Juno, Grand, Kimya, Me

I was shocked to see the Juno movie preview in my email from Sony pictures a few months back....what, how is a movie about a pregnant teenager a comedy.....What a ...dramedy?
And then to read Roger Ebert go all wet in the pants over the movie.
And then people fall all over themselves with JOY!
OK, so now I am happy Kimya is getting some coinage so she can stay home or travel and write or whatever she wants to do..

Remember planning a show with Kimya at the Java Jive more than a year ago?
We were. I was positive if we got together just enough money we could call her up in Oly and say "Kimya, we are BIG fans !!!" And she woulda been happy to come and play for Tacoma. (was my idea first !)
But then my dog died and I was sick all of the fall/winter of 06/07 so I couldn't do much about anything, including a fashion show with Michael, Greg, Murphy and me.
So, Juno is out.
Why, I wondered is everyone so Positive ! about a pregnant teenager that gives up her baby.
At first I was just so angry. I've been a pregnant teenager. It is not fun. It is not quirky.
There are issues about sexuality, permissiveness, bad mothering, societal hatred and oh yeah, the Best Interest of the soon-to-be-baby.
In my case, abortion was illegal. Not that that option was off the table, so to speak.
My Catholic OB was happy to take me to San Francisco and sign the papers to have it done......long before Roe v.Wade was a twinkle in a girls eye.

And all the issues.....I won't go into all the detail of that Now......I am writing a book.
It isn't fun. And everyone blames the girl. And the girl has to make the decision.
So I kept the baby because it was the right decision for me. Period.
But, why , I wondered were all these White Middle-class people going all goo-goo over a movie about a pregnant teenager.
So I gave it some thought.
Well, no one really wants to admit they are bad parents and raise their kids to be sexually promiscuous. But most parents are not as good as they think they are especially these days when families trade $$ and real estate and trips to Disney land for a real family life.
So, teenagers are having sex, and lots of it these days. Sooner or later, a sweet middle class girl is gonna find herself in that state. And the boy? More on that another day...this is a short essay. He gets off...scot free.

Then, what is the best possible outcome for a set of parents or a single mother raising kids on her own ...since women are the ones who file for divorce about 70% of the time.........Women do and the court system backs them up... dispose of fathers and cash the child support checks and everyone pretends everyone is happy and everyone is acting in the Best Interest of the child.
I digressed slightly.
So, what does a middle class parent or set of parents want to happen to their pregnant teenager? They want the baby bump to go away, they want the teenager to skip to college and just not really slow down ...go go go go.....the Modern World.
So a precocious teenager, with parents that barely have a pulse (disconnected) are too happy that said teenager chooses a Pre-Formed McMansion Yup Couple to take the Baby Bump.

Of course. The McMansions are mirror images of the parents, and therefore a safe choice to dispose of problem baby bump.
See, everyone is happy ......again.
Teenager has a few moments of Deep Angst.......Clueless Parents get to dream of themselves in their younger days becoming "involved" if things were just so slightly different.
McMansion couple gets something their money can buy.....a baby.
Everyone lives happily ever after.
Middle Class people get the problem solved so prettily.
And Middle Class people get to watch a movie made of Silly Putty at the Grand.
Yes the Grand needs a Hit every once in a while (Coen Bros...Oh Brother........)

There has been a rash of movies in which the pregger one heroically keeps the baby.
But after the baby is born, the movie ends.............is no one there to help and support young poor moms. And is this country going to do what needs to be done. It's not that hard to truly offer genuine support...it's done in other countries.....hell, we just have to strive to do it in this country.
Family support? Crappy childcare in America..everyone is on their own. Taxpayer support....food stamps, health care...all get cut every chance a CEO/MBA can slash some great social program and make people Stand Up On Their Own 2 Feet !
So it's just a Feel Good Movie that is glossier than goose poop on glass.
It's a Hollywood Movie. Even if it is an "Indy" film. ha! It's Hollywood because
everyone gets a good outcome. And teenage pregnancy is not a problem. Just a condition to power through. And in a few months everyone will be OK !
So no abortion. No social programs. Everyone solves everything neatly in a vacuum. Who wrote this? Karl Rove or Karl Marx ?

But that's not the real world.... but that's the world I live in, and do my volunteer work in.
And the baby I kept......today she's a real live Social Worker with a BS, working on her Masters. She deals with the reality of her client's difficult family lives where the answers are not glossy, are not middle class, and where people desperately need the social programs that have been so gleefully cut to the bone.........
because if we don't fund programs to make people's lives better,
then people will just Pull Themselves Up all By Themselves and...it will always be alright, right?
So back to Kimya. Support Kimya. And tell her you love her!
And buy that CD. She has a baby to support !