New Hot Topic in TV and Film

The passage in Proverbs 27:11-12 says:
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

I believe that verse includes innocent children whose lives are taken even before they are born, and as Christians who worship our Creator and recognize God as the One who ordains life, that we are called to speak out and recognize the sanctify of the lives that God has created.   As the slogan associated with the new film, "October Baby" states, "every life is beautiful".

While the topic of abortion is discussed frequently in the news-related media or in the political realm, apparently the entertainment industry has been rather slow to address the topic - and, as you would expect considering the worldview that dominates that culture, now abortion is making its way into storylines on prime-time TV, according to Fox News.

This season on "Grey's Anatomy", one of the surgeons in the show was portrayed getting an abortion after a number of episodes included discussion about why she would want one.   Her husband on the the show was against it until the very end.   Last season on "Friday Night Lights", a student was featured asking about abortion and being provided information about it by the principal of the school.   The student did in fact go through with it.   And, recently it was announced that "True Blood" creator Alan Ball is working on a new series for HBO called, "Wichita", depicting the life of notorious abortionist George Tiller.   

Few abortions have been depicted on network TV since the title character of the show, "Maude", had one in 1972.   Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center, who has been a guest on The Meeting House, said:

“The liberal media is using television to win the abortion issue. We are now seeing the new trend and it is dangerous...Who is the creator of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ but Shonda Rhimes, who is on the board of Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles. We are finding in these entertainment shows that they are pushing a left-wing agenda.”

But Joe Schiedler of the Pro-Life Action League sees this potential new trend as an opportunity, and I think that those of us who are pro-life can perhaps capitalize on the awareness of the issue:

“There’s no such thing as bad publicity when you are fighting a battle like this. At least the issue is alive. It is serious enough that they have to put it in their programming...Even though we are portrayed badly, once in a while they will slip up, and give the impression that the abortion is not a good idea, and it is not solving anyone’s problems. The media can’t leave it alone, and that’s good.”

The topic of abortion has been addressed here and there on the big screen, in movies such as "Dirty Dancing", for instance or "The Cider House Rules" or "Vera Drake".  In the teen pregnancy drama, "Juno", the title character considers abortion, and ends up giving her baby up for adoption.  Interestingly enough, "Juno" was an independent film, and it actually did quite well at the box office, and has done well over $200 million dollars.    It also won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress for Ellen Page.

This past weekend, a film that was rejected by some of the players in the film industry that deals with the topic of abortion, specifically the discovery process of a young lady who was the survivor of an abortion attempt, was released to a select group of theaters across the Southeast.   Jon and Andy Erwin's film "October Baby" made a strong showing in per-screen average and paved the way for a nationwide roll-out in March with some positive buzz and some tangible numbers.   


So, with abortion now becoming a bit more visible within the entertainment industry, perhaps that will result in a greater level of acceptance for a film such as "October Baby" - even though it doesn't tow the politically correct line, it has been heralded as a quality, entertaining film, and we can pray that God will use it on a wider scale to communicate a message that is delivered from a Christian worldview perspective.   Another pro-life film, a 33-minute online documentary called "180", produced by Ray Comfort, has garnered over 1.3 million hits online and was distributed last week to some 200,000 college students - the film is fast-paced and provocative, showing young people actually changing their minds on the topic of abortion.

I'm thankful for creative media professionals who see how various forms of film and video media can be used to communicate truth, and God is continuing the bless the efforts of these filmmakers.   And, even each of us can ask the Lord, "how would You have me to communicate your truth today?"