I’ve read about the outrage over the new faux web reality show “Bump” where viewers vote to decide whether a fake pregnant cast member gets a fake abortion.
Is it vile? Sure. Crude? Yup. Dehumanizing and tasteless? Abso-freaking-lutely.
But I say keep it comin.’ I’m not going to watch it but I’m cool with it. I’m more than cool with it. I say, let’s start season two immediately.
Here’s the thing. Very real abortions are procured for much more fatuous reasons than viewer votes on a game show. To many progressives, abortion just isn’t that big of a deal. And that’s going on in real life, never mind in a reality game show.
Anyone who hears about this show with any dab of moral sense will be outraged and maybe they’ll consider that maybe life is a tad too precious to be decided by a game show. Maybe they’ll consider that life is a tad too precious to discard for any reason.
Right now, abortion as a cultural conversation is barely a whisper. Pam Tebow wants to tell people she chose life and there’s outrage. People are simply not allowed to discusss abortion in America. When someone holds up a sign of a dismembered fetus in front of an abortion clinic people are outraged at the man holding the sign while ignoring the fact that abortionists are actually pulling apart real babies just inside the building. America is experiencing a silent holocaust. And let’s face it, silence only helps the status quo. Darkness is the friend of the oppressor.
I’ll accept just about anything to stop the cultural blackout we have on all things abortion. For too long abortion as a topic has been outside the realm of public conversation. You’re simply not allowed to discuss it. At once, pro-aborts say there’s nothing wrong with abortion and then they say it’s too controversial to discuss. Well, which is it?
As far as I’m concerned, the more shows like “Bump” the better. Make people confront the horror of abortion. And if this was one step too far I’m begging them to take two. Pro-aborts are outing themselves as fiendishly opposed to Tim Tebow’s commercial and they’re outing themselves with idiocy such as this show.
Give ’em their game show. Let’s have it out. In public. Because i know if abortion is talked about, we win.
February 3, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Oh, please. This show isn't designed to help us talk about the abortion issue any more than "Survivor" was deisigned to help us talk about the desert island issue or "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" was designed to help us talk about the marriage issue.
It was designed to help Yellow Line Studio generate enough buzz so they cash in on network television's reality show craze.
February 3, 2010 at 1:12 pm
I find the premise of this show very creepy and outrageous. Although, I think it may be interesting to see the outcome of viewer voting. That is if the network is honest about the outcome.
February 3, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Craig,
I don't care what they designed it for. I expect they're pursuing some money from it. That's not my concern. My hope is that it gets people talking. Hey look, it got us talking. Isn't it wonderful?
February 3, 2010 at 2:55 pm
64% of abortions are coerced…I wonder if they'll portray that or if all the women in their stories will actually "choose"… I can guess.
February 3, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Let the common ground discussion begin. That's what our great leader has asked for and that's what we should pursue. I bet the ground that exposes the shed blood is the side that will win the discussion.
Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Genisis.
February 3, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Well, you haven't deleted my comment, so I guess that's progress.
Still, I can't help but notice that the studio is betting heavily on 'winger outrage to get people to watch their show, though.
They launched the pilot on Roe v. Wade's anniversary, asked Breitbart to vomit his opinion on it, and told Kathleen Parker in a WaPo interview that the show was inspired by Obama's Notre Dame acceptance speech.
There really aren't any buttons left to push.
February 3, 2010 at 3:34 pm
From the educational perspective of winning pro-aborts by information and attitude change, this show has something going for it. The part that I find dicey is where the audience decides what the characters should do with their pregnancies, like it’s up to them. It’s good if they decide for the child but what if they don’t? It seems to posit an “agree to disagree” tone and that pulls us back to legalized choice. Though that chance is slim and that pro-lifers will not be swayed, those who are neutral can get position reaffirmed. But I’d take that chance anyway because, whenever this problem is discussed and thought out, the insanity of choosing abortion is exposed.
February 3, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Yellow Line Studio is quite the interesting beastie.
Dominic Iocco – CEO
Christopher Riley – Creative Development
Lauri Deason – Marketing/Publicity
All are listed on this link:
http://yellowlinestudio.com/?page_id=14
All of them are faculty at John Paul the Great Catholic University, an unaccredited school in San Diego that just graduated its first class of 19 students two weeks ago.
It's very odd that absolutely none of them mention that in their bios.
February 3, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Wow, Craig,
I just looked all that info up. I found Dominic Iocco's twitter page and he is described as a Catholic professor and entrepreneur. Could it be this project is being run by pro-lifers? I'm a bit skeptical overall, as the show's creators were "inspired" to do the show by Obama's speech at Notre Dame.
This is very weird. I still find the whole thing creepy, but now I'm intrigued to see where this show goes.
February 3, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I'm inclined to wait it out to see the ending. It would be very interesting if the audience did choose abortion…and then got to *see that choice*.
Just a thought.
February 3, 2010 at 4:40 pm
If you read the comments and watch the videos of comments made by the show's creators, I think you'll see very clearly that the show is run by pro-lifers. And the audience doesn't "vote", the discussion will shape the course of the show. So it will be important to have pro-life discussion on thier site!
I personally think the show is a great idea. I envision the possibility that people could "learn from their (collective) mistakes" without actually making those mistakes in real life. That may be idealistic, but at least this show takes the discussion from women's "rights", to what is actually happening in the clinics: expecting mothers are deciding whether or not to kill their children.
~Siobhan
February 3, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Actually, the show and comments are pretty interesting. And Siobhan is right–no 'voting' –they're just encouraging women to share THEIR unplanned-pregnancy-abortion-or-not stories and they're going to let the character arcs be shaped by what other people experienced.
Kinda of lazy, IMO– most screenwriters do the research FIRST, tyou know.
Also, these people are supposedly friends of Barbara Nicolosi's. (The Act One person) — My guess is that it's an experiment to see if pro-choice people will actually recommend abortion in these 3 hard cases (of the sort used to justify our current abortion regime.)
When we humanize the hard cases, do people still think abortion is a good option for them?
Anyway, at the moment, I'm intrigued. And the conspiracy theorist in me wondered if having all the big Catholic bloggers trash this show in a two-day period was part of the marketing campaign…. I mean, how often do all of you agree on ANYTHING?
February 3, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Why not go to http://www.jpcatholic.com and take look at John Paul the Great Catholic University, whose motto is "Impact Culture for Christ." That is what these people are trying to do through "Bump."
If Creative Minority Report is trying to impact the culture, be a leading voice in the blogsphere, then why not call up Dominic Iocco at 858-653-6740 and talk with him?
February 4, 2010 at 1:47 am
This series sounds repulsive but overt catechesis isn't going to succeed. Why not try this approach? JP II was/is an extraordinary role model for the young. I'm with Lee on this. That doesn't mean I'll watch it myself but updates would be nice! Above all, they need our prayers.
February 4, 2010 at 5:06 am
The comments on this post are among the most intelligent I have seen. most pro-life sites reporting on this haven't even bothered to see the show, read their website or do any sort of investigation before passing judgement (and I mean judgment like hoping Jesus strike the creators of the show with lightning type of judgment).
Give the show a chance, listen to the conversations unfolding and don't believe everything the media says: (it's not a game show, there is no voting, these are not real people!)
February 4, 2010 at 7:26 am
Maggie Mahrt, one of the show's directors, spent several years touring the country as the original St. Therese in the THERESE one-woman play produced by Leonardo Defilippis and St. Luke Productions. (You can see her in the video clip on this page: http://www.stlukeproductions.com/dramas/therese.php )Knowing what I do of Maggie (who is also the "director" who appears in each episode talking about the show) I can guarantee that this is a pro-life effort. I also think the negative press among conservative blogs will help the show more than hurt it, although I'm not enough of a conspiracy theorist to believe it is coordinated. But face it: this show isn't meant to reach us. We're pro-life. It's meant to make those who take the intellectually-vapid "pro-choice" position think a little bit more about what that choice means. The challenge is for the JPII profs and students to do this in a way that does not compromise their own integrity. I have not, thus far, seen evidence that that's happening. Let it play out. The best statement I've seen about Bump so far is the last thing Matthew said: …if abortion is talked about, we win.
February 4, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Some of these comments are hilarious. Discussion is the point. Seeing how lightly people take the murder of children and making them put it in their hands and how that just might turn out is the point. I knew Bump was from JPU when I went in to see the pilot. I don't care for it because I just loathe that MTV director style (gives me a headache). I'm sure they didn't make it obvious they were from JPU so that people wouldn't hate on them, since people hate on Catholics regularly. Quit being paranoid and assuming the worst of people, especially people trying to be faithful Catholics.
February 5, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Matthew,
This is exactly why I read your blog! You never fail to cut to the chase and see the truth at the heart of any issue and you retain a sense of humor all the while. I volunteer at a crisis pregnancy clinic. I am giving a talk to young women tomorrow and I debated bringing up this show. Now I will definitely talk about it. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Abortion is just what Bernard Nathanson named it: a hideous monster, which he helped unleash when he founded NARAL. Now a Catholic convert, he has devoted his life to fighting this monster. Once this subject enters the realm of reality TV, Americans can no longer avoid looking at the monster. Maybe then we will unite behind women and end its reign of terror.
February 7, 2010 at 4:02 pm
The audience for the show is not Catholic pro-life bloggers. The audience is teenagers and college aged young women who maybe have never thought deeply about abortion. (Ref. "Precious" for some of the prime demographic here.) How about everyone watches the product and gives it a chance instead of trying to define it and dismiss it based on who is making it? It's astounding how many people will criticize something they haven't seen.
Juno was not made by pro-lifers. But would it have mattered to the global audience if it had? The Holy Spirit blows where He wills.
And as for the show being cheap and gross…
That nasty writer Flannery O'Connor used the "N" word and wrote about people with zits, and about hypocritical self-righteous Christians, and about how serial murderers could sometimes be a moment of grace… Disgusting!!! And then there's that movie in which Bernadette Soubirous is shown eating mud like a crazy person…. Gross!!! And don't get me started on that obscene naked statue of David inside that museum in Florence! Repulsive!!!!
Let's grow up people.