Dear Elizabeth Baugh,
On the night Lifetime premiered the original movie Pregnancy Pact viewers from every state, every college campus and every neighborhood were tuned in. Pregnancy Pact portrayed the realities of being a teen mom or basically just being a citizen of motherhood. The fact that it was inspired by a true story even made the story less glamorous; the movie screamed “these hardships can happen to you”.
In your editorial from The Breeze, I understood that you wrote A Perfectly Planned Pregnancy to claim that “Teen pregnancy was depicted as far more glamorous than it really is”. You felt that this movie was more than likely using its message to promote teen motherhood. I on the other hand, as well as many other viewers, did not see the so called glamour at all. A James Madison University student, Traffy Taylor, commented on your article stating that “everyone knows that having a baby at 15 is anything but glamorous”. Traffy Taylor disagrees with your claim based on her own view of the real world. I feel that this movie really got a true life message across to its audience.
It’s a well known fact that the rates of teen pregnancy are pretty high. MTV’s Teen Mom is a reality show that shows the trouble and hardships of a few moms that are between the ages of 16 and 19. The moms in the show are constantly dealing with problems like not receiving support from their child’s father, balancing school and motherhood, and the option of giving up their child for adoption. Common statistics state that the chances of finishing high school or college is very unlikely for teen mothers, and a large percentage of teen mothers have to apply for welfare (“Statistics on Teen Pregnancy” par.5) Almost all of these facts were directly or indirectly displayed in Pregnancy Pact , where is the glamorous life in those situations?
A huge problem that occurs in the United States is teen pregnancy. The highest rate of teen pregnancy belongs to the United States. Teen pregnancy costs over $5 billion yearly for the United States (“Teen Pregnancy Facts” Par.1). In a panic of what to do several teens go through an emotional crisis and turn to abortion or adoption. Most of the time these pregnancies are unplanned and teen’s are very unaware of the sexual education knowledge. When other teens view the unglamorous life of teen moms, they then decide to use better ways of prevention. The amount of teens giving birth have decreased over the past few decades, this is basically due “to increased availability of contraception and access to abortion, rather than a decrease in sexual activity” (“Teen pregnancy” par 1). I feel like this movie has a point of bringing about a dose of reality that can also be a part in many teen pregnancy campaigns.
I personally have friends that became moms at a young age. They always had a full plate on their hands once they became mothers. Most of them were able to finish high school but they did not get the chance to go to college, they couldn’t even take a course at a community college. Obstacles occurred when they were barely able to find jobs that they could maintain so they could support their children financially. They strongly depend on the support from their families and close friends. It’s like once they became mothers not only did their lives change, but they had to become a better person, a stronger person to be exact. My friend Shakeera Johnson told me “Motherhood seems so much easier from a far, but when you get up close and personal it’s a whole other story”. Struggles occurred constantly for a while, but they have basically gotten familiar with these hardships and responsibilities.
When many people look at movies, they kind of have a sense that less reality is going to come forth in the movie, even with movies that are based on a true story. If inspiration is to be found in the movie it can be captured in many different ways. A person can be inspired not to partake in a certain behavior in a movie, due to the consequences the movie presents. In the Lifetime presentation of Pregnancy Pact young girls are able to find inspiration in the movie. With the struggle and turmoil that the characters in the movie went through, I know many girls decided not to follow in their footsteps.
Sincerely,
Tekeya McDonald
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Tekeya, it's interesting to read your rebuttal after reading Olivia's and to see the differences and similarities between your approaches. One thing that is unique to your paper that I found impressive is your use of personal examples and primary research to support your argument. The quotations from your friends give your point of view and intimate feel, showing real young women's responses to teen pregnancy. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThe issue we talked about with regard to Olivia's paper applies to yours, too, however: a lack of direct support for your interpretation of the movie. Your evidence, like Olivia's, focuses on the dangers of teen pregnancy (something that Baugh would probably agree with you about), rather than the movie's depiction of teen pregnancy. Again, it's difficult to prove on your own that a movie doesn't glamorizie it's subject, but that's what you need to try to do. You should (1) use evidence from the movie itself, recreating scenes and scenarios to show that the movie depicts teen pregnancy realistically, and (2) look for evidence from other people's response to the movie--namely in editorials and movie reviews.
Your citations also need a little refinement, and you must cite all sources in a list of Works Cited (including Baugh's editorial).
Good job so far--and nice work with the letter format. Good luck with your revision.