her career. She follows through with this decision, instead of backing out at the last moment, as is a common media narrative for women seeking abortions. Yang is even shown as becoming annoyed when other characters try to insist she seeks counseling before going through with the procedure, expressing that she knows what is best for herself. By presenting Yang as a self-assured, powerful woman, the cult favorite show was able to break out of the cultural gag rule that prevents abortion storylines from being framed positively in prime time television, and it also worked to break many of the common stereotypes about women who receive abortions.

Another depiction of abortion that works to destigmatize the procedure and still show the seriousness of the decision, without tying in some “end-of-the-world fatalism,” is from the third season of the Netflix original animated satirical comedy show “BoJack Horseman” (Center for Reproductive Rights). In the sixth episode of the season, one of the lead characters, Diane Nguyen, discovers she is pregnant and comes to the mutual decision between both her and her partner, Mr. PeanutButter, to receive an abortion, as neither of them are ready in their relationship to have a child. The couple then goes to a clinic, and here the show chooses to poke fun at the unnecessary but increasingly common abortion restrictions being placed on women, with the doctor telling Diane that before she can receive the procedure she must “by law….watch 20 hours of cute puppy videos as Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You” plays softly.” While the show is able to bring levity to the stigma surrounding abortion, it also does an incredible job of depicting a supportive partner, as Mr. PeatnutButter continuously offers Diane support, including sitting beside her in the waiting room of the clinic (It has been shown that about 50% of actual clients bring their male partners to the clinic) and repeatedly telling her “I am here to support you, no matter what” (Shostak), (Calo). And, in the classic edgy satirical style of the show, he is shown throughout the episode carrying around a balloon with text reading “It’s A Boy,” crossed out and re-written to read “It’s Aborted.” In its final minutes, the episode takes a turn from the humorous depictions of abortion controversy to show the truth of what positive media portrayal of abortion means for women across the nation. While in the clinic’s waiting room, Diane meets a young girl who mentions that the abortion anthem, “Get Dat Fetus, Kill Dat Fetus,” sung by a controversial pop starlet, makes her feel “strong, like [she] can do anything” (Calo). Diane questions the girl, asking why the violent lyrics of the song don’t offend her, and the girl responds with a honest monologue, revealing the true reality of receiving an abortion as a young person:

Getting an abortion is scary. With all those protesters out front, and how you have to listen to the heartbeat and all that. And when you can joke about it, it makes it less scary, you know? (Calo)

While the depiction of the process of receiving an abortion on“BoJack Horseman” is more radical, it does what other media portrayals of the procedure have been unable: it advocates for unapologetic abortion on demand, while also criticizing those whose beliefs fall into the anti-abortion agenda. It tells the story of woman who knows an abortion is the correct choice for her, has a supportive partner, and still has to jump through the hurdles of societal stigma associated with the procedure.

Media portrayal of abortion matters, especially as media works to shape the values of a society. With positive portrayal of abortion becoming more frequent, abortion becomes more and more accessible to the American public as a medical procedure, rather than the highly politicized action it is perpetuated to be by right-wing lawmakers. In an ideal world, there would not be a litany of articles written either praising or condemning a show for having a character receive or allude to having received an abortion, instead the choices of characters in American media would be able to reflect the lives and choices of American women truthfully, without pushback or criticism.

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References:

BoJack Horseman. By Joanna Calo. Perf. Alison Brie. Netflix. Netflix, Inc, 22 July 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Cook, Cameron. "Could JUNO Be the Best Picture of the Year?" Fox Searchlight. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 3 Jan. 2008. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Lange, Ariane. "Inside The Radical Abortion Episode On "BoJack Horseman"."BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, Inc, 1 Aug. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Levy, Elizabeth. ""You Killed Our Baby!": Cristina Yang and the Breaking of the Abortion Taboo in Grey's Anatomy." TV/Series. GRIC - Groupe De Recherche Identités Et Cultures, 01 May 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Paskin, Willa. "A Character on Grey's Anatomy Actually Had an Abortion on Prime-Time Television Last Night." Vulture. New York Media LLC, 23 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Prestigiacomo, Amanda. "Netflix Cartoon Mocks Pro-Lifers: 'Get Dat Fetus, Kill Dat Fetus'." Daily Wire. The Daily Wire, 26 July 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Center For Reproductive Rights. "The Best & Worst Depictions Of Abortion In TV & Film." Center For Reproductive Rights - Abortion In TV. Refinery29 Inc, 22 Apr. 2015. Web.19 Apr. 2017.

Shostak, Arthur. "Juno Misses Chance to Address Abortion Honestly." Rewire. Rewire, 31 Dec. 2007. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

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