Abortion not an Option in Popular Culture

[cthulu2016]

Last edited Wed Apr 30, 2014, 05:24 PM - Edit history (5)

In the last several decades of popular culture (roughly since the mid-1980s), abortion is not an option for sympathetic characters. I am sure there are some contemporary exceptions, but in general I think that's a fair description.

A sympathetic character can consider abortion. But at the last minute she will come to her senses.

If Ellen Page's smart, independent, iconoclastic character in Juno wasn't going to get an abortion than who the hell ever would?

We had a five year soap opera in Secret Life of the American Teenager (was that what it was called?) about a 15 year old who had never even *dated* wrecking her life, and those of everyone in sight, by not even considering abortion as an option for her. (I watched some of it recently because the star was incredible in The Descendants as George Clooney's daughter.)

MTV does not have a show called "16 and NOT pregnant, and doing fine thank you very much."

Now, hilariously, some people claim that 16 And Pregnant discourages teen child-birth by showing what problems these girls face. Yeah, right... and JACKASS discourages riding a skateboard off a roof by showing how painful it is. Except that is not how the world works.

What if MTV had a show about young girls who find out they are pregnant under ridiculous circumstances to be pregnant and address the problem and it works out okay? Then those girls would be role models competing with the role models (if you're a sympathetic character on TV then you're a role model) of the 16 and pregnant girls.

It is the damnedest thing... on TV, when someone finds out they're pregnant then they are for sure going to have a baby. (Despite the fact that people on TV have sex indiscriminately and seemingly without contraception... which is odd, considering that they live in a world where abortion is not an option.)

Yet abortion is, in the ethos of TV land, something that should be available. Of course! Gotta be available... for some unconsidered, unseen class of dreadful people who would do something like that.


It is no surprise that abortion is always under attack (and will probably be rolled back more before advancing any).

Think where gay rights would be today if TV still had no gay characters. Imagine if TV dramas were all about people who politically favored gay rights though god knows THEY would never do anything like being gay and had never met anyone who would and any character who was gay would have to be written off the show as unsympathetic... but yea gay rights! Y'know... in the abstract.

Added on Edit: Neutrality can be condemnation and an attempt to avoid controversy is actually, itself, social engineering. Example: Back in the day, say a character hails a cab. The cab driver will be white. Why? Because the south would ban a movie that showed a black person operating in normal human society, whereas the rest of the country had no comparable objection to a white cab driver. So the correct business decision was to avoid controversy. But the product of that "neutrality" was the whole country seeing a New York or Chicago with a mysterious absence of black people, and that is itself a segregationist message. Similarly, on today's media world a sympathetic character does not condemn other people for having an abortion but there are not examples of sympathetic (good) characters doing so. So it does become, "We don't object to black people driving cabs, we just prefer to not show it because it upsets some of our viewers." The act of not upsetting some viewers is itself a statement.

[ZombieHorde]

1. Good observation. nt

[Tom Ripley]

2. I have long noticed this about television sitcoms

Was Maude really the only TV character to opt for abortion...nearly 40 years ago?
I can not think of any others.

[Brickbat]

3. Erica Kane had one on All My Children in 1973.

Other examples:

http://www.theabortiondiaries.com/archive.htm

[Tom Ripley]

6. Thanks.

[StevieM]

40. Erica Kane is a great example of what we are discussing, because years later they reversed it.

There was a storyline 30 years later--Erica's un-abortion. It turned out that the aborted fetus was transplanted into someone else, somehow. And it lived. And became a full-grown man, and a character on the show.

If I am not mistaken, the character was later killed off, and has now been erased from the show's continuity. But at the time, some writer really wanted to "redeem" Erica from that abortion and make it so that she was not a character who had successfully terminated a pregnancy.

[me b zola]

7. Roseanne

Roseanne was pregnant and while she and Dan awaited test results the doctor ordered because he thought there was a problem with the fetus they considered abortion.

The Roseanne show tackled almost every possible social/cultural issue. IMO, one of the best television shows of the 20th century.

[LeftyMom]

31. Claire Underwood on House of Cards.

But it was prior to the start of the show, and she's not an especially sympathetic figure.

[hamsterjill]

33. Spenser For Hire

Susan Silverman, Spenser's girlfriend, opted to have one.

[Cartoonist]

4. Hollywood

I read this post after reading one on Glenn Beck. Here's a quote: “You’re saying this is the civil rights issue of our day, and you were such a coward you couldn’t do it until Hollywood changed everybody’s mind,” Beck said.
-
So it's up to Hollywood to steer civil rights?
I'm not disagreeing with you, I think your OP makes some very good points. They could do a better job, but I wouldn't lay all the blame on them. I certainly wouldn't regulate content, not that you were going there.

[cthulu2016]

16. Nobody should dictate content, of course.

I am not so much complaining about Hollywood for doing wrong as I am observing our very deep cultural hostility to abortion, in aggregate.

Media reflects culture. It isn't a top down propognanda thing, it's a dialogue between culture and media which in turn shapes culture to be reflected by media.

And I believe that our cultural compromise is unsustainable. Ou compromise is that abortion must be legal BUT OMG NOBODY SHOULD EVER HAVE ONE.

That is just not sustainable. Media and culture do no operate on legal and philosophical abstractions, but rather on stories about people.

I am not calling for media to promote abortion, merely to stop implicitly condemning it.

I am leerly of media *promoting* much of anything.

[Coventina]

5. I'm old enough to remember the outcry over "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"

Where the female lead did get an abortion.

A totally valid choice given the circumstances.

The movie was successful, in spite of the controversy, but I can't think of another teen movie since then that includes abortion in the plot.

[cthulu2016]

10. Abortion peaked right around Fast Times. Early 1980s.

And that story is now kind of a time capsule.

Jennifer Jason Leigh doesn't do any hand-wringing. Even though she was a virgin she had still given some thought to the matter. She had considered, as a young woman, what she would do IF she became pregnant.

[PeaceNikki]

8. Agreed. Abortion is a moral & positive choice that liberates women, saves lives, & protects families

[LittleGirl]

27. Exactly

my point of view as well. Down to the letter of the law. Legal and safe for when ever women need it.
Even in the case of a wanted child that develops with health issues that are not survivable. Like a fetus growing without a brain inside the skull. They don't survive. Period. If a woman wants to abort a child like that (even late stage) then she should be able to get one. A safe one where her life is considered first and foremost. Shit happens and some fetuses are not survivable so that's my justification for even late stage abortions.

And it's nobody's business but the patient and the doctor. This is a medical issue and the supreme court seems to agree with that, at least, in 1973.

[NV Whino]

9. I have thought the same thing for a long time

They either:
1. Think it's wonderful to bring a child into the world… no matter how the woman/girl became pregnant.

2. Have a miscarriage and go all weepy even though they might have had doubts about the efficacy of having a child in the first place. (Do not misconstrue this statement. I know it is traumatic to miscarry. We're talking fiction, here.)

3. Change their mind at the last minute, have the child and are accepted back into the family because having a child is so wonderful, and everyone, including the errant father will love and support it to the end of their days.

4. Then there is the trick of writing the pregnancy into the plot line because the actress is really pregnant. That one, of course, has to go full term.

The Brits, on the other hand, deal with it in a realistic manner. One of the reasons I liked Prime Suspect was the way they handled the inspector's pregnancy.

[ALBliberal]

11. TV series Parenthood

Drew's girlfriend Amy chose to have an abortion against his wishes.

[LittleGirl]

32. Love that show

The writers/producers are good. Real. Deal.

[PeaceNikki]

12. Not a teen, but Gray's Anatomy covered it in prime time

Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes, is on the board of Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles.

http://feministing.com/2011/09/26/a-character-on-greys-anatomy-had-an-abortion/

As a long-time advocate for showing abortion on television and a devoted Grey’s Anatomy fan (seriously, I even stuck with it through the ill-advised supernatural turn), I was thrilled about what happened on last week’s season premiere. It was one of those rare television events: a character actually got an abortion.

She didn’t just consider it. She didn’t have a miscarriage at the last minute. She didn’t talk about it in hushed euphemisms. She said the word. Other people said it. She didn’t even do it off-screen. They showed her in the stirrups and the doctor even talked about numbing her cervix. And although all that happens every day to real women across the country, it has hardly ever happened on prime-time, network television.

It’s refreshing to say the least. And if there were ever a character that would believably choose abortion it’s Christina Yang, the ambitious heart surgeon who has said repeatedly over the years that she doesn’t want children. That’s why it was so maddening that when she had another unintended pregnancy in season 2, they avoided the abortion by having an ectopic pregnancy take the decision out of her hands. So it was especially satisfying to see her do now what she clearly would have done then.

I was also impressed by the way the show dealt with the emotional complexity of her decision. Of course, for some women, there isn’t any sense of sadness or conflict about getting an abortion at all, and someday I’d love to see that kind of abortion story on TV. But on a show like Grey’s Anatomy, it’s probably inevitable that the abortion story, just like every other storyline, would be drama-filled. At the end of last season, Christina and her husband Owen had a terrible fight because he wants kids and won’t support her decision to have an abortion. They aren’t speaking and Christina, although still 100% sure that she wants the abortion, is struggling to do it without his blessing.

Yet, even though in some ways, this decision is incredibly difficult for Christina, she never doubts–and the viewer never doubts–that abortion is absolutely the choice that is right for her. At one point, she gives a great speech to Meredith explaining that she really wishes that she wanted to be mother, but she just “really really really” doesn’t.

In the end, [spoiler alert!] Owen comes around, because he really isn’t a bad guy, and they go to her abortion appointment together. And it’s sad–because Christina really feels the loss of not being able to share in Owen’s desire for a family. And it’s also an enormous relief. Because it’s so clear that this is exactly what she needs to do–that doing anything else would be sacrificing a part of who she is. And those two emotions–sadness and relief–can exist at the same time, because that is called emotional complexity and Grey’s Anatomy is actually a really good show, you guys! While different people experience a whole range of feelings about getting an abortion, I thought that this portrayal was honest and accurate and true to who these particular characters are.

[MicaelS]

13. You are absolutely correct.

IMO, there is an undercurrent opinion in this country, across the political spectrum, that abortion is an decision only the irresponsible choose. Ipso facto, if they were being responsible, they wouldn't have an unintended pregnancy in the first place, so they wouldn't even have to concern themselves about having an abortion.

And yes, you're right, I can't remember the last time I heard a character in a film or TV show mentioning she was getting an abortion.

[LittleBlue]

14. Abortions aren't very pleasant for fiction or reality TV

TV dramas rely on extending the drama to keep interest. Who wants to sit there for the rest of the movie/show and think about a dead fetus? Not when the baby can be a constant source of laughter and tension. The producers would be accused of making money on the dead. And anyway, babies are cute! *squee*

My guess is that the people running the networks know that dead fetuses don't fare well in prime time.

[nomorenomore08]

41. And apparently, many Americans are psychologically on the level of small children...

[LittleBlue]

44. You just noticed this?

The Kraptrashians and a show about backwoods duck guys are ratings gold in this country lol

[Nye Bevan]

15. Lucy Ewing (played by Charlene Tilton) had an abortion on "Dallas" in 1982.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Ewing

Not a recent example but it's the first one that came to mind.

[cthulu2016]

19. Around the same time as FAST TIMES (as discussed upthread)

The incidence of abortion in America peaked in the early 1980s and perhaps in media as well.

[skypilot]

17. Only one show comes to mind...

...and it's one of my favorite shows that I just happen to be rewatching this month. "Friday Night Lights" was brave enough to take on this subject a few years ago.

http://feministing.com/2010/07/12/friday-night-lights-takes-on-abortion/

On edit:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758745/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[kentauros]

18. Take notice, too, of pregnancy-test advertising.

I have never seen one that depicts the anxious couple as excited over a negative result.

[Ligyron]

25. or depressed over a positive result. nt

[kentauros]

29. I can understand not having that result in a commercial

because you want happy people so you can advertise to equally happy people. But it becomes ridiculous that the only result anyone would ever want from a pregnancy test is a positive. Seems to me they'd want people to know that their test is reliable if it can give a negative result, too. Otherwise, how do you know it's working right?

[LeftyMom]

36. Part of that might be that people trying to get pregnant buy more tests.

And they want to test as soon as possible, so they buy more expensive ultra-sensitive tests.

[kentauros]

37. Okay, never thought of that point.

So, thanks for the info

[raccoon]

20. Come to think of it, does/did anyone on the soaps ever have an abortion? since 1973?

Edited since I saw Brickbat's post.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

22. General Hospital

Lulu Spencer had one a few years ago

[arikara]

21. I just did a project on teen pregnancy

for a class I was taking. My project is in Canada however a lot of the information between our 2 countries is intertwined. Especially the information a girl would find if she was looking on the internet. Depending on where she looks, it is not clear that there are 3 options for every pregnancy.

I noticed that the anti-choicers are getting very very good at disseminating their information. When you search on teen pregnancy, there are sites high in the rankings that appear to show all options, a good example is one called standupgirl.com. Its an attractive flashy modern looking site that gives only anti-choice views through articles and testimonials saying how easy it is to keep the baby, finish school and go to college and how devastated girls are after being forced to have an abortion. They never come right out and say that they are anti-choice. They also even sell an e book. That kind of insidious information, plus the fact that women can't even get abortions in some areas has really rolled back the clock for women in the US. Its happening in Canada too, but to a lesser extent. However, our conservative government would love nothing more than to take away women's right to choose here as well.

The US has by far the highest number of teen pregnancy of any of the developed countries and it is the country that has sunk billions of dollars into promoting “abstinence only” programs. Obviously they don’t work. The Nordic countries where teen sexual activity is viewed as inevitable and not moral have the lowest rates of teen pregnancies, and lowest STI’s as well.

[LittleGirl]

34. Nordic countries are so smart

Humans have sex. The US acts all prudish about sex and it's totally ruining families the way we present b.s. to those teens.

[volstork]

23. Maude

had an abortion 11/1972 (prior to Roe, incidentally).

[hamsterjill]

39. Thanks for posting this.

n/t

[volstork]

45. You're welcome

Can you imagine trying to air this episode now?

Look how far we've come in 42 years! <sarcasm>

[hamsterjill]

46. Boy isn't that the truth!

I remember when this episode aired and I remember the controversy. I was probably about 12 at the time, and I watched it when it aired.

I was raised with the same attitude that "Carol" demonstrates in the video. I loved the line "finally we'll be free to have control of our own bodies" (paraphrasing).

It scares the hell outta me, frankly, because I have great concern that the generations of women, in particular, (but men, too) that have come after this time period just don't seem to understand how very important Roe v. Wade is, and how it must be protected!

[SunSeeker]

24. K & R

[blueamy66]

26. Ever notice houses that the kids on Teen Mom live in and the cars that they drive?

nt

[alp227]

28. Great "conservative correctness" on the part of "liberal Hollywood".

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Conservative_correctness

NBC this decade has broken this trope, see this Friday Night Lights episode from 2010 or Parenthood episode from 2013. Unfortunately, these Very Special Episodes are outnumbered by the suck-it-up-to-the-PRO-LIFERS 16 and Pregnant/Teen Mom type shows.

[Ron Obvious]

30. You're exactly right

Don't forget the women with high-risk pregnancies which might kill them (and leave their other children motherless) being portrayed as heroic when they don't abort, and their doctors who advise them to do so as cold and unfeeling. On TV, those women always survive and are then seen as vindicated, usually humbling the cold and unfeeling doctor.

In reality, I consider women like that to be about as responsible as drunk drivers, but I get the feeling most people would hate my guts for saying so.

[get the red out]

38. I agree with you

The propaganda is completely backwards.

[hamsterjill]

35. Reality TV isn't very "realistic" to me.

It's all about ratings.

After all, have you ever seen one of the Duggar clan in a bad mood? And don't tell me that none of those kids ever gets cranky.

Same priniciple here. Most networks nowadays are afraid of angering the far right, so they avoid the option of abortion.

[rocktivity]

42. DING DING DING! Cthulu, you're our grand prize winner!

Last edited Mon Aug 4, 2014, 01:48 PM - Edit history (7)

MTV does not have a show called 16 And NOT Pregnant, And Doing Fine Thank You Very Much.

How about one called, "Was Dumb Enough To Become Pregnant While Underage, Was Smart Enough To Get An Abortion, and Is Now Successfully Getting On With My Life With No Regrets"?

I've posted this on my New Jersey health blog:

It was easy finding videos from parents who chronicled how they help their children cope with genetic illness. It was easy finding memorial videos from parents who lost their children to genetic illness, either through stillbirth or during the precious few hours, days, or months afterwards. And it was easy finding videos from parents who were advised that their prenatal diagnosis was “not compatible with life,” but forged ahead anyway.

But videos from parents who terminated their pregnancies in the face of a poor prenatal diagnosis are very few and far apart — even the one above probably wouldn’t exist without the backdrop of reproductive rights. Why?...

rocktivity

[angel823]

43. thank you rocktivity

I am one of those who made the choice to end a pregnancy with a poor prenatal diagnosis.

That being said, any abortion should be legal, available and safe.

This is a great thread, Cthulu, thanks to you, too.

Angel in Texas

[bettyellen]

47. Joan on Mad Men was given a referreral and chided for having an earlier abortion

She opted to keep the kid, but abortion was an option she and Rodger openly considered.