“Obvious Child” a Feminist Romantic Comedy
By Skip Sheffield
Jenny Slate is one gutsy woman. As star of “Obvious Child”
she is at the center of a storm of controversy.
In 2009 Slate gained notoriety by accidentally dropping the “F bomb” on
Saturday Night Live, which effectively sank her chances as a cast member. That
same year she starred in a 20-minute short that grew into “Obvious Child.” The
role of female stand-up comedian was created expressly for Slate by
writer-director Gillian Robspierre with Karen Maine.
It took Robspierre four years to cobble together finances to
produce “Obvious Child.” Now that the film is finally complete, in theaters
June 27, a protest movement has been launched over NBC-TV’s refusal to run a
trailer advertising the film. The reason? Abortion is a key part of the plot.
Planned Parenthood was out in force at the advance screening
of “Obvious Child” in Boca Raton. The organization fears the conservative movement
will take away a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have a child. It’s
an emotional, divisive issue, and it is not funny at all. Yet “Obvious Child”
is a comedy mostly, about Jenny Slate’s hapless Jewish stand-up comic from
Brooklyn named Donna Stern. Donna’s self-deprecating shtick is about her
shortcomings as an ideal woman. It really is funny, at times blunt and gross subjects,
as delivered by Slate. We meet Donna during a particularly bad stretch of luck.
Her boyfriend has dumped her for another, prettier woman. The tiny, offbeat
used book store where she works days is going out of business.
One night, drowning her sorrow, Donna hits it off with Max
(Jack Lacy), a nice guy from Vermont. They end up at his apartment, and Donna
awakes the next morning wondering what happened. Max is a responsible adult and
he had a condom, but sometimes there are slipups. It is not much later Donna
takes a pregnancy test and leans she has been impregnated.
Donna is resolute about getting an abortion as early as
possible. Her parents Jacob (Richard Kind) and Nancy Stern (Polly Draper) are
understanding and supportive. Donna does not even tell Max the news, and when
the truth comes out, Max, who has fallen in love with her, is entirely on Donna’s side.
You could call “Obvious Child” a feminist comedy-romance.
Obviously if you equate abortion with murder you are going to hate this film,
so be advised of the subject matter. I am a firm supporter of the First
Amendment, and I feel people have a right to see this film if they want to. I
just hope we don’t see protests with metaphorical pitchforks and torches.
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