In the past, I have refrained from writing this article because I believed it would be old news. Then, two weekends ago, I saw a preview for Tina Fey's new movie "Baby Mama," which means the topic of this article is topical again. It was one more in a series of movies, pop culture references and celebrity examples over the past year that has been subliminally loaded with the notion that getting pregnant is the coolest thing anyone can do right now.
For some reason, pregnant is the new pink. How many movies over the past year have come out about a character either wanting to get pregnant and having a baby or inadvertently getting pregnant and deciding to keep the baby?
No fewer than four: "Knocked Up," "Waitress," "Juno" and now "Baby Mama." Outside of Hollywood, the trend continued when Jason Street, the crippled quarterback from NBC's "Friday Night Lights," got his one-night-stand lady friend up the duff and decided he wanted to keep the child. All of these movies and shows were entertaining (I am assuming as much for the brilliant Tina Fey, as her movie has yet to open in theaters), and some of them have been met with extreme critical acclaim, but it is interesting that a fairly large number of movies with the same message have all been released within one year of each other.
Many of the characters in these movies have to face the option of abortion early on or opt to have the baby instead (there would not be much of a movie if they had done otherwise). While I do not think that abortion is some sort of panacea (I understand that the process is rather horrible for everyone involved), I find the constant pro-life-leaning guilt trip from all of these sources to be a strange fad. It is true that movies from the 1980s about the incredible stresses of abortion have made the message somewhat old hat, but in these days, when the world is facing overpopulation, why is it so cool to have a child whom you did not really want in the first place?
Let's take a look at our pregnant A-list celebrities. Typing in "celebrity pregnancy" into a Google search will lead you to a Web site called celebritypregnancy.com, where you can find a catalog of all of your favorite celebrities who currently have buns in their respective ovens.
In the past year, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Christina Aguilera, Tori Spelling (not so A-list), Gwen Stefani and recently Angelina Jolie have all been announced as "preggers." Moreover, members of the Spears family got pregnant more often than they would have if they regularly visited a sperm bank (though our interest in them is not so much in their ability to set trends, but in their traveling-freakshow-like qualities). The tabloids are all filled with speculations of who is currently pregnant as well as many pictures of confirmed targets parading their corpulent bellies around like they would a pair of new custom-designed heels. Pregnancy has become the ultimate accessory, and apparently it goes with every outfit.
To me, something feels wrong about this approach to the creation of new life. I think the trend has much to do with female empowerment, as pregnancy is the ultimate reverse penis envy in some ways. But this idea has been displayed in such a trashy and unrealistic manner. Who is supposed to raise all of these celebrity and fictional babies? Is Jessica Alba going to quit traveling all over the world for her movie career once her possible twins pop out? More likely her kids will be raised by a series of nannies and private schools while she continues to live the fast life (on a side note, she better keep that figure). Is it just coincidence that a movie about pregnancy ends once the lead female character in question gives birth? No! Hollywood wants to show the fun and edgy part of pregnancy without the messy afterbirth. They conveniently forgot to show Seth Rogen miserably sleepless in a loud and smelly house, changing diapers and getting thrown up on for two years after the crazy, hip rollercoaster that was "Knocked Up"-this is a sequel that will never sell because it is not very cool.
I don't mean to condemn the institution of child bearing or to create a society of shame similar to "The Scarlet Letter," but while we should have respect for ladies making babies, we should not trivialize, by way of making a fashion statement, the decision of having a baby.
Christian is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at forum@studlife.com.
