"the year of pro-life cinema"

From Mark Moring in Christianity Today, another article on the recent spate of pro-life movies...

I had blogged on this topic earlier, but CT weighs in with more attention to a very interesting subject! Moring picks up on films I've already described, but adds August Rush to the mix.

To some, it was a year of war movies and "statement" flicks...David Poland of Movie City News declared 2007 "Oscar's Year of the Man"...But others noticed a different trend: In some ways, 2007 was the Year of Pro-Life Cinema.

From the church-friendly Bella to the raunchy Knocked Up, film after film depicted its main character facing an unplanned pregnancy and opting not for abortion, but for carrying the unborn child to term. Sometimes the mother kept the baby (Knocked Up, Waitress), and sometimes she gave the baby up for adoption (Bella, Juno, August Rush). But in each of these films, the mother, and sometimes the father, made a critical decision that was decidedly "pro-life."

Children of Men kicked off the year with a dystopian sci-fi tale in which Earth's entire population is infertile; no babies have been born in 18 years....When the baby is born in a war zone, the dazed Theo utters just two words: "Jesus Christ." The Lord's name in vain? Or a nod to a miracle child who holds all hope for humankind's future?

In Waitress, Keri Russell plays Jenna, who ends up with an unwanted pregnancy from her abusive husband....She opts to have the baby, a choice that becomes her saving grace.

Knocked Up is an R-rated comedy that's as crass as it gets, making it the year's most unlikely "pro-life" film....

The tender Bella celebrates friendship, family, and, most of all, life....

In August Rush, Keri Russell plays another mom facing an unplanned pregnancy, this time as a single woman. Her character opts to have the child, but on her father's insistence, she gives him up for adoption....

Capping off the year was Juno...

What's more, Waitress, Knocked Up, August Rush, and Juno all prominently feature ultrasound images showing the child at various stages of development—powerful images that in real life have helped many young mothers decide against abortion and choose life instead.

Does this all add up to a Hollywood "trend"? Have Tinseltown's filmmakers, oft regarded as liberals and frequently blasted as purveyors of immorality, gone pro-life?

It at least represents some changing perspectives and plot lines. Abortion had been the option of choice in films like Dirty Dancing (1987) and The Cider House Rules (1999), and came to the fore in 2004 with Alfie, Vera Drake, and Palindromes. A 2004 Wall Street Journal commentary observed that Hollywood was handling abortion "with breezy self-righteousness"...

Rob Johnston, professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, notes that with the exception of Bella, these [new] films aren't being made by Christians....

Whatever is driving Hollywood's writers and filmmakers, it's good to see more movies affirming the sanctity of life. And there's no denying the power of cinema to change lives—and maybe even to save them … including the unborn.