Kevin Fobbs
Is Academy-Award-2010-nominated precious right-to-life movie pick?
By Kevin Fobbs
Rarely does Hollywood ever give Americans in the heartland an opportunity to watch with extraordinary resolve a mother who has made a decision to keep the precious gift that God bestows upon her even in the most telling and difficult circumstances. The film Precious may be finally such a movie highlighted at the 2010 Academy Awards airing Sunday, March 7.
Of the ten movies nominated for Sunday night's selection as Best Picture, Precious — with its star Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for Best Actress, and co-star Mo'nique, nominated for Supporting Actress — tell the story of a teenage mother caught up in some of life's most harsh environments. And the life issue is front and center!
Precious is a teenager pregnant for the second time with her own father's child. Her mother is seriously unstable and dangerously abusive. She is nearly illiterate but strives desperately to block out the trauma as she attends a special learning school that promises her a better life opportunity.
While the movie could have been the story of any young female confronted with the challenge to meet the choice to select abortion over life not just once but twice, it is also a drama which showcases the solitude and sense of isolation that a young person like a Precious has to deal with in trying to find her own center as well as the value of life — both hers and her baby's as well as the unborn child she is carrying.
It would have been a welcome campaign during Black History Month to focus on the groups and organizations around the nation that are supporting life choices for teenagers and women like Precious. The national abortion statistics bear this out.
According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were a total of 846,181 abortions during 2006, which the CDC says is a 3.1 percent increase over its 2005 numbers. While black women represent 12.5 percent of American females they have 38.2 percent of all abortions according to the report. The CDC report also found that poor black teens like Precious are the most likely to have abortions.
Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. agrees that young women like Precious must not let a future child's life be taken. In a Life News interview the Right-To-Life advocate Dr. King said, "My Uncle Martin once stated, 'The Negro cannot win if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety.' Those words are still true today. After all, how can the dream survive if we let them take our children?"
Last month a group of pro-life proponents called The Radiance Foundation http://www.theradiancefoundation.org sponsored a campaign of 65 billboards across targeted areas of Georgia and are hoping to erect 80. They have also released a must-see video called "The Myth of the Unwanted Child." It is a story about choice.
This weekend, before you watch the Academy Awards, rent a copy of Precious and take a look at the video "The Myth of the Unwanted Child." "Unwanted" may not be up for an Academy Award in Hollywood on Sunday, but it certainly deserves an Academy Award from life supporters in the Heartland of America where it counts the most.
For additional information contact
© Kevin Fobbs
March 6, 2010
Rarely does Hollywood ever give Americans in the heartland an opportunity to watch with extraordinary resolve a mother who has made a decision to keep the precious gift that God bestows upon her even in the most telling and difficult circumstances. The film Precious may be finally such a movie highlighted at the 2010 Academy Awards airing Sunday, March 7.
Of the ten movies nominated for Sunday night's selection as Best Picture, Precious — with its star Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for Best Actress, and co-star Mo'nique, nominated for Supporting Actress — tell the story of a teenage mother caught up in some of life's most harsh environments. And the life issue is front and center!
Precious is a teenager pregnant for the second time with her own father's child. Her mother is seriously unstable and dangerously abusive. She is nearly illiterate but strives desperately to block out the trauma as she attends a special learning school that promises her a better life opportunity.
While the movie could have been the story of any young female confronted with the challenge to meet the choice to select abortion over life not just once but twice, it is also a drama which showcases the solitude and sense of isolation that a young person like a Precious has to deal with in trying to find her own center as well as the value of life — both hers and her baby's as well as the unborn child she is carrying.
It would have been a welcome campaign during Black History Month to focus on the groups and organizations around the nation that are supporting life choices for teenagers and women like Precious. The national abortion statistics bear this out.
According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were a total of 846,181 abortions during 2006, which the CDC says is a 3.1 percent increase over its 2005 numbers. While black women represent 12.5 percent of American females they have 38.2 percent of all abortions according to the report. The CDC report also found that poor black teens like Precious are the most likely to have abortions.
Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. agrees that young women like Precious must not let a future child's life be taken. In a Life News interview the Right-To-Life advocate Dr. King said, "My Uncle Martin once stated, 'The Negro cannot win if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety.' Those words are still true today. After all, how can the dream survive if we let them take our children?"
Last month a group of pro-life proponents called The Radiance Foundation http://www.theradiancefoundation.org sponsored a campaign of 65 billboards across targeted areas of Georgia and are hoping to erect 80. They have also released a must-see video called "The Myth of the Unwanted Child." It is a story about choice.
This weekend, before you watch the Academy Awards, rent a copy of Precious and take a look at the video "The Myth of the Unwanted Child." "Unwanted" may not be up for an Academy Award in Hollywood on Sunday, but it certainly deserves an Academy Award from life supporters in the Heartland of America where it counts the most.
For additional information contact
- Too Many Aborted: http://www.toomanyaborted.com/
- Georgia Right To Life: http://www.grtl.org/
© Kevin Fobbs
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