Why "Knocked Up" is a Positive Movie--David Backer (an email to Stephen Wood and Thom Gennaro, June 14th 2007)

I think "Knocked Up" is a positive movie. Remember that positivism is a school of thought that encourages the bringing-together of seemingly disparate ideas. A movie is positive if it (1) includes two main themes that people seem to think are antithetical, opposite, or dissonant with one another and (2) uses the combination of those ideas to converge on a new, more subtle understanding of some greater theme. Usually this third theme has to do with a truth about human nature or what it is like to be human. I think "Knocked Up" does both of these things. The two disparate themes I think are play in this movie are:(A) The reality and humor of "inappropriate" behavior: eg. laziness, drug use, brutish jokes about body parts, a generally laid back attitude toward life, hedonistic, drunken, pre-marital sexual intercourse with strangers, stuff you don't really want your mother knowing about, etc. (B) The importance of "family values"; eg. responsibility, and commitment to the well-being of others through the abnegation of purely pleasurable and/or selfish acts. The first half of the movie develops two characters, Ben and Allyson. He's an American reject: He has no job. He is from Canada. He lives in American illegally. He doesn't pay taxes. He lives off of money that he did not work for. He is unshaven, round, and tactless. He lives in lazy squalor: his house is a mess, his friends are well-meaning but vulgar degenerates. They get drunk, smoke pot, and spend most of their time finding new ways to be inappropriate. Their only work-related initiative is a pornography website whose purpose is to tell the user the number of minutes of female nudity in popular movies (though this website is far from completed). It seems that Ben's only redeeming quality is that he doesn't actively wish others harm. Allyson is an American dream: She has a great job in the entertainment business and is getting promoted. She is intelligent and nice. She has a good relationship with her sister. She is beautiful, blond, and has an incredible body. Allyson is going somewhere and is doing everything right. We encounter theme A. Ben and Allyson both do what any normal or almost normal human being over the age of 21 does on a Saturday night. They go to a bar where other normal or almost normal human beings are and drink alcohol. Ben and Allyson meet and, finding they don't abhor one another's company, drink massive amounts of alcohol at the bar. Allyson takes Ben back to her apartment and, like any normal or almost normal human beings in their situation, they have sex. This is accepted behavior in the sense that, culturally, it's not shocking when two single strangers get drunk and have sexual intercourse. There are many people who do this, and/or continually hope they can do it in the future. The sexual act in these situations is completely stripped of emotional depth and seriousness in the name of physical pleasure. Ben and Allyson don't think about sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy enough to stop (they think to use a condom, but Allyson says "just do it" when Ben takes too long). Nor do they let the fact that they don't know anything about each other get in the way. It doesn't matter that they have no emotional connection. They just want to feel good. And they're drunk. So they have sex. To a majority of viewing audiences, this isn't shocking. Some might think it's wrong. But it's not unusual. I think the humor throughout this movie, the scatological and "inappropriate" kinds of jokes about body parts, contributes to theme A. Usually, those who take sexual intercourse seriously as an emotionally deep act don't make light of it. And Ben and his friends are definitely examples of people you would never want to take to church or bring home to mom. The movie continues and Allyson finds out that she's pregnant. After consulting her mother and her sister, she is presented with the option of abortion. She finds Ben and tells him that she is pregnant. She decides to keep the baby, and Ben decides to do his best to help her. These two decisions are what make theme B possible in this movie. Despite Ben's laziness, despite Allyson's career and initial distaste for Ben's personality, they each decide to act responsibly. They both decide to do something good that is not just for themselves, but for the well-being of others. Allyson makes the decision not to end the putative life of her baby and Ben decides not to run away from the responsibility of bringing that life into the world. The rest of the movie is devoted to their overall success in this, despite some bumps in the road. In the end, they show a commitment to something greater than their own physical pleasure. Ben and Allyson don't have sex because they agree it is a better idea to get to know one another. Ben reads baby books. He moves out of his friends' house. He gets a job. He helps Allyson pick gynecologists. He gets to know her family. He refuses to go out with his friends. Allyson works despite her pregnancy. These are all behaviors that show how this movie is a family values movie, that is has theme B. Again, a positive movie is one that has two seemingly disparate themes and shows how these themes converge on a more subtle understanding of some greater theme about human nature. The great thing about "Knocked Up" is that it shows us how humans can be selfish and hedonistic, but that it is possible for hedonistic creatures to be virtuous despite their hedonism. It shows how "inappropriate" behavior isn't an indication of the complete moral generation our of society. It shows us that we can be "inappropriate" and virtuous; that, conceptually, inappropriateness does not exclude virtue, responsibility, and depth. It shows that us both of these qualities exist in our culture, exist in our selves, but that they are not mutually exclusive qualities. It shows us that yes, we do in fact seek purely physical and selfish pleasure but that, despite this, we are still capable of doing things for deeper reasons. We are more complicated than dogma. "Knocked Up" is a great example of how.