October Baby - The Review

 

Last Friday, I put up a post on the movie October Baby, that was opening in DBQ.  I described the movie, based on the trailer & what I read as "the movie NARAL, Planned Parenthood & the rest of the pro-abort gang wishes hadn't been made & is being attacked by their minions in the media because it promotes a message they don't want gotten out there." I saw the movie this afternoon. & I stand behind that statment every stronger than I did then.

This movie is a powerful story of a woman's search for the truth about her birth after she finds out she was not only adopted, but an abortion survivor. & I do mean powerful. It has been a little over an hour & 1/2 since I saw it. & I am still working through all the emotions as a result.

The movie starts with Hannah, played by Rachel Hendrix, is starring in her 1st stage production in college. Things start out fine, until she collapses. After undegoing a series of tests Hannah finds out parents, Jacob & Grace (John Schneider & Jennifer Price), had adopted her shortly after she was born. But that is only the start of the revelations.  She then finds out that she was adopted. Naturally, she is angry at her parents for not telling her. Her father, fights telling her anything. But her mother digs out the birth certificate with the name of the hospital in Mobile AL where she was born after the failed adoption. She shares what happenned with her childhood friend, Jason (Jason Burkey). He is about to leave on a road trip with some friends to go to New Orleans. He invites her along & arranges to stop in Mobile along the way.

Naturally, her parents are opposed, but she goes anyway. On the way she gets put down by Jason's current girlfriend, so she sets out on her own. Jason rents a car, finds her & takes her to Mobile. There she eventually finds the nurse from the abortion clinic who took her birth mother to the hospital after the botched abortion. Jasmine guy plays the nurse, Mary. Mary is able to direct her to her birth mother (Shari Rigby). But before she does, Mary shares what happenned during & after the abortion attempt. I won't give away the secrets. But I will say that Jasmine Guy gives a powerful performance. We find out that up to the time of Hannah's birth, Mary had worked at the abortion clinic as a nurse & counciled a large number of women. Up to that point, Mary had bought the lie that the unborn baby was just tissue. After the events arround Hannah's birth she never went back to the clinic.

Hannah eventually meets her birth mother & goes home to work things out with her parents. In sharing about the events leading up to the adoption of Hannah, we find out that Grace had been working at a crisis pregnancy center in Birmingham, AL. The mother, although a Baptist, had been going into the nearby Cathederal of St. Paul to pray. Hannah decides to go there herself where she meets a priest (Rodney Clark) who is about to lock things up for the night. He listens to her story. She shares her hurt, her pain & her struggles to forgive, especially herself. Then the priest shares the following "Because we have been forgiven by God, we should forgive each other. In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven, and, because you are forgiven, you have the power to forgive, to choose to forgive. Let it go. Hatred is a burden you no longer need to carry. Only in forgiveness can you be free, Hannah—forgiveness that is well beyond your grasp, or mine, a forgiveness that you can’t find on a trip or even in this cathedral. But, if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed."

I won't go into any more details as to do so would ruin the additional revelations & surprizes.

What I will say is that the movie shows the damage abortion can do to all involved, from the birth parents to those working at the clinic. As, I have already pointed out, it also has a powerful message of the importance of forgiveness, including one's self. 

I felt all of the performances by the main actors was excellent.  But a couple especially stand out. I already mentioned Jasmine Guy's. Another was Shari Rigby as Hannah's birth mother Cindy.  Cindy is faced with coming to grips with the abortion & the damage it did to her. Part of the reason why Shari Rigby did such a great job is explained in an an interview w/ her shared during the closing credits.

As I said at the start, it is very easy to understand why those who are hardline supporters of abortion have such a dislike for the movie. It lays bare all the lies about how abortion is good, that the unborn child is only a piece of tissue, that women who have abortions don't suffer emotional damage, etc, they are pushing.  & all of the usual attacks in response to the truth are coming out as well. They know this film pulls back the covers of those lies.

In this day & age it is good to see a simple film that doesn't depend on sex or violence to sell it. Additionally, this film presents faith in a very positive light, especially the Catholic faith.

This is 1 movie that should not be missed by those who want the truth about abortion to get out there as well as those who love a good old fashioned love story with a message of the importance of friends, family & faith.

10% of the profits for this film are going to the Every Life is Beautiful Fund. So in going to see this film, you are not only supporting the type of move we need to see more of, you are supporting an orginization that supports crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies & orphanages.