The US Christian film company behind God’s Not Dead have released a film dealing with the issue of abortion. Called Unplanned, it takes the true story of a Planned Parenthood clinic director who came to change her mind about the whole abortion industry. The film graphically shows the reality of what abortion is: the violent destruction of an unborn child. It has been on theatre release in America and will be available online in the UK.
I have not seen the film, and I came across it because of a review in the Guardian. Entirely predictably, secular media have been scathing in their response. Having not seen the film I am in no position to pass comment on the production values or acting. I have no idea if the single star rating (they can’t give lower) in the Guardian is justified. But what was interesting in that review is why they were so dismissive of the film.
Charges
The film is labelled ‘anti-abortion propaganda’. Apparently the gore is ‘disgusting’ as it portrays ‘grisly abortion complications’ and the film has many ‘ghastly scenes of blood’. It follows the story of a counsellor working at an abortion clinic who gradually becomes repelled by the reality of what abortion is and eventually sees the clinic closed. The reviewer points out ‘corny closeups’ and a plot ‘ham-handedly stitched together’, which may well be the case. However, the most damning charge is that the film was part financed by a businessman who has been the subject of lawsuits and is a supporter of Donald Trump. I wonder how many films are critiqued by reviewers on the basis of such flimsy guilt by association?
Comedy, free speech and warnings from the past
Hannah Arendt was a Jewish philosopher who grew up in Nazi Germany. Eventually she had to flee to France and, …