As a huge fan of Alexander Payne's later films, I decided that it was about time I saw "Citizen Ruth." Though easily the weakest of Payne's films, I found the social commentary in "Citizen Ruth" more nuanced and provocative than his more popular works.
The film centers around Ruth, a down-and-out woman arrested for huffing toxic chemicals. It is discovered during her arrest that she is pregnant, and since she is a repeat offender with several neglected children, the judge in her case encourages her behind closed doors to have an abortion "for everyone's sake." The judge's comments, as well as his charging her with endangering the life of her fetus, set into motion a battle between pro-life and pro-choice organizations. A well-meaning Christian family takes her in initially, exposing her to pro-life propaganda films and taking her to protests outside a clinic. After a pro-choice group wins Ruth over and takes her in, the pro-life group ups the ante, trying to entice Ruth to have her baby by offering her $15,000. A member of the pro-choice group matches the sum, but soon after, Ruth has a miscarriage, making the whole spectacle (which is blown up by the media and each warring interest group) completely undercut. Neither group is aware of the miscarriage when Ruth goes to the abortion clinic, takes the $15,000 offered to her, and escapes from the scene, leaving protesters from each side warring behind her.
There are many elements of the film that could be improved. I thought the dialog was clumsy at times, which led to some mediocre acting. Laura Dern is fantastic, though, as the title character, making the character believable.
What impresses me most about the film, though, is it's message about abortion politics. Essentially, Payne's commentary suggests that interest groups on both sides don't really identify with the people they claim to by fighting for; Ruth's interests as a person and her "choice" are undercut by rhetoric and high-minded principles that don't take her situation into account. Payne cleverly implicates BOTH the pro-life and pro-choice factions in this scheme of robbing Ruth from exerting her will. In the end, Ruth takes control of her own destiny, yielding to neither side.
The message of "Citizen Ruth" is more relevant now than ever as pro-choicers face the challenge of a majority conservative supreme court. How will they appeal to the Ruths out there? And for pro-lifers, how would they deal with the consequences of an overturning of Roe v. Wade? Payne's film pointedly asks these questions, and only time will tell how each side will answer.
The film centers around Ruth, a down-and-out woman arrested for huffing toxic chemicals. It is discovered during her arrest that she is pregnant, and since she is a repeat offender with several neglected children, the judge in her case encourages her behind closed doors to have an abortion "for everyone's sake." The judge's comments, as well as his charging her with endangering the life of her fetus, set into motion a battle between pro-life and pro-choice organizations. A well-meaning Christian family takes her in initially, exposing her to pro-life propaganda films and taking her to protests outside a clinic. After a pro-choice group wins Ruth over and takes her in, the pro-life group ups the ante, trying to entice Ruth to have her baby by offering her $15,000. A member of the pro-choice group matches the sum, but soon after, Ruth has a miscarriage, making the whole spectacle (which is blown up by the media and each warring interest group) completely undercut. Neither group is aware of the miscarriage when Ruth goes to the abortion clinic, takes the $15,000 offered to her, and escapes from the scene, leaving protesters from each side warring behind her.
There are many elements of the film that could be improved. I thought the dialog was clumsy at times, which led to some mediocre acting. Laura Dern is fantastic, though, as the title character, making the character believable.
What impresses me most about the film, though, is it's message about abortion politics. Essentially, Payne's commentary suggests that interest groups on both sides don't really identify with the people they claim to by fighting for; Ruth's interests as a person and her "choice" are undercut by rhetoric and high-minded principles that don't take her situation into account. Payne cleverly implicates BOTH the pro-life and pro-choice factions in this scheme of robbing Ruth from exerting her will. In the end, Ruth takes control of her own destiny, yielding to neither side.
The message of "Citizen Ruth" is more relevant now than ever as pro-choicers face the challenge of a majority conservative supreme court. How will they appeal to the Ruths out there? And for pro-lifers, how would they deal with the consequences of an overturning of Roe v. Wade? Payne's film pointedly asks these questions, and only time will tell how each side will answer.