Knocked Up and O'Connor

[syme]

So... I know talking about Flannery is becoming taboo because apparently we talk about her all the time, but heck, the woman just had a lot of smart things to say!

Right now I am writing in regards to the movie "Knocked Up," which I just recently saw. Has anyone else seen it? It is a very crude, very over-the-line (more like pulverize-the-line) comedy, but despite all the sex, cursing, drug use, and generally nutty behavior, I think the movie has its heart in the right place. It deals with the story of this couple, who after a drunken one night stand get pregnant and decide to keep the baby. The experience makes them grow up, become more generous and responsible people, and... well, I won't give away the ending. The point is, it seems to me that because of the movie's anything-but-prudish humor, it gets away with being, fundamentally, a pro-life, pro-family movie. Perhaps it was just me, but during the part of the movie in which they are still considering what to do with the baby, there are parts in which the decision to abort is subtly shown as a truly heartless thing to do. There is one part, for example, in which the pregnant character's mom is suggesting she have it "taken care of." She says how another friend of her's got pregnant before getting married, took care of it, and look, "now she has a real baby." All in a very business-like tone of voice. Later, at the very end of the movie, there is a very short scene of that same woman enjoying her new granddaughter, and a whole community of people brought together by the new baby. I thought it was quite poignant.

What does all this have to do with Flannery? Well, in her letters there is a point in which she talks about how she's given up on being subtle in her stories. Rather, she says, what the author needs to do is get the reader looking in another direction, and then once they're distracted, beating them over the head. When I read it in her letters I had trouble thinking what this could mean concretely. Now after watching "Knocked Up" I think I understand what she means. Now, I would probably never make a movie like "Knocked Up" myself, even if I had the means and the talent, but I think there are some good lessons to take away from it, both as a viewer and as a writer.

If anyone else has seen the movie, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[katycarl]

Haven't seen it, but what you say sounds pretty good. I hear there were similar themes, and a similar under-the-radar manner, in last summer's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

[syme]

Really? I didn't pick up on that... Hmmm... I only watched it because I was nearly forced, and thought it was rather sad how the whole movie was about trying to get a guy laid. Maybe I just never really gave it a chance, though I really can't say I liked it much.

[katycarl]

Heh, I never saw it either, so I can't say for sure. But I've heard that, even though that's the drift of the movie, it contains some implicit mockery of a mentality that just indiscriminately pursues sex.

I'm more inclined to believe it, too, because of another Steve Carell project, "The Office." While all the characters on that show are very human and even lovable, the ones who have immature attitudes toward sex (or money or power, for that matter) come off as seeming immature. Their attitudes are just portrayed and lampooned, not celebrated or held up as the ideal.

That's not the whole show, of course; and the beauty of it is that every character is much more complex than his or her flaws. That's just one reason why the result is completely hilarious.

[syme]

Yeah, I've actually been wanting to watch that show for a while! I saw some clips that were pretty hilarious. I'm gonna go rent a DVD one of these days...

[katycarl]

Oh, definitely do. And don't get discouraged if you find some of it weird at first; the humor is all extremely character-based, so the more you watch, the funnier it becomes.

[Frank]

I'm about five months late to this discussion, but I just want to point out that National Review was favorable towards Knocked Up and its sister flick, Superbad. One of the creators of those movies is quoted as saying, "We make extremely right-wing movies with extremely filthy dialogue."

article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjFmYzA4YWUyNjIxMTdjZTA5OWFhZjEwMDhkOWM3OTI=
article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGIwMDA2ZDBiNjNlZDFjODY5ZmMwNzNhNTgyNGQ4NmE=
nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=ZjU0OTcwMzVmY2Q3NTE3NTc5ZjE5ZGQ0OGMzZDExZjQ=
nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=Zjk2YTM5MzgzOWJiYzIxZjg1YjNkOTk1MTIxNjE4MjM=

I read positive reviews before I saw the movies, and I liked both of them. In the words of a Knocked Up promo, both movies are about "how grown-ups are born" and learning to approach sexuality in a mature, responsible way. And kudos to them for tackling that message, and more kudos (I guess?) for doing it in a way that appeals to a young demographic. But I should say that I was a little disappointed with how Knocked Up handled the abortion issue. Yes, the mother was portrayed as kind of callous, but in the end Alison phones Ben in tears to say, "I've decided to keep the baby," and the viewer has no sense of how or why she arrived at that decision.

The Office, by the way, is absolutely my favorite show on television. Interesting observation, Katy, that Carrell seems to be involved in mostly morally praiseworthy endeavors (at least by Hollywood standards). Hmm...

[Frank]

Just saw a preview in a movie theater for Juno, which is apparently about a teenager facing an unexpected pregnancy. It looks pretty good, and looks like it has a positive message, at least from what I could tell from the trailer. Interestingly, it stars Rainn Wilson from The Office, and a few actors from Superbad.

[deirdre]

"There is one part, for example, in which the pregnant character's mom is suggesting she have it "taken care of." She says how another friend of her's got pregnant before getting married, took care of it, and look, "now she has a real baby." All in a very business-like tone of voice."

I watched this at a full theater in San Francisco. When that scene occurred, the people in the theater became very still and silent. It was an interesting moment.