December 2007

by Diana Arens

I’m easily annoyed by relative lack of good roles for women in film, and by the scarcity of film written and directed by women. I can’t help but wonder, is it a right-wing pro-life conspiracy, or at least a mass coincidence of manufactured consent, when three films (Waitress, Knocked Up, Juno) appear in one year depicting unwanted pregnancies that end happily in the birth of babies? What does it mean for women when the representation of reproductive choice disappears from the media? I was thinking about these things when I sat down to watch an advance screening of Juno in Seattle . . .