Screenplay: Payne and Jim Taylor
Released 13 December 1996
Budget: $3 million
Box Office: $282,112
Ruth Stoops...Laura Dern
Diane Siegler (the spy)...Swoozie Kurtz
Norm Stoney (chief anti-abortionist)...Kurtwood Smith
Gail Stoney...Mary Kay Place
Rachel (Diane's partner)...Kelly Preston
M.C. Gainey...Harlan
Blaine Gibbons...Burt Reynolds
Alec Baldwin has something to say about Citizen Ruth:
And this is what he's talking about:
One thing you can say about the film's writers, Ken Taylor and Alexander Payne -- they are mighty comfortable with discomfort. John and I would argue that the film takes its time getting to the satire. The opening scenes are tough to watch. So are some later moments. We have to keep them in mind as we laugh at the comedic elements of the film (and should we laugh). So, let's start with your reaction to the story's protagonist and then move on to the next two questions:
1. What do you think of Ruth? Is she a sympathetic character? How or how not?
2. What about the people who come to her aid? Are they sympathetic characters?
3. Keeping your reactions to these characters in mind, what do you see as the target of the satire? What is the problem that the film addresses? Does the film offer a solution to the problem?
Ruth is not a sympathetic character. She is selfish and tries to manipulate others so that they will feel pity for her. She doesn't care about the opinions of others, only about how her own well-being is, which is why she threatens to switch sides based on how much money each side was offering. She only wants the money because she wants to sniff glue and get high. She says she will buy a house and get her life together, but she probably said this following the other 15 times that she got arrested for sniffing glue.
ReplyDeleteThe people who take her in aren’t much better. Both groups who “help” her only want to in order to benefit their movements and beliefs. The Babysavers only want to help her because they want to challenge law, and combine church and state and take control of government, going so much as to declare a “national emergency” because they are losing control over her. The pro-choices want her to get an abortion to send a message to people that they should not let the pro-lifers, or the Babysavers, take control over their lives. They say that it will help Ruth get back on her feet, and keep her out of jail, but it is so the pro-choices can promote their own agenda, and show how the pro-lifers are trying to take control.
The satire in this movie is the conflict between not only pro-life people and pro-choices, but also between those who are religious and those who aren’t. While the conflict today is ferocious, back in 1996 it might have not. The movie is portraying the conflict between those who believe all babies should live and those who believe that they have a choice to kill them as though it is a way, with spies tactics, and sieges. The pro-lifers waiting outside the house could be considered a siege, there was that one person (I forgot the name) who was pretending to be a pro-life Christian, and was being a spy, and there was the final battle at the clinic itself. I do not believe that the movie is giving a solution, it is only outlying a problem that needs to be fixed.
Ruth is not a sympathetic character. She is a junky that only cares about herself. Even Though I wanted to root for her, I found it harder and harder after each decision that she made. It was almost like she did not want the baby but did not want to upset the babysavers who bailed her out from jail. So she drank and snorted glue until she miscarried the baby, never told anyone, and ran away with the money given to her to have the abortion. It is also not the first time that this has happened. In the beginning of the movie while she was being tried, the judge said she had been arrested for substance abuse 15 times before. She also had 4 other children, none of whom she ended up caring for.
ReplyDeleteThe people who come to her aid are not sympathetic to the slightest. They only care about the publicity they will get if Ruth choses either to have the abortion or not. I wanted to sympathise with the pro choice characters because they helped Ruth escape the stronghold of the babysavers. But after Ruth was offered money from the babysavers to have the child, the intentions of the pro choice characters were clear. They no longer seemed pro choice to me because they tried to coax Ruth into choosing to get the abortion instead of choosing to take the money like she wanted to.
I think the satire comes in the form of the stereotypes of each group, the Babysavers and the Pro Choice. The stereotypes of the babysavers are very clear. They gasp and back away when Diane’s wife kisses her cheek. The doctors at the babysaver clinic show Ruth a seemingly graphic film about how abortion is murder. The director exaggerates the babysavers reactions to Ruth deciding to have the abortion. However, the stereotypes of the Pro Choice are less clear. In Diane’s house there was a room with a countless number of stickers on the walls. They were all pro choice stickers and other sticker promoting very liberal ideas such as vegetarianism.
I don’t think Ruth is a sympathetic character, because she uses her issue to manipulate the people around to her who are just trying to help and to care for her. We see this when she goes to visit her brother and his kids, she just uses him for his money so she can feed her addiction. We also see this when she lies to the baby savers and tells them that she will get her act together so that she can have this baby, she only does this because they are giving her a place to stay. Another time we see this is when she makes her decision whether to have the baby or not based on the amount of money she’ll be given. Everything she does is to help her.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the people that come to her aid are sympathetic characters because they have a very obvious agenda when it comes to Ruth.
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Delete( I accidentally pressed publish while I was stretching) However, their beliefs/ agenda make them care about Ruth for the wrong reason to prove a point to the opposing side. These characters are more sympathetic than Ruth but they are still not very sympathetic.
DeleteThe problem the film addresses is the politicalization of peoples personal choices and rights. Both groups want to act like they care about Ruth, but in reality they just care about their voice and their message and being better than the opposing side. I don’t think the film proposes a solution besides an obvious, “let people do what they want to do.” Which is similar to Key and Peele’s bar apology skit. There is a basic solution so there is no need to present it in the movie.
1. In my opinion, Ruth is a sympathetic character to an extent. For starters, she is a drug addict and an alcoholic. Though it doesn’t seem apparent that she’s attempting to quit her addictions, addiction is still a disease. It’s fairly difficult to just stop, especially when you’re constantly being put into stressful situation. On top of that, Ruth ultimately has no one. She has no friends, no family, and no one who’ll give her a chance. That is until she becomes pregnant. One could argue that Ruth simply doesn’t know any better than to manipulate others to benefit herself. I don’t believe that though. Ruth knows exactly what she’s doing. From the time she tries to get money from her brother, to her attempts to get $27,000 from the Babysavers. Then again, forcing an abortion on a woman is completely wrong. She also goes against her deal with Harlin and takes his money anyway, leaving out the fact that she miscarried. So I suppose that Ruth is a sympathetic character in that the cards have been stacked against her for far too long. However, she isn’t a sympathetic character in that she doesn’t make many attempts to change her ways.
ReplyDelete2. Babysavers: They are not sympathetic. They go around screaming at women who get abortions and threatening them in their spare time. The continuously take Ruth to “counseling” sessions to scare her into having a baby that she repeatedly says she doesn’t want. They refuse to listen to her, and even go as far as to bribe her with money when she doesn’t comply. Not to mention, they make up the idea that Ruth’s having a girl, force her to name the unborn child, and use that against her later on. To make matters worse, they claim that their reason for being so heavily anti-abortion is that it “goes against God’s will”.
Pro-choice people: They aren’t sympathetic either. They tell Ruth that she can choose what she wants to do with her body, then they proceed to attempt to persuade her to have an abortion. Though Ruth is considering having her baby for the wrong reasons (i.e. money), it’s still her decision to make. If that’s what she wants to do, then they have no right to tell her otherwise. It’s hypocritical.
3. It’s clear that the film is addressing the worldwide debate between people who are pro-life and pro-choice. Initially, it appears as though the film is mocking (typically) conservative pro-lifers, as well as their relationships to God and their fear of sin. They even add in the trope of this religious couple having a rebellious teenage child. However, as the film continues, it’s revealed that the film is also mocking people who are (typically) liberal and pro-choice. Of course, the fact that it happens to be a lesbian couple rooting for Ruth’s abortion is no accident. Now, is there a solution? Yes, but it’s subtle. This solution is to simply let people be. Let them live how they choose, and do as they please. This solution isn’t given until the final scene of the movie. As the mobs are arguing back and forth, Ruth sneaks out of a clinic window with the money. This also represents the idea that people are so busy arguing over pro-choice versus pro-life that they ignore other things around them, and they don’t pay attention to what actually happens to the women they argue over.
1. I really enjoyed watching the development of Ruth’s storyline as the film progressed, and from this, I do believe that she is a sympathetic character. I don’t feel that it would be right to blame her for her actions throughout the film, as her whole life seems to be dictated by those around her. The opening scene itself portrays her caught in an uncomfortable situation- the man she is having sex with is obviously hurting Ruth. She voices her discomfort more than once, and he does not stop or respond to her emotions. Then, after he is through with his one-way-pleasurous act, he shoves Ruth out the door and then throws out her television behind her. And what stood out to me the most about this scene was what she yelled as he made her leave- something along the lines of “You told me I could stay here.” Personally, I assume that she was probably allowing him to have sex with her just so that she could stay at the apartment, even if that meant that she was in pain or the sex was consensual. We don’t have these details, so I couldn’t say for sure that this is true. But the scene does seem to fit into scenes later in the film where Ruth doesn’t really have the opportunity to voice her opinions, as her truth would jeopardize access to her surroundings. And this does not seem to be the first time that she has been forced to do something that is not beneficial to her. When Ruth sees her mom at the protest- a mom that seemed to be out of touch with her daughter, based on her “I saw you on the news!” comment- Ruth yells back at her mom that maybe she should have aborted Ruth, so that she would not have been forced to engage in sexual acts with her mother’s boyfriend. A brief comment, but upsetting all the more. It seems that Ruth was left alone and abused, at least sexually, from a young age. And she doesn’t appear to be all that old when the film begins- maybe in her mid 20’s? And the rate at which she has been arrested- around 16 times in the past year?- for drug violations is not just concerning on a judicial level, but also upsetting due to its severity. This reliance on drugs, along with Ruth’s excitement for the abortion/ no-abortion money, suggests that she has been on the streets in poverty for a long time. She has obviously been chewed up and then spit out, left to fend for herself. But she doesn’t even seem to be able to hold onto herself. One scene that stood out to me was when Ruth was out on the porch with the Baby Savers and the pro-choice group. She adamantly stands up to the Baby Savers, but she falters when proclaiming, “My body belongs to me.” And then she turns to ___ and says, “Right?” These two sentences of dialogue are heartbreaking, as Ruth has been told time and time again in her life that her body is not hers, that her decisions concerning her body are not hers to make. The Baby Savers believe the former, and Norm even says to her that her body belongs to God. So I don’t blame Ruth for her actions. I can see why others have said that she is an unsympathetic character- she doesn’t care for her children and she takes advantage of others’ well wishes for her- but personally, I think the audience really can’t blame her. I truly believe that she is a product of the environment she was raised in. And once she is actually at a time in her life when people appear to care for her, they really just are concerned about the precedent that her decision will set.
ReplyDelete2. I don’t for a minute believe that the people who aided her really ever cared for her, and therefore, I don’t see them as sympathetic characters. From the start of Ruth’s relationship with her pregnancy, she has faced a bombardment of opinions about how she should manage her body. The judge himself brings her aside to pressure her into having an abortion, believing that is blame could be excused if he doesn’t actually say the word.
(cont.) He “subtly” mentions that she could see a doctor, which is disturbing and completely unethical to her decisions. And shortly afterwards, the Baby Savers waltz in with their songs about the babies of the world to place their claim on Ruth’s body. The Baby Savers decision at the start of the film to pay Ruth’s bond and give her a place to stay would appear to be sympathetic, but it is evident very soon that Ruth is merely a pawn in their plans. And the pro-choice group really is no better. Though I recognize my own personal bias here, and wish that the pro-choice group allowed Ruth the room to make her own decision, I must admit that they were similarly wrongful towards Ruth. I’m not sure that they gaslighted her in a manner similar to that of the Baby Savers (with their clinic aimed at forcing women to build an attachment to a two month old fetus that looks more like a dinosaur than a human), but they did admit that Ruth’s decision was crucial not for herself, but for the fight between pro-life and pro-choice opinions. I do think that Harlan was a fairly supportive character, though, as he actually seemed to care for Ruth. His reasons to support the pro-choice group was never discerned, which I did think was interesting. While I am by no means saying that men don’t support women who are pro-choice, as I am aware that there are men all over the world who respect women and their right to their bodies, you do generally see more women at abortion rallies or conversations than you see men. Yes, the debate does affect women more so, but I did take notice of the crowd at the Planned Parenthood lawyer’s Q&A session yesterday at school. There was a disproportionate amount of women in the audience than men, and of the men there, almost all of them were teachers (I am not assigning blame here- that is by no means my intention. Instead, I am trying to show how the usual audience on both of the sides of the abortion debate was reflected in the audience at school). So, I was interested in the story of Harlan when he offered the $15,000 to Ruth to match the Baby Saver’s offer, claiming that he did not want money to be a factor in Ruth’s choice. He explicitly says that he wants her decision to be her opinion, not motivated about receiving a certain amount of money. Not forgetting the satire, his ernest actions are displayed within the character of the classic stereotyped biker, who uses a pot as a water glass and who washes his body in the sink. But besides him, not many of the other characters are sympathetic to Ruth. This is most clearly evident in the last scene of the film, where Ruth successful escapes from the protests outside the clinic and runs off. As Ruth has miscarried, the fetus is literally no longer in existence, and therefore, the debates of each side have been rendered insignificant. However, Ruth’s decision was never really for her to make, and her personal situation was only a way to get the abortion argument onto the front of the newspaper. So by the end of the film, even though the two sides continue to profess that they are there for her, not the law, she is able to run past them without any of the protesters even spotting her. This proves that she was never really a part of the debate; the pro-choice and pro-life protesters are so focused on their hatred of the other side that they don’t even care enough to keep up the persona that they are fighting for Ruth (and in terms of the Baby Savers, her baby “Tanya” as well). They have their blinders up, and they are only choosing to see what they want to see, which is obviously not Ruth’s power of decision. So in my opinion, this makes them horribly unsympathetic.
ReplyDelete3. I think that the satire is made to mock those that believe unyieldingly in one side of the abortion debate. The Baby Savers are always singing their little songs, they have private planes and cars that are all covered in “Baby Saver” motifs, and at the end of the day, they really just want to win their side of the argument just to win. As they discussed in private, the problem with the $15,000 for Ruth was not because it seemed as if they were buying her decision, but because it was not enough. To them, $30,000 was much better of a “prize money” sum to convince her to choose not to have the abortion. Their falsity is no different than the pro-choice group, though. The headquarters of the pro-life group is decorated with every single liberal slogan out there, and the cries of support for women’s rights, gay rights, and vegetarianism were evident on stickers all over the walls. And they too, are not afraid to sing really poorly-written ballads; their choice of musical appreciation sent towards the womanly moon. And the last scene, without a doubt, addresses this satirical element of the film. As I wrote about above, the two sides don’t even see Ruth run away, as her personal story was never really of their concern. The film addresses this problem that can arise in debates. And I am definitely not the first to say this, many have explained this opinion before me. So I think that this film wishes to point this satire at those who get so unrealistically upset in debates, that they begin to care more about an end result of a win than about what they are really supposedly fighting for. And though some elements of this satire are exaggerated, as satires are prone to be, some of the actions of these two sides of the abortion debate are actually carried out in real life. I wouldn’t go so far as to use an actual human being to push the abortion decision towards pro-choice, but I will say that my email inbox is pretty much as liberal as it possibly can be (at any given time, I will have emails from Stacy Abrams, Amnesty International, Everytown for Gun Safety, March For Our Lives, Team Fair Fight, Georgia Democrats, WWF, the Center for Biological Diversity, etc… you get the point). But on the other side, there are bills (cough, cough Ohio!) out there at this moment that suggest procedures for women that not only endanger the mother’s life, but also literally do not exist and are scientifically impossible. And we’ve discussed this in class before, about whether or not a satirical film had a solution or not. Following that discussion, I feel as if the film itself can be the call to action, instead of there being a solution explicitly presented within the satirical work. Just be presenting the inordinate aggression of the Baby Savers and the pro-choice group in the film, the audience is alerted to how the situations in the film are not that far off from situations in real life. And that can lead the audience to find their own solution to the problem, which would probably just be letting people make their own decisions. If each side has stopped trying to use Ruth as a battering ram for their opinions, then there wouldn’t have been as severe a problem in the first place.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, I struggled to feel sympathy for Ruth. She was taking advantage of the people around her, and showed no signs of wanting to improve her life. My feelings changed when I saw how easily she was manipulated by both families. She is clearly broken, and instead of getting the help she needs, she was being used to push different agendas. It’s tough to ask Ruth to change and grow as a person, when everyone around her is taking advantage of her.
ReplyDeleteThe people who come to save her were never sympathetic characters. It is clear that they do not care about Ruth, and they prove this when they say, “This is how you repay us”. They both knew what they were doing when they took Ruth in, and dehumanize her almost immediately.
I believe that the film touches on the outrageous steps certain groups with political beliefs go to push their agenda. The baby savers and the pro choice groups went to crazy lengths to get Ruth to listen to them, and blind themselves to the fact that this is a person that needs some serious help. At the end of the film, Payne shows how everyone is so focused on protesting, they let Ruth walk right out of the clinic. This summarizes how they act the entire film. They are consumed by their belief, and the original purpose, helping Ruth, is lost.
Ruth is very self centered because through this movie she has to be. I’ll get to that later. She decides her baby’s life based on the money she is going to get from each option. This shows a sign that she is not very sympathetic. She constantly goes back to drugs and tries to find them wherever she is for her own high. People take her in give her the amenities she needs (I’m not thinking of ulterior motives) and yet Ruth still doesn’t respect them and uses her new status to her own advantage without thinking of the people that are helping her.
ReplyDeleteThe people that help Ruth are either trying to get her to be pro-choice or pro-life. There is no distinction in the way the two sides act. They don’t even see Ruth as a person just a pawn in their “war”. Furthermore they only act nice to Ruth and “care” about her to persuade her into their side.
The satire is in the conflict between the two sides of the argument. We see them try and get in Ruth’s side in absurd ways. We see how pointless the two sides slowly become as they start just yelling all while Ruth has already left the scene showing how Ruth was just a pawn the whole time and how she was just an excuse for argument sake. I don’t see a solution, but I never do. I would assume that the solution is to acknowledge the people you are using and that you should try and find middle ground
Depending on what kind of person the audience is behind the film, their opinions on Ruth for the most people either felt like you can be sympathetic towards Ruths struggle with poverty and lack of family support. Ruth is a character to feel sympathy towards due to her situation. Unfortunately, most of the audience like me can agree they do not feel
ReplyDeletetowards Ruth because she uses her advantages and opportunities for her own self destruction. For example, when we first see her first couple scenes when Ruth sees her brother and asks for me. While though, it is nice to generally always be there for their family, they do not need to necessarily always help. Ruth uses those people for her benefits.
It seems as if all of the people who surround Ruth do not turn out who they appear to Ruth. They all appear to want to help Ruth and her decision with her baby. But these people only want to help rh for heir personal gain too. Like, the first family who helped Ruth stay in their home wanted to take care of Ruth only with the idea that she would keep her baby to get off of drugs. But when Ruth chose to stay with the other family they showed their wrath when they prodcasted Ruth’s abortion.
I believe that the satire was towards the people around Ruth. From the beginning of the movie we see Ruth’s goal is selfish. She wants to do whatever she wants to do. We see this is accomplished in the final scenes when she gets her money and walks out of the abortion center unseen. This was important to show that these two radical sides did not really even pay attention to know or care about Ruth’s situation just the idea. Ruth is able to decide what she wants to do with her money because she is not forced to have the abortion but she also doesn’t necessarily need to have a kid.
Ruth is very self centered because through this movie she has to be. I’ll get to that later. She decides her baby’s life based on the money she is going to get from each option. This shows a sign that she is not very sympathetic. She constantly goes back to drugs and tries to find them wherever she is for her own high. People take her in give her the amenities she needs (I’m not thinking of ulterior motives) and yet Ruth still doesn’t respect them and uses her new status to her own advantage without thinking of the people that are helping her.
ReplyDeleteThe people that help Ruth are either trying to get her to be pro-choice or pro-life. There is no distinction in the way the two sides act. They don’t even see Ruth as a person just a pawn in their “war”. Furthermore they only act nice to Ruth and “care” about her to persuade her into their side.
The satire is in the conflict between the two sides of the argument. We see them try and get in Ruth’s side in absurd ways. We see how pointless the two sides slowly become as they start just yelling all while Ruth has already left the scene showing how Ruth was just a pawn the whole time and how she was just an excuse for argument sake. I don’t see a solution, but I never do. I would assume that the solution is to acknowledge the people you are using and that you should try and find middle ground
Ruth is a sympathetic character AT TIMES. I wanted to really feel for her but the decisions to go back to drugs irritated me even though it happens. I just wish that she took better care for herself and actually got help. Other than that, she was caught between a situation she didn't want to be in and its understandable. Multiple times she was disrespected even though she had done nothing to deserve it. Although, she did hit the kid which was too far. Ruth as a person, without the scandal, is not sympathetic or at least I don't sympathize for her. Ruth being put in a difficult and tiring situation does make me sympathize with her. Especially when she went to the clinic (?) the first time.
ReplyDeleteThe people who helped Ruth were selfish. At first, I thought each person was genuinely trying to help her. However, they only wanted to use her for "a message". The only person that was a big help was Herman. I felt that he had a strong stance on his opinion and honestly he was slightly admirable. Although, theres no reason to sympathize with Herman. I did sympathize with the pro-choice woman who was sad about aborting her child for a hot minute because I would feel the same (on aborting my "kid"). I also felt sympathy for people who wanted to get their abortion in peace but couldn't.
I feel that the problem is not even about abortion itself. I feel that it was about how people talk about rights just like any old topic they can debate about but forget that it actually AFFECTS people. It's very apparent when Ruth finds out about the "message" Diane was trying to give or when she was in the pro-choice clinic. People kept trying to sway her decision based on their ideals. Ruth made it very clear that she was unfit to be a mother and when they offered money, Ruth knew she needed it. SIDE NOTE! I hopefully think she used the money for the good things she heard about and if she does I am so proud of her. END NOTE! Ruth kept saying what we've heard before (which doesn't make it any less true), "It's my body, my choice! Since it's my choice, I can change my mind, right?!" Although when she yelled in Diane's house about not having choice, I did think it was right that Sarah? (Diane's girl) told her the reality of everything. Let's admit, she was still a druggie and she needed help with GOOD decision making. Then again, Ruth was smart enough to know she couldn't be a mother in the beginning. I think taking a step back and actually caring for the people affected by our ideals is definitely a a solution they subtly put in the film.
Although Ruth was dealt a hard hand in life, I still feel no sympathy towards her. Obviously she had a troubled childhood, but now she is an adult and should be able to make good decisions for herself. Even though the help she was given was backhanded, as her saviors tried to exploit her for their own purposes, she offers them no kindness or even decency in return. After being tolerated in the first home, she finally reverts to drugs and assaults their son, then proceeds to cry in a corner drowning in her own self-pity, which she retains up until this film ends, practically stealing money and assaulting a man then running away from the chaos that she helped to create. She is motivated by greed and self-pity and I have no sympathy for her.
ReplyDeleteThe pro and anti abortion advocates draw sympathy in how much they care. Perhaps not about Ruth, but about this issue. Both sides go through copious amounts of effort and money to support their causes, and I feel sympathy towards them up until the point where we realize how little they each care about Ruth. Each side is so focused on their movement that most of the advocates from both sides couldn’t even recognize Ruth in a crowd, shown in the shocking scene where she walks through a whole crowd of people chanting her name and yelling about her baby, but not a single one notices her, showing that they never really cared about her, just what she represented.
The obvious tropes being made fun of are rural folk that contain practically every stereotype possible, and clearly abortion and anti-abortion advocates, but I think the larger problem with society that this film is intending to point out has to due more with the idea of martyrdom. Usually, martyrs give up their livelihoods and freedoms in order to help a cause, and I think this movie plays with that idea by having a character who is able to sacrifice herself for more than one cause, but unlike a martyr, cares only about herself and how to advance her own fortune. She eventually leaves both causes behind, steals one’s money, and runs off to get high off of some spray paint and a brown paper bag behind a local drugstore. By having a protagonist who cares only about herself in a place where she could help a greater movement, this movie questions why people gravitate towards movements and even sacrifice themselves for them, when a few of them are just as vile as these petty advocates that we see on both sides of this abortion debate. I don’t really see this as a problem with a solution, but merely an observation about human behavior that make people think.
I don’t know if this idea really works, I’m just trying to say something different.
I do not feel sympathy for Ruth. Although she did grow up in a rough household, and has a severe addiction, some of her decisions are so stupid and cringeworthy that I can not feel bad for her. I thought she was getting better, but then she stole money from the family that bailed her out, and went and brought drugs. Then, when Matthew was calling his parents, Ruth hits him, which is suck a stupid decision, and she starts crying like she was the one who was being hurt. And then at the end of the movie, she takes the money and leaves the abortion center without telling anybody what had really happened. That last scene showed she had not changed at all.
ReplyDeleteI don't think either side was sympathetic. However, I do kind of feel bad for the original family that paid her bail and took her in. This was before all the fame Ruth had, which showed they genuinely cared for her, and even though I disagree with their ideas, I think they had good intentions. Everybody else throughout the movie was in it for the message or fame. Dianne wanted to send a message and didn't care for Ruth herself, and Ruth’s mother was obviously in it for the fame. Both sides were corrupted and worked for the wrong reasons.
I think this movie is satirizing the pro-life and pro-choice opposition. Both sides think they are doing what’s good for the person, but really they are doing it for themselves. They don’t really stop to think ‘what does this person want to do’, and rather they are forcing them into the decision.
I do not think Ruth is a sympathetic character. She is selfish and makes decisions for herself. Everything she does is swayed by how much money she is offered, but I cannot blame her for this. She has had a very hard life, it seems her family was never around and having four kids means she must’ve started early. I don’t think she’s sympathetic but I understand why.
ReplyDeleteI think the people that help her are sympathetic and are also not sympathetic. They are mostly there for their own gain. They help her so they can get their side to send a message, but i also think they care about her a little bit. Although the pro-choice side wanted something out of it, the anti-choice is much more obvious about it.
I think movie is a satire about the pro-choice and anti-choice debate. it shows extreme versions and stereotypes of people on both sides of the discussion.
1. I personally believe that Ruth is selfish. Many times in this film we see her take advantage of others in one time or another. She has a very bad habit of trying something until she gets bored of it, and then she goes and huffs some paint or something idk. I don’t think she’s sympathetic because I personally don’t think she thinks about other people at all (accept for the fact that she is actually gay).
ReplyDelete2. The characters that have given her aid aren’t very sympathetic either. It seems like they just push their personal agenda onto her and expect her to make her decisions based on what they want. This film is very smart in that it’s making fun of both sides of the story; pro-choice and pro-life. It shows that both of them are just as secretive and gay as the other. I honestly think the film is very clever and hilarious. So no, the characters are not sympathetic because they are also selfish (and gay).
3. The problem is that both sides are very greedy. They both see understandable parts to a problem, but one of them is more favorable(if you really think about it). The film is offering that both sides stop being so angry at each other. In one of the later scenes where Ruth has a miscarriage and she almost tells Diane about it, the film begs to say “if we all just talk about it for a second, it’ll be okay”, but the selfishness of others gets in the way. SO, basically what the film is saying is that both sides are stupid, but we all need to talk about it. And that’s okay.
1. What do you think of Ruth? Is she a sympathetic character? How or how not?
ReplyDeleteRuth is not a character that you expect to find yourself having a lot of sympathy for, and yet, at many moments during the film, I was able to sympathize and empathize with her. She is in a really tough spot, which is mostly because of her own actions (her addiction to huffing spray paint comes to mind), but we can still feel sorry for her because of her plight. She’s homeless, jobless, and constantly ill due to her addiction. And even though she is incredibly manipulative and has four children living with her brother, I still manage to feel sorry for her. This is an incredibly difficult decision that she is forced to make in a very limited amount of time.
2. What about the people who come to her aid? Are they sympathetic characters?
I think that the Baby Savers and the Pro-Choicers have the very best of intentions at heart and originally are just trying to help Ruth, but both camps get carried away. This is more obvious when it comes to the Baby Savers, as they send a national alert to pro-lifers worldwide to assemble and pressure Ruth outside of the house for days on end. However, the pro-choices get carried away too. They see her as a tool to promote their agenda, much like the Baby Savers, with Harlan even going so far as to give her $15,000 from his Agent Orange settlement.
3. Keeping your reactions to these characters in mind, what do you see as the target of the satire? What is the problem that the film addresses? Does the film offer a solution to the problem?
I think that the target audience for this film were pro-choice people, mostly women. Almost immediately, you’re introduced to the problem: Ruth’s unwanted pregnancy. She gets put in jail for substance abuse, but Norm, and friends pay her bail and give her a place to stay. They don't care quite as much about Ruth as they do her 10-week old embryo that they pressure her into naming Tonya. This part of the movie is very funny, especially for more left-leaning folks. However, when she gets abducted by the pro-choice women, things start to get awkward: these people have essent8ally the same agenda as the Baby Savers, which us to use Ruth and her unborn child as a pawn in the abortion war. I’m not sure the film proposes a solution, but it points out the fact that its very easy to criticize the other side and call them lunatics while being just as crazy yourself.
1. I do not think Ruth is a sympathetic character. Throughout the whole movie, she takes advantage of other peoples kindness, she tries to guilt her brother into giving her more money, she tries to get things from others without caring about the consequences, and much more. When the Babysaver’s took Ruth in, all she did was sneak out and go party and get high. Then when she is at the Pro choice peoples house, she steals their booze and looks through their personal things. She also never tries to better herself, other than when sage listen to the audio tapes, all she wanted to do was huff glue to get high. And in the end, she doesn’t tell the veteran that she had a miscarriage and she walks off freely with his fifteen thousand dollars.
ReplyDelete2. The people who came to Ruth’s aid were also not sympathetic characters. When the Babysaver’s took her in and took care of her, they really had an alternative motive, which was to make sure that Ruth had the baby and didn’t get an abortion. They used her as a public toy so they can spread their message. And the Pro choice people were not that much better. They only hid the fact that they were using Ruth to spread their message. In the end, both groups were basically trying to bribe Ruth with large amounts of money, just so they could have Ruth on their side.
3. I think that the satire in this film is mainly the dispute between the Pro choice people and the Pro life people. In the film, they joked heavily about how each side doesn’t have very valid arguments, and that they really shouldn’t be this violent against each other. They also poke fun at Ruth’s character, who is so hopelessly destroyed by drug and alcohol abuse, that when she is sober there is kind of a comedic element to how she interacts with everyone.