Preg-sploitation
Posted by alli on 12-27-2007
I can't help noticing the newest and latest trend at the movies. With "Knocked-Up," "Waitress," and now "Juno," getting such rave reviews, I decided to see how this subject faired in young adult literature. Is it possible that unwanted pregnancy is as totally and completely misrepresented there, as it is in these movies? How are options portrayed in books for teens about the issue? Are they glossed over and explored as quickly and casually as they are in these movies? In all three of these indie-style films, the hip, snarky dialogue, quirky characters, and cool music dilutes and distracts us from the true weight of the subject matter.
In this year-in-review interview, Fresh Air's John Powers describes this new phenomenon as "hip sentimentality." Interesting. It's as though "cool" just makes everything O.K. Unhappy marriage? Pregnant in high school? I had everything going for me, and oops I accidentally slept with an annoying stoner. Hey, with a good soundtrack anything can work.
This is a great study comparing the facts and 'fiction' regarding teen pregnancy. (ALAN) It also provides an excellent list of young adult books dealing with this touchy subject. Taking a hard look at YA titles from 1990 to present, this article stacks up the actual statistics about teen pregnancy and the way it is represented in contemporary young adult books. The results are not good. It turns out pregnant protagonists in young adult literature are not represented very realistically at all here either. Nor are the choices they make. In this particular survey, according to the real numbers, adoption is overly portrayed, abortion is grossly under portrayed, and life for a teen after the decision to keep a baby is usually painted optimistically. Much like in the movies described above, things often end happily (or at least neatly) and without a real sense of consequences.
Don't get me wrong. I agree that there's something down-right hopeful about having a baby during these colossally uncertain times. And, indeed, we need these life affirming fairy tales. I just think we should hear the other stories too. It's only fair.
Please readers and friends, comment. Tell me what you think about this? Send me some YA titles that you think accurately portray the unwanted pregnancy issue. I think our girls deserve them.
December 28th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I don't think there is a fair comparison between those movies and YA books, particularly Waitress and Knocked Up. There is a big difference between adults who don't want children either because they are immature, career men or women, or in an abusive relationship they are desperative to get out of and teenagers who get pregnant under any circumstance.
Juno, if anything, is probably the best representation of teen pregnancy I've seen in a long time. It gives abortion more than a casual thought (although Juno ultimately decides against it.) Juno has the best weapon in an awful situation: supportive parents. She gets prenatal care. Underneath all of the glib lines and humor, there is more heart in this movie than any other I've seen in a long time. Although her decision to give the baby up for adoption is quick, there are glimpses where Juno really cares about the baby as her own. The scene where Juno watches Jennifer Garner in the mall playing with the little girl and is alternatingly pleased that she is giving the baby to her, a little sad that she'll be missing that connection herself, a little scared that that could be her, all at once without a word is without a doubt the best scene in the movie.
The only thing that bothers me about current books about pregnant and parenting teenagers is the over representation of African-American teens. If you compare the number of books where an African-American teen is pregnant to the number of books with an African-American teen protagonist, it makes it seem like half of all black teens are having babies. Really it comes down to the fact that African-American teens are underrepresented in book publishing as a whole, but why do they always have to get pregnant? It seems as if the publishing industry only thinks people want to read about pregnancy, extreme racism or slavery. If you want to have a hit teen book, write about a contemporary African American girl who has a crush on a boy and ends up falling in love, has a cool best friend and argues with her parents. This is closer to the experience of the teens I work with at my library than a lot of what is published "for them."
December 28th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Excellent points! Thank you so much. The ALAN article definitely talks about the unfair over-representation of African-Americans (and the poor) in pregnant literature, and I agree completely.
Alli
January 8th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Please, Juno makes a joke about getting a "hasty abortion" and never deals with the weight or consequences.
I don't know about books, but there is another unwanted pregnancy movie that came out this year. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days