Friday, March 5, 2010

Zooey and Adam: are men appropriating rape narratives?

Synopsis on a little indie film causing some controversy:

Adam and Zooey have been trying to have a baby for several months, only to end up pregnant after a rape. Unsure of the parentage of their child, they decide to have the baby anyway. Every year in North America, an estimated 36,000 women become pregnant as the result of rape. Only 50% opt to terminate the pregnancy. The vast majority of the remainder have and keep their babies.
When I ( filmmaker Sean Garrity ) came across this information, I couldn’t believe it. I found myself occupied for days imagining what this situation would be like for those women and their spouses - eventually, this became the basis for “Zooey & Adam.” Haunting and emotionally devastating, some festivals have refused to screen the film on the grounds that it is too contentious, yet it has sparked an incredible debate everywhere it has played.
via website for Zooey and Adam




I have not seen this yet, that said after seeing it i would like to critique how appropriate it is for a male film maker to appropriate a rape narrative. From the reviews I understand that hes working to create a faux-documentary story structure and shooting style, using the new cinematic language of You Tube and reality TV to assimilate a raw and oppressive reality. The story is predominately told from the point of view of Adam, and the movie focuses on the difficult decision to keep a pregnancy that resulted from a rape. Again, I haven't seen this, ( yet! ) but the rise in recent films (Precious and Knocked Up) about accidental/rape pregnancies and the pro-life narrative not to terminate them is alarming, and makes me wonder whether pro-life ideologies are having a renaissance with neoliberal and post-feminist delusions?!?

review from NOW

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