Vancouver, Feb. 15. CSPERM (Canadian Society for the Protection of Embryo Rights and Mothers ) awarded its much coveted “Babees” to the Hollywood hits “Knocked Up” and “Juno” last night.
The “Babees”, life-sized plastic models of fetuses with velour umbilical cords attached to their navels, were presented to directors Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up’) and Jason Reitman (“Juno”) in recognition of the “powerful pro-family values themes in both films.”
The citation commended both directors for having “slipped in [the family values] completely below the viewing audiences expectations.” It praised Apatow and “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody for “concocting implausible plots and obnoxious characters to emphasize their message.”
CSPERM President Eugene Poole described “Knocked Up,” as “the nightmare” of every young single woman in the Western World: a joyless one night stand with a repellent drug addict, which leads to an unwanted pregnancy. ” Her decision to have the baby and eventually to marry its father gives “great moral weight to her redemption.”
“Juno deals provocatively with the compelling social issue of teenage pregnancy,” Poole said. “What to do when an insufferable teenage girl and a callow, insecure boy conceive a child, which they will be unable and unwilling to raise? With no guidance from her platitudinous parents or her morally numb peers, our heroine pledges her unborn child to a desperate couple who have no other way to get a child, but to communicate through a community newspaper. “
There are no winners in this dismal scenario, Poole said. “Except, of course, the child, who might go on to write a great symphony or discover a cure for cancer.”
He said he believes that “the message will certainly have an impact on those previously disposed to following pro abortion absolutism.”
Apatow who did not attend has claimed to be neutral on the subject of abortion, saying, “we’re just messengers of two sides of this very important discussion.”
Reitman, who was also not in attendance calls “Juno” a “fairy tale,” and has brushed off all political questions.
Cody, who pleaded previous commitments, calls herself “pro choice,.” She says her heroine, Juno, “had to have the baby in order for me to execute the story.” And adds: “I had a friend who had a baby when she was teenager and everything turned out alright.”
A lonely picket marched outside the Vancouver Dave and Buster’s where the awards ceremony were held. Leah Schildkraut of the Alberta Anarcho-Feminist commune harangued the crowd, shouting: “Hollywood Hypocrites. Liberalism plus money equals Fascism…”
One attendee turned at the entrance and said: “That’s pretty good. I’ll have to remember that.”
