After receiving many recommendations for watching this movie, I got anxious to watch it & even got a free Netflix trial so I could. Sadly, I didn't even make it to the halfway point before turning it off. Let me be clear about my feelings about this movie. Please do not misunderstand me. I think it covers the sad story of birth in our country and helps to encourage people to better study their options before deciding how to birth. I am pro-"natural" birth and am glad that Ricki Lake, etc. took the pains to discover what is really going on with birth in our country (especially compared to similar countries around the world). The findings were interesting and depressing at the same time.
While I feel the information was good it is unfortunate it was presented in a less-than-modest way. Specifically, I ended up turning it off (not even half-way through) after enduring dirty language and inappropriate images. This is what I mean when I say "inappropriate images": The female body is a creation of God and we should reverence and show thanks to God for the beautiful gift by being modest in dress, language, and action. This includes times of birthing (why they took the effort to bleep out the faces of women but not their most sacred parts is beyond me). Though I agree something must be done to change the path that birth is headed in the country, it is better left to mothers or mother-figures teaching their children through their own examples.
To summarize - the idea is great and so is the message, but the presentation I considered less than modest. If you are looking for more information, I'd recommend reading the book list on their site, rather than watching the movie. The disclaimer is, I have not read the books either (though most of them are also highly recommended to me), so I'm hoping I won't have to change that recommendation either as I begin to sift through them.
A side note - does anyone know a book critique site that more carefully covers the content of books (before I get into reading them), like we have for movies? Please comment!
To summarize - the idea is great and so is the message, but the presentation I considered less than modest. If you are looking for more information, I'd recommend reading the book list on their site, rather than watching the movie. The disclaimer is, I have not read the books either (though most of them are also highly recommended to me), so I'm hoping I won't have to change that recommendation either as I begin to sift through them.
A side note - does anyone know a book critique site that more carefully covers the content of books (before I get into reading them), like we have for movies? Please comment!
3 comments:
k so I am going to email you too but I probably am one of those who recommended this to you...so sorry, I feel horrible! there is a clean reads section on goodreads.com and I know of a recent new site/blog that I learned of from there that I will look for and send you.
I did watch this documentary all the way through. And I can agree with you. Not one that I recommended to anyone else, I think. It did give a good history of birth in this country, but the kind of women shown birthing in this video were not the kind of women I would like to associate with. Potty mouths. I've given birth twice without drugs and yes it hurt, but did it make me want to shout profanities? No! Actually I remember calling out to God several times to help me. I think that is okay. :) Totally with you on this one
I love anything written by Ina May Gaskin.
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