Pro-Life Progress in Hollywood

"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous---how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Psalm 139:14-16, NLT).

World Magazine contains an excellent article about a shift in Hollywood concerning abortion and the pro-life perspective (see http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13634?CFID=4524769&CFTOKEN=99698648). While some movies and television shows are embracing pro-life ethics, others are respecting the pro-life position while not entirely embracing it. This is a major change. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable to respect pro-life values.

One reason for the positive changes: the pro-life position has come to be seen as heroic and sexy. As the article states, "Abortion is not only unarguably un-sexy, but also un-heroic. And without sex and heroes, Hollywood would have few bankable stories to tell...'To make a movie on abortion is just not sexy,' Gonzales said. 'To hear Meg Ryan, for example, say at a party, 'Oh, I really want to do this abortion movie'---people would just kind of shriek inside. They kind of shudder.'" Selfish choices do not make heroes. Without heroes, an audience finds it difficult to bond with movie characters. We like heroes.

Many of the movies center on heroines who choose life for their pre-born children. This is totally appropriate. Our son Christopher's birthmother is a heroine. We should admire such women.

Another reason for the positive changes: a new generation has arisen. The younger generation of filmmakers has seen its siblings aborted and it is not sympathetic. The article continues,

"At a Feminists for Life event at UCLA, keynote speaker and actress Patricia Heaton asked the crowd of about 100 how many were pro-life and how many were pro-choice. A show of hands revealed a mixed group, but heavy on pro-life views. Heaton then asked a pro-life member of the audience to explain why she held that view.

"'I don't want to judge my parents because they did what was right for them,' said one young woman. 'But I've grown up knowing that they aborted two of my siblings. I've grown up my whole life wondering if they were glad they kept me'...'Gen-X and Millennial filmmakers understand that an abortion most often means mom just didn't want to be inconvenienced, in the same way she just didn't want to stay married to dad'."

It's good to see the changes in Hollywood.