Whenever there’s a movie made that’s pro-choice or pro-life, there’s going to be backlash about it.
That’s what happened when the film Unplanned, based on the memoir of the same name about a woman who goes from being the youngest director of Planned Parenthood to an anti-abortion activist, had a limited release in the United States and Canada in March 2019.
It received so much of a reaction that Cineplex Entertainment released an official statement explaining why they decided to go ahead with viewings of the movie in some of their Canadian locations.
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Ellis Jacob, Cineplex CEO and president, said in a press release that one of the things that he loves about this country is that Canadians don’t shy away from our differences and, instead, embrace them.
“Canada is a country that believes in and rallies behind freedom of expression, but that isn’t always an easy thing to do and it certainly doesn’t always make you popular. In this instance, many of us will have to set aside our own personal beliefs and remember that living in a country that censors content, opinions, and points of view because they’re different from our own isn’t a country any of us would want to live in,” he continued.
I didn’t think I would, but I agreed with what Jacob had to say. Although many people may not like Unplanned and the story it tells, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be played in theatres.
The controversy surrounding the movie likely prompted quite a few people to go and see it, and it didn’t really change anything. Moviegoers paid to see it and the discussions surrounding it stopped it from fading into the background.
This topic brings up an issue I have when it comes to freedom of speech, because we don’t really have a line in terms of how far we can go before it becomes too much.
When does a movie depicting a woman’s journey to become a pro-life activist go too far? Should it be censored for the messages it’s sending the audience? When do protesters outside of a Planned Parenthood go from being peaceful to harmful?
I will be among the people who don’t go to see Unplanned, and it’s likely I never will. But, I’m glad I had the choice. I think the movie would only reinforce the viewer’s opinion, whether they’re pro-life or pro-choice.
Whenever I hear about the possibility of a movie, book, television show, or anything else being censored, I remember the saying, ‘I may not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll fight for your right to say it.’
