Two years ago, my friend Sara and I were interviewed for documentary on abortion. I even put on make up and shit so that I would not look like a fetus-eating zombie on film, hence making the pro-choice side of what we were assured was a "balanced" look at the abortion debate look bad. Nope. I wanted to represent!
I never heard back from the motherfuckers. Not even, "Thanks Suzanne. It was nice of you to take time out to help us make a shitty documentary that no one will see." So when I discovered that the filmmakers actually did come up with something - and it is a scripted "dramamentary" about abortion in which the pretty blond white girl is treated like shit by nasty nurses in an abortion clinic and thus of course have her baby and all is good and - deep breath; this is an angry run on sentence/rant, sorry - the black girl who is raped and comes to NYC to have her abortion is saved by the nice white woman who hosts her through the Haven Coalition (which I was, at the time I was interviewed, the co-head of), I was mad fucking pissed. These douches could at least have had the courtesy to email me and let me know their shitty "unbiased" film (featuring a really cuddly 22 week old fetus in utero) that I helped them with was coming out. Or at least a "Lifetime"-esque trailer that befits a solid piece of filmmaking such as this was online for my viewing pleasure.
Oh. And I did I mention that this "balanced" film is executive produced by the guy who made that other even-keeled movie, Passion of the Christ, and the awesome Ben Stein movie about how "science" teachers who want to teach that evolution is all a lie are persecuted by baby- and Christ-killing Jews like me? Right. (CORRECTION: "The Passion of the Christ" guy is the one marketing this balanced film, although the exec producer is a right winger, too - "Hollywood's Most Powerful Christian," according to Christianity Today magazine. My bad.)
Of course, some of the documentary footage that these tools shot is in the film. (Hence the "-umentary" part.) The pro-choice people, according to the "LA Times," all get to say things like how fetuses are nothing more than parasites (which, sorta, is true, but unlike digestive parasites which make women thin, fetus ones make them fat - ewwwwww). I'm assuming (hoping and praying) that I didn't make the cut, but since this doesn't appear to be available to pro-choice audiences, I may never know. I think it's unlikely that I'm in it, since I said that people who supposedly are "pro-life" have killed a lot of actual people, and that they really scare me. Seems like something that a "balanced" film would not want to highlight.
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This is disgusting. Can you sue them? Or write a really angry hate letter?
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not in it, then there's nothing to sue over. I just don't know if I'm in it. I emailed the director and producer I met (who is not the right wind guy) to ask, and have not yet heard back. I'm not holding my breath, either. I doubt I made the cut, though, and that is good. I just feel so gross about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I checked out the trailer(s), I saw that a lot of the music was by the Cranberries. Further Googling Led me to the Pro-Life America website, where I learned that the lead singer is one of the "quoted" celebrities that are "pro-life." I'm not sure why I was surprised (since I only knew their music and not their philosophies), but I was - and bummed. Same goes for Patricia Heaton.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those "debates" that I don't have with people. I have always told myself that this is because I TRY to respect people's opinions, especially when they don't match my own, but after reading some of that site (and others like it) I have to admit I don't have the discussions because these people are so misinformed, narrow-minded, myopic, fundamentalist, hypocritical, and, um, nuts (I'm looking at YOU, Mel Gibson. And speaking of hypocritical, I find it telling/hysterical/sad that they left up his quote which also references "infidelity" - ha!).
I think it's supremely shitty that they were deceptive with you and others when soliciting your involvement. People like that suck.
Not to defend these tools, but I think the director and original producer did intend to make a documentary. It's just that they couldn't, then recruited lunatics to make it sexier. I'm sure they'd even argue that it is still "balanced" since both sides get presented. That one side is presented in a far more emphatic and sympathetic way does not mean that it is biased. Nope. Just like Fox News.
ReplyDeleteI remember when you posted about that way back then--I even commented (I used to be "Peg"...)
ReplyDeleteI sit in stunned disbelief. I know that I would feel horrid and nauseated if I were in your shoes right now. I do hope that you guys are left out of this latest iteration of the documentary/docudrama/whateverthefuckitis.
I'm hesitant to even view the trailer...
Yep, I know that you and "Peg" are one and the same. I've yet to hear back from these tools, but my guess is that I didn't say anything controversial enough (or that made the pro-choice said look evil), which means I'm not in it. I hope.
ReplyDeleteHey Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteCat here. I've been pretty much left in the dark too. FWIW I made sure I got script approval over the NYC story (which was basically my first hosting experience, which I'd already mentioned in the Salon and Village Voice articles...) The final script was cheesy but (unless they illegally changed it) managed to get the general gist of the experience and I hope it won't turn out to be too disappointing. I have also heard that the second story came out pretty anti, and of course this was not mentioned to me at any point in this process. Don't know if they used any of the documentary footage of me, either (tho am pretty sure I didn't say anything that could be twisted around). I don't yet know how to feel about the movie, as I haven't seen it. I don't think it's gonna get widely distributed.