The recent surreptitious taping of an interview with a
senior medical director, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, of Planned Parenthood,
demonstrates that the debate over abortion is far from over. In the 160 minutes of taping, nearly no
subject regarding abortion remains untouched – including references to
donations of body parts from the aborted fetus in the advancement of medical
science. The interview resulted in outrage by abortion opponents and apologies
by the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
To my knowledge, there has only been one Hollywood film
that directly addresses the subject of abortion and that is The Cider House
Rules. Admirers of The
Cider House Rules (both novel and movie) claim the theme it is not about
abortion but rather the consequences of living in a morally repressive
society. Indeed, the film suggests there
are a number of written and unwritten rules better off ignored, but in the
movie these rules conveniently concern subjects deservedly receiving disapproval
such as rape, incest and racism. Abortion
is the subject making this movie noteworthy.
In the film, Doctor Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) directs an
orphanage back in the 1930s and occasionally performs abortions on the
side. One of the orphans in his charge, Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), goes
through the adoption process a number of times but returns again and again to
the orphanage. Dr. Larch ends up raising Homer like he was his own
son. Dr. Larch, other than his attempts to seduce every nurse, his habit
of inhaling ether, and his practice of performing illegal abortions, is a saintly
fellow. The orphans and the staff adore him. Homer wants to be like
the doctor in almost every respect – except that Homer is morally opposed to
abortion.
Homer one day leaves the orphanage and this breaks Dr.
Larch’s heart. Homer ends up on an apple farm as an apple picker, and falls
in love with a girl named Candy (Charlize Theron). He also witnesses acts
of racism aimed at other workers on the crew. Homer becomes acquainted
with Rose, the daughter of the chief of the apple picking crew. After her
own father rapes Rose, Homer helps Rose terminate the pregnancy by performing
an abortion. Soon after, Homer learns that Dr. Larch has died.
Homer, now older and wiser, returns to the orphanage and takes up where Dr.
Larch had left off. We assume this includes performing abortions.
Ignoring the New England accent, Michael Caine is good,
though not great, as Dr. Larch. He’s convincing as the knowing old man
who has seen too much and breathes ether to ease his troubles. Tobey
Maguire plays Homer like any other character played by Tobey Maguire; that is,
he displays ignorance that we are to suppose is innocence. Homer
lecturing Dr. Larch about scruples is like a failed seminary student demanding
penitence of a mafia family head.
The Cider House Rules
tries to present the subject of abortion in the most dignified light. So
badly does it seem to want to suggest to a large audience that abortion is
necessary in a free and open society that it barely touches on any other point
of view. Author and screenwriter John Irving apparently believes presenting
us the isolated case of a woman impregnated due to incest is the end of the
subject. The movie addresses the concerns of the mutilation of women and
girls as a result of back alley abortions.
Irving makes the case in the film that any women, when
allowed access to abortion, are free from being shunning when carrying an
unwanted child. And by setting much of the movie in an orphanage, Irving
is stating that the practice of abortion could eliminate the need for such
institutions. The movie fails to suggest there could be any intelligent disagreement
on the issue of abortion. As there have already been thousands of pages written
regarding the pros and cons of making abortion readily available, it would be almost
impossible to cover all the many facets of abortion in a 125-minute film, but I
would admire the movie more if there was such an effort. Unfortunately for Irving, abortion is not the
type of subject matter ripe for the sentimental treatment delivered in the
film. This does a disservice to the
audience.
John Irving is an outspoken atheist. He says that
he’s comfortable with the politics of his native New England, but he is
uncomfortable with its Puritanism. He refers to those on the religious
and political right as “f___ing morons.” And he speaks of the practice of
abortion as if it was a sacrament. Irving ties
opposition to abortion with prudery and intellectual knavery.
Irving wrote the screenplay and accepted
an Oscar on its behalf. For a writer who favorably compares his own
writing to Dickens, Hardy and Hawthorne, posturing in front of Hollywood’s
elite must have been humiliating. And by
engaging in writing the screenplay for The Cider House Rules, he
suddenly had to take the editorial advice of agents, lawyers, actors and others
whose opinion he probably did not value.
Irving, like Updike and Joyce
Carol Oates, learned his craft after accepting a professorship at a prestigious
university. Irving is more primitive and therefore a better writer than
Updike or Oates. However, these skills are not apparent in his screenwriting efforts.
Because Irving and director Lasse
Hallstrom fail to speak forthrightly about this controversial topic, the movie
fails to deliver any message. I have no problem with Irving defending
abortion in any means he sees fit. But he would have made a stronger case
to me if he remained the artist rather than a propagandist who is too sure of
himself. The Cider House Rules is a heavily awarded movie because
it gingerly touches upon a controversial subject – not because of the manner in
which it addresses the subject.
© Robert S. Miller 2015
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