Lake of Fire
There is probably no social issue in the United States more heated and polarizing than the abortion issue. Yet after watching this film you will see that the debate gives room to so many possible different views and perspectives and ambiguity. That may be why the film was shot in black and white. Black and white being a phrase that seems to suggest two options, one or the other. But as we know black and white cinematography actually reveals infinite shades of gray possible in the spectrum between the black and white with rarely any true white or black to be seen.
In this film's over two and a half hour running time you see a lot of different perspectives. Some that will seem pretty extreme and absurd to most viewers, some that will seem more sympathetic. Some that will come from very thoughtful places, and some from very emotional places. Some that are full of certainty, some that are full of doubt.
One major thing that this movie points out is that the abortion issue is often about a lot more than abortion. Politically, the abortion issue often takes the front line as identifying the right wing from the left. Many Republicans know that they will continue to a gigantic amount of votes just based on their mostly pro-life stance alone, no matter what other views they hold. It's like the flagship issue for them.
A lot of times the most vocal and extreme members of the pro-life movement also refer to themselves as certain kinds of fundamentalists who are using the pro-life movement to try to inflict their own sexual morality on the rest of society. Christianity generally teaches that sex is designed to be within a mature monogamous relationship. Even though this is ideal it's absurd to think you can force anyone into it. They can't deny that the issue is not just about the life of a baby as much as it is about a fear of sex when most of them are also against prophylactics and sexual education. They could try to defend being against prophylactics by claiming that gametes are people as much as a zygote, as absurd as that is, but if that was they case they should also be trying to make male masturbation or a female having a period without giving birth illegal. Of course there is no excuse for preventing sexual education, unless they feel like the education is incorrect. But as I think Noam Chomsky says in the movie, in every single culture when the level of sex education rises, the level of unwanted pregnancies lowers. I think people are afraid that if sex is talked about people will have it more, but human nature is that people will figure it out, so it's best to have them informed. Parents should take the time to teach their children the morals they have. Sorry I think I went into my own rant a bit there over things explored in the movie.
But certainly we can say that the pro-choice side uses the abortion issue as a stand in for something much bigger and inappropriately as well. They say it's all about women's rights, but clearly abortion is about much more than that. As much as some of them would like to believe so, the controversy surrounding abortion wouldn't go away if men were able to get pregnant as well. Sure, maybe there are some people who are using the abortion issue as a repression of female rights, but even if that's how some people want to use it, it doesn't mean it should be used that way to fight back. If pro-choice people want to be taken seriously they should talk about the issue as a matter of human rights, not just women's rights. Again, some more of my own ranting.
Some of my favorite comments are when a pro-life person says that being pro-life doesn't just mean that you should be anti-abortion. It means you should also be anti-death penalty, anti-war, and anti any other situation where life is destroyed.
Many pro-life people seem to be more concerned about the life of someone before they are born. Pro-choice people seemed more concerned about people after they are born. There is an innocence to someone who hasn't even been born yet that we need people to look out for them. But if we can't even take care of and respect the people already living in this world, what is the point of making sure more people make it into this world safely?
Some of the most compelling characters in this film include Norma McCorvey, the pregnant women in the famous Roe v. Wade case the made abortion legal. After the case was over, Norma was working for an abortion clinic when she decided one day to actually go in the back and see the aborted fetuses. The horrible site she saw along with the caring pro-life activist Flip Benham caused her to join the pro-life cause. The feeling of guilt she professes for feeling responsible for all of the abortions that have become legal is powerful.
Also the end of the film follows a woman coming into a clinic to have an abortion. We see her decision and her trauma.
This film is graphic but necessarily so.
After the fairly long running time for a documentary, by the end you feel as though there was enough to say and explore about the issue that the film could have been twice or even three times as long. But what it does show is powerful, varied, and important. I recommend everyone see this.
Rating: 9/10