Screening Choice

The representation of the abortion issue in Americanfilm has been deeply effected by the social andhistorical climate within which these representationsare produced. However this does not mean thatrepresentations has accurately or even remotelyresembled the lived experience of people goingthrough the struggle of abortion decisions at anygiven time. Rather the representations created aremore a reflection of political social medical andreligious discourse at the time of the films'productions. The Abortion Issue in American Film:1900-2000 explores how these external discoursesshift and change the representation of several keyfigures in the story of abortion: The Patient TheAbortion Provider and The Male Partner. Thesecharacters are traced and placed in context startingfrom 1916 through 2000 choosing key films to analyzethe changes in representation and their relationshipswith American values morals medicine and politicsthrough the decades.