Comments on: Knocked Up

By: greg

greg — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 01:51:48 +0000

Speaking of dissing movies because of what they choose not to include, there’s a deleted scene from Knocked Up that speaks to similar misgivings about another film.

By: ws

ws — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 01:13:05 +0000

E-Rock:

Out of curiosity, does the pal Jonah bring up “smashmortion” in front of Alison, or does he talk about it only with Ben? Does Alison ever talk about it? That’s the crux of the matter for me, whether *she* considers it, because of the way that many on the Right paint abortion as “baby murder” and that women who terminate a pregnancy are unnatural and evil.

(I’d go see the movie for myself but it’s not out yet in the country where I currently live.)

By: greg

greg — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:46:42 +0000

The Knocked Up abortion discussion reminds me of one of the most ludicrous things I’ve ever read. I wish I remembered this when I wrote the post. From a Salon.com article about Tom Hanks :

“Cast Away” is a hollow fantasy, in which FedEx fidelity will solve Chuck’s empty romantic space. You don’t really believe in Chuck surviving, growing, or loving. You don’t feel the threat of madness or irrational terrors. His sex life stops. I don’t expect the picture to be sordid or clinical, yet that man on that island, I think, would masturbate. Most people do — especially those with time on their hands, especially those, like Chuck, so busy they have to snatch satisfaction when they can. And it’s the kind of omission that reflects too many people worrying over Hanks’ image.

That’s right. The problem with Cast Away was that you don’t see Tom Hanks jerk off.

By: E-Rock

E-Rock — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:34:07 +0000

The issue of abortion was brought up. In fact, the “shmashmortion” scene allowed for a couple different perspectives on abortion, including the idea behind the “shmashmortion” joke that the inability to discuss abortion as an adult is ridiculous.

Dana Stevens wrote that article, and I just don’t get how someone I loved as a TV critic could be unreadable as a movie critic.

By: ws

ws — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:15:51 +0000

I will admit that haven’t seen the movie, but have to say that I was thinking the exact same thing as the Slate reviewer. A lot of women don’t agonize at all over abortion — I had one when I got pregnant at 22 and it was a very quick and entirely positive decision on my part, and a huge relief when it was done. Comedies like this one (i.e. not entirely surreal) should be grounded in reality so we can better sympathize with the characters and the situations, so why couldn’t the issue of abortion have at least been brought up, if only for her to say “no way, I’m keeping it”? It seems ridiculous to me that movies pretend that women and their partners don’t even *think* about it, that it’s just automatically assumed that a woman would never consider terminating a pregnancy — and especially for characters in that socio-economic and geographic cohort.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:28:18 +0000

Yeah, when I read this article yesterday, I was lured in by the title, which seemed to promise some actual issues raised by the movie. Then it turns out to be a person who really liked the movie, but had a few minor issues that were actually kind of bullshit anyway. Nicely done, Slate.

By: Jeb

Jeb — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:44:40 +0000

Jesus Christ. I’m a Jew, by the way, so I mean “Jesus Christ” as a curse of exasperation, not as a segue to some loony rant. What would Slate’s review of Porky’s been? “Obviously the shower peep scene is a metaphor for the increasing omniscient “eye” of the information age we rapidly approach. Only Reagan’s stern “coaching / teaching” can guide our society’s inner child from the voyeuristic marvels the 90’s will bring. Or it’s a chance to show some titties.” Does every goddamn movie need an insightful message? Can’t something just be funny anymore?