East Ohio Conference

East Ohio Conference

≡
  • About Us
    • Welcome/Vision
    • Bishop's Office
    • Conference Staff
    • Districts/Churches
    • Annual Conference
    • Jurisdictional Conference
    • General Conference
    • General Agencies of The UMC
    • Christian Family Credit Union
    • Methodist Foundation of Ohio
  • Ministries
    • Connectional Ministries
    • Strategic Ministries
    • Missions & Community Engagement
    • Multicultural Ministries
    • Young People's Ministries
    • Higher Education
    • Camps & Retreat Ministries
    • Spiritual Formation
  • Disaster Response
    • Responding to Disasters
    • EOC Disaster Response Plan
    • Disaster Response Coordinators
    • Early Response Teams
  • Clergy
    • Pathways to Ministry
    • Board of Ministry
    • Order of Elders
    • Order of Deacons
    • Fellowship of Local Pastors
    • Retired Pastors
    • Clergy Directory
    • Clergy Well-Being
    • Changing Pastors?
    • Continuing Education
    • Sexual Ethics Policy
  • Laity
    • Pathways to Ministry
    • Board of Laity
    • Lay Leaders
    • Lay Servants
    • United Women in Faith
    • General Agencies of The UMC
  • Finance/Benefits
    • Financial & Administrative Services
    • Online Forms
    • Online Payments
    • Shared Ministry/Stewardship
    • Health Benefits
    • HealthFlex Wellness
    • Clergy Pensions
    • Death & Disability Benefits
  • Communications
    • About the Office
    • #BeUMC Campaign
    • Storyboard Podcast
    • Church Websites 411
    • Social Media 411
    • CCLI & CVLI Licensing
    • E-News
  • News
    • East Ohio News
    • E-News
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
  • Resources
    • Conference Journal
    • #BeUMC Campaign
    • CCLI & CVLI Licensing
    • Lighthouse Churches
    • Portico Online Learning
    • Resilient Leadership
    • Teach • Reach • Bless
    • Stand Against Racism
    • EOC Disaffiliation Pathway
    • Stand with Ukraine
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Online Worship Services
    • The Rule of Christ
    • Safe Sanctuaries
    • Message in Movies
    • Archives and History
    • General Agencies of The UMC
    • UMC Find-A-Church
  • Calendar
    • View Calendar
    • Suggest Calendar Event
  • Events Registration

Home | Message in the Movies

MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Film strip

Rarely Never Sometimes Always - Rental from Prime Video, VUDU, Apple TV, Fandango Now, Microsoft, Redbox on Demand. ($5.99).

halo halo halo halo pitchfork pitchfork pitchfork Rated R

Directed by Eliza Hittman
Starring Sidney Flanigan, Talia Rider


Unpregnant - Streaming on HBO Max

halo halo pitchfork pitchfork pitchfork Rated PG-13

Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg
Starring Haley Lu Richardson, Barbie Ferreira

Film critic Roger Ebert once famously described movies as “empathy machines”. That is worth remembering whenever you watch a film that is about characters or experiences that take place outside of your customary comfort zone.

Rarely Never Sometimes Always and Unpregnant are two films that were released this year and share the same basic premise: A teenager with an unwanted pregnancy is accompanied by a friend on an out-of-state trip for an abortion. In both cases their parents are kept out of the conversation (since the procedure requires parental consent). Controversy has always been a companion in conversations about abortion and these films are no exception to that rule. Both movies refuse to pass moral judgements on the two girls; in addition, there is a critique of Christianity’s inability to be of much help.

Both of these films were directed and written by women (Unpregnant is based on a YA novel) and feature strong lead actors.

Let’s compare the two movies:

Rarely Never Sometimes Always. Autumn (Flanigan) and her cousin Skylar (Rider) leave rural Pennsylvania to go to New York City for an abortion at a Planned Parenthood Clinic. Prior to their trip out of town by train, Autumn seeks help at a pregnancy counseling center and receives compassionate advice inclined to have her bring the child to term. As the two young women deal with men at work and on the street, they face objectification and peril along the way. There is hardly a minute of this film that is not filled with unease and dread, but Autumn and Skylar’s love for one another gives them the power to journey on. This is one of the year’s best films.

Unpregnant. Veronica (Richardson) thinks that she and her boyfriend (Alex MacNicoll) are having protected sex but learns after the fact that he did not tell her about a broken condom. He is totally willing to get married and become a young father, but she is not willing to give up her future so soon. Veronica and her childhood friend Bailey (Ferreira) have drifted apart since the beginning of high school, but Bailey’s awareness of the situation combined with the availability of a car gets them on the road from Oklahoma to New Mexico (with an adventure at every stop) in a race against the clock to make it to the clinic on time. Christianity is played for laughs when they have to flee from a Pro-Life family that wants to intervene.

Both films depict abortion with seriousness, but only Rarely Never Sometimes Always deals honestly with the pain and price of making that decision - in a stunning scene at the clinic in which Autumn answers an intake questionnaire. (The interviewer is played by an actual Planned Parenthood staff person using their standard inquiry tool.) Unpregnant is primarily interested in making us laugh and falls short of making much of a statement.

While neither of these films would be warmly received by most United Methodist youth groups, I would hope that parents might consider viewing them with their youth at home. If I were a parent of teens I would want to have a conversation in which I could bring Christian values into the conversation. But most of all, I would want to have an opportunity to listen to my kids and hear what they have to say.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Rarely Never Sometimes Always

Four halos: A compassionate film about two teenage cousins on a harrowing journey for an out-of-state abortion.
Three pitchforks: Occasional strong swearing; teen beer drinking; one scene of implied male masturbation; a scene in a Christian counseling service; an intake interview and a scene at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Unpregnant

Two halos: Two former BFFs on a wacky road trip to an out-of-state abortion clinic.
Three pitchforks: One non-graphic scene of teen sex; mild swearing with one F-bomb; cartoon violence; a scene in an abortion clinic; scenes of teen drinking.

Comment:

Do you have comments about this movie or movie review? E-mail your comments. (Your name and UM affiliation must be supplied in order for your comments to be posted.)

 

≡
  • Current Review
  • Past Reviews

 

Bryant

Reviews by
Rev. Bruce Batchelor-Glader

COMMENTS! Do you have comments about this movie or movie review?
E-mail comments. (Comments will be posted to our web site.)

The East Ohio Conference Office:
located in North Canton, OH,
near Akron-Canton Airport.

Address:
8800 Cleveland Ave. NW
North Canton, OH 44720

Phones/Fax:
Local: (330) 499-3972
Toll Free: (800) 831-3972
Fax: (330) 499-3279

Office Hours:
Monday through Friday
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

 

  • Facebook Instagram Twitter Vimeo Flickr

  • Bishop's Office
  • Districts and Churches
  • Conference Staff
  • POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:
  • Safe Sanctuaries
  • Sexual Ethics
  • CCLI & CVLI Licensing
  • Terms of Use Policies
  • RESOURCES:
  • Conference Journal
  • E-News
  • News Archives
  • Archives and History
  • EAST OHIO CONFERENCE
  • 8800 Cleveland Ave. NW
  • North Canton, OH 44720 Map
  • (800) 831-3972
  • www.eocumc.com

East Ohio Conference Logo© EAST OHIO CONFERENCE. All Rights Reserved.