The Life Zone

I give you "The Life Zone", a horror movie meant to convince women that abortion is evil... by making pro-lifers the villains... What?



Yes, that's right. Three women are kidnapped while on the abortion table and forced to carry their pregnancies to term, because this would somehow magically convince the ladies that their foetuses are real people who deserve to liiiive!

Needless to say, the film is creepy, though perhaps not in the way the creator intended.

And only about fifty people even showed up at the premiere, most of them cast and crew(!). Here is a review discussing the movie: link

First, let's discuss the idiotic name. Here is what the auteur has to say about it:

Quote :

"It's like the Twilight Zone. Life, like pro-life; zone, like the Twilight Zone. And if you've seen Twilight Zone episodes, it punches you in the face in the end," Del Vecchio added

Of course, I disagree. I think that it punches you in the face throughout while screaming incoherently about life, and God and how evil liberals/feminist/pro-choicers/women/Obama/atheists are, and in the end, it just starts punching itself in the face, in between laughing maniacally and drooling a bit.
But wait, that's not the full quote, is it? Oh dear, I wouldn't want to be accused of cherry-picking. How does that paragraph end?

Quote :

though he was quick to note he still felt the film's presentation of the issues was balanced. "I think the audience will walk away not knowing what the filmmaker's position is, it gives both sides of the coin."

No, no, save some of that facepalm for later. You'll need it.

So what's the big punch in the face at the end?

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All three women deliver and finally the first of the plot's twists are revealed. Staci, most opposed to pregnancy, is blessed with two children - twins - while her fellow captives only give birth to one baby each.

Well, that's pretty basic. Irony 101, really. Not even rain on your wedding day irony. Just the regular, garden-variety type. Doesn't take a brilliant writer to come up with that one.

Is there anything else?

Quote :

Later, Staci wakes up. The two new mothers are no longer captives, they've presumably ascended to heaven with their babies. It's revealed all along the women had been in Purgatory, after having died on the operating table of abortion clinics.

Aw, damn. My guess was that they were on an island in the Pacific.

Quote :

But because Staci attempted to miscarry even after a second chance at motherhood, and because she never accepted the error of her ways until she experienced the physical joy of giving birth, of seeing her children for the first time, she will be doomed to eternity in Hell.

So... "do as your kidnappers say, or you'll go to Hell"? Hmm, well, this Aesop's pretty broken, but can you do better?

Oh, right! Of course you can! The creepy guy holding the women hostage? He is Satan. Yes, that's right. Satan is a pro-lifer!... Considering the beliefs and behavior of most pro-lifers, is it any surprise that Satan fit right in with them?

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Loggia is Satan and he informs Staci she will spend all eternity in a cycle of pregnancy and childbirth

So, pregnancy and childbirth are so beautiful and wonderful and such blessings that they are used as punishment in Hell?

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Dr. Wise will forever be her doctor, as the movie's final twist plays out: Wise too will spend eternity in Hell. She was so weak she committed suicide when her marriage collapsed and must suffer the fate of forever bringing life into the world, endlessly having to appreciate what she did not value on Earth.

The Life Zone: come for the heavy-handed mysoginistic slut-shaming preachyness, stay for the nigh-literal demonization of suicide victims!

Quote :

the physical joy of giving birth

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grmblfjx wrote:

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the physical joy of giving birth

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I whole-heartedly agree with this statement.

What the fuck is this shit? This just creepy, and weird, and it didn't even get their message across. Do they think abortion doctors sit around cackling about how many fetuses they murdered that day? Or that they just hate babies? They're providing a medical service. That's like thinking that GPs spend their spare time cackling over every vaccine and flu shot administered, going "BWAHAHAHA, DEATH TO VIRUSES!". They don't. They seriously don't.

WAT?

Everyone giving birth simultaneously? So...these women were all at exactly the same point in pregnancy when they went to have abortions? And their bodies will all do the same thing when it comes to childbirth--no early births, no late births, labor proceeding at the same rate for all?

Biology fail!

Lady Anne wrote:

Everyone giving birth simultaneously? So...these women were all at exactly the same point in pregnancy when they went to have abortions? And their bodies will all do the same thing when it comes to childbirth--no early births, no late births, labor proceeding at the same rate for all?

Biology fail!

Well, since menstual cycles sometimes sync up, clearly pregnancies do, too.
Also, the Satan Jailer Doctor is psychic and knows when each woman is due.

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It's revealed all along the women had been in Purgatory, after having died on the operating table of abortion clinics.

Their ignorance is so obvious that I think they should all be visited by the Clue Fairy, who will then presumably give them a clue with her Clue Bat that looks suspiciously like a 2x4. How on Earth did all three of them die during their abortions? If they're all eight weeks along, then they will probably not even go under, but will instead use a pill to end the pregnancy. Now, of course, there could be a reason to use another method, but it's not like they are going under the knife. When was the last time you heard anyone dying from a first trimester abortion? You're far more likely (especially in the US) to die during childbirth than you are during an abortion.

Azzandra wrote:

So, pregnancy and childbirth are so beautiful and wonderful and such blessings that they are used as punishment in Hell?

That disturbing little thought is pretty well known from anti-choice types. You should be forced to give birth, even if it could literally kill you.

I though this was something along the lines of a collegehumor video, or just some joke trailer from a humor site. But then I saw Robert Loggia's name flash across the screen...

Wait, people worked on this film? For money? Non-ironically?

Didn't "An American Carol" demonstrate that attempting to pass off heavy-handed right-wing bushwa as entertainment was about as financially successful as throwing sacks of cash into a wood chipper?

Azzandra wrote:

Quote :

But because Staci attempted to miscarry even after a second chance at motherhood, and because she never accepted the error of her ways until she experienced the physical joy of giving birth, of seeing her children for the first time, she will be doomed to eternity in Hell.

So... "do as your kidnappers say, or you'll go to Hell"? Hmm, well, this Aesop's pretty broken, but can you do better?

Oh, right! Of course you can! The creepy guy holding the women hostage? He is Satan. Yes, that's right. Satan is a pro-lifer!... Considering the beliefs and behavior of most pro-lifers, is it any surprise that Satan fit right in with them?

Quote :

Loggia is Satan and he informs Staci she will spend all eternity in a cycle of pregnancy and childbirth

So, pregnancy and childbirth are so beautiful and wonderful and such blessings that they are used as punishment in Hell?

Wow. So is she getting endlessly boned by demons? Do the "babies" that she's giving birth to endlessly have any souls, or are they just props for her punishment? (Hmm, I think that says something rather profound and unpleasant right there... it's not even about the soul/potential soul of the infants involved, just about punishing her for all eternity. Her babies aren't people, they're plot devices!)

Azzandra wrote:

Quote :

Dr. Wise will forever be her doctor, as the movie's final twist plays out: Wise too will spend eternity in Hell. She was so weak she committed suicide when her marriage collapsed and must suffer the fate of forever bringing life into the world, endlessly having to appreciate what she did not value on Earth.

The Life Zone: come for the heavy-handed mysoginistic slut-shaming preachyness, stay for the nigh-literal demonization of suicide victims!

This is gonna sound terrible, but I'd bet you a dime to a donut that this was written by a hardcore Catholic.

*Wonders when any pro-life Catholic will get around to mentioning the fact that intersex people are shunned by official Catholic church decree, and that intersex infants were apparently thrown into the Tiber river to drown under the edicts of Constantine.*

Malganis wrote:

Wow. So is she getting endlessly boned by demons?

Mal will be in her bunk, y'all.

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Do the "babies" that she's giving birth to endlessly have any souls, or are they just props for her punishment? (Hmm, I think that says something rather profound and unpleasant right there... it's not even about the soul/potential soul of the infants involved, just about punishing her for all eternity. Her babies aren't people, they're plot devices!)

I took it to mean she was having her own, unwanted baby over and over.

Let me get this straight... the film has three women who died during their abortions in Hell, but just until they have babies?

Ah, purgatory.

And this really doesn't make pro-lifers look good.

And people just don't die because of abortions unless there was something terribly wrong with them. These must be the only three women who have and it's totally scaremongering.

I'm very much against trying to force a miscarriage - especially at seven months. But honestly, this does not make pro-lifers look good.

Harley Quinn hyenaholic wrote:

And people just don't die because of abortions unless there was something terribly wrong with them.

Which makes it even weirder that three photogenic white American women died at the same time.

grmblfjx wrote:

Malganis wrote:

Wow. So is she getting endlessly boned by demons?

Mal will be in her bunk, y'all.

Do the demons look like Robert Loggia, though? That's not good.

grmblfjx wrote:

Quote :

Do the "babies" that she's giving birth to endlessly have any souls, or are they just props for her punishment? (Hmm, I think that says something rather profound and unpleasant right there... it's not even about the soul/potential soul of the infants involved, just about punishing her for all eternity. Her babies aren't people, they're plot devices!)

I took it to mean she was having her own, unwanted baby over and over.

But wouldn't that be a hell for the baby, too? To be born over and over and over for all eternity? Or is it just a soulless shell that looks like her baby?

It's like the movie wants to play with the idea of "Hell is repetition", but has neither the balls nor the brains to actually think about what that means when it uses childbirth as the punishment (as well as the idea of fetuses/infants having souls).

Also the whole premise is INCREDIBLY misogynistic, but that goes without saying.

If the 'joy of childbirth' is so joyful, why's it used as punishment?

How is 'twins' a twist?

And suicide over being incapable of childbirth? Suicide IS a sin, technically, but what's it got to do with being pro-life?

I bet nobody ever questions why the women wanted abortions in the first place.

So the message is, "Have an abortion, risk death, go to hell." Talk about using fear to get your message across.

Lapin wrote:

grmblfjx wrote:

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the physical joy of giving birth

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I whole-heartedly agree with this statement.

What the fuck is this shit? This just creepy, and weird, and it didn't even get their message across. Do they think abortion doctors sit around cackling about how many fetuses they murdered that day?

The way "pro-life" people talk about the "pro-choice" side, you'd think that was the case. No, the pro-choicers do not want choice, they just want more abortions. Because they're evil.

It's like you can't be pro-life and pro-choice at the same time.

Harley Quinn hyenaholic wrote:

So the message is, "Have an abortion, risk death, go to hell." Talk about using fear to get your message across.

You mean they should tell you you'll go to hell in a way that doesn't scare you?

Or they could just say, "Okay, birth is a beautiful thing blah." Honestly, hammering it in with a claw hammer, is not a good way to go.

And Satan persuades women to give birth with Del Vecchio's material! Wow! I mean... actually I'm not really sure what to say to that...

The physical joy of giving birth... okay there's some happy ties of pregnancy. But seriously Del Vecchio, in the famous words of Rachel Dawes, no uterus, no opinion.

The really sad thing is that this could have been a good film. Well, for pro-lifers, anyway, and it's not like they're hard to ocome by. But by attempting to appeal to both sides of the coin, it offends both.