Movies Are Kinda Like Books, Right?

I'm still between books. Perhaps I've been watching too many movies.

Wednesday, N. and I saw Baby Mama, which I knew going into wouldn't be deep or anything. I wonder if I was more inclined to see it since I'm pregnant. It's entertaining, but not in a $10.00/ticket way. Definitely more of a renter or good plane movie. I like Tina Fey and wish she wrote the movie instead Michael McCullers. I felt Fey could have given it a little more bite, made it a little more witty funny. The acting was good; N. dug Amy Poehler quite a bit. Romany Malco was good too, but N. and I fear he's becoming the token black man who kicks it with white women since his role as Oscar was pretty similar as his role on Weeds. Steven Martin was excellent. Pony tail and all.

My problem with the movie was how, in the end, it really privileges the idea of conventional parenting. In the beginning, Fey's character is a single 37 year-old who really wants a baby. When fertilization and adoption don't work she hires Poehler's character to be her surrogate. But at the end, it ends up that Poehler's character keeps her baby (it never was Fey's egg to begin with) and even though the chances were 1 in a million, Fey ends up getting pregnant the old fashioned way. Of course, at the end of the movie not only does she have her "own" baby, but she has the cute dude too. I know I'm acting like I need to write a paper for my undergrad Representations of Women in Film class but still. I thought it was a lame, Hollywood ending.

On Monday N. and I watched Gone Baby Gone since we'd had it out from Net Flix since, like, January. The plot felt a bit unclear and I don't know if it's just me but I thought Michelle Monaghan was like the worst actress. More importantly, I had a HUGE problem with the ethical question the movie tries to bring up. Amanda, this 4 year old, is abducted from her totally horrific, non-parenting mother played by Amy Ryan. All these events unfold and it turns out that the little girl is happily living with Morgan Freeman, the former detective who was the head of the Children's Division, a job he took because his daughter was abducted and killed blah blah blah.

I suppose Ben Affleck/Denis Lehane (it's based on his novel) wanted to make viewers wonder if it's ever justified to take a child from her own poor environment , where she will undoubtedly grow up severely disadvantaged, to live in one where she will have way more opportunities to thrive and prosper. So yes, Amy Ryan's character, is a terrible mother BUT there wasn't abuse and I do believe she loved her daughter although she was certainly guilty of neglect. Still, it seems clear to me that kidnapping is never justifiable. I know there are all kinds of problems with Child Protective Services but to me that's 100% the only route to go.

Also, I couldn't buy that Morgan Freeman would make another parent, regardless of the kind of parent she was, suffer with through the abduction/possible murder of a child.

We also saw The Visitor, which doesn't really fit in with the (inadvertent) baby theme. The Visitor is a terrific film though--quiet, moving, and touching. You should see that one if you don't have anything to read.

PS The answer to the contest that only 1 person (out of my 3.5 readers) entered was: an African-American woman who told me she was once pregnant with twins. Good thing no one won although the next time there's a contest, I will scounge up a prize.