“American Baby” is the Beginning of an Important Conversation
Despite the fact that it’s the only way the human race can continue, pregnancy is a topic many adults like to avoid with their teenagers. Sure, the thought of discussing sex with your parents or your kid is a bummer, but so is an unplanned teenage pregnancy. Ellen Rodnianski’s American Baby is a cautionary tale about the intersection of religion, teenage desire, and sex education that takes place in a small Texas town. The convergence of these concepts creates a powder keg that’s on the verge of blowing everything this town knows to smithereens.
Oli (Abigail Pniowsky) is fifteen years old and pregnant, much to the chagrin of her mother, Tammy (Janel Koloski). Oli’s pregnancy has utterly alienated them from their neighbors. She confides in her best friend, Miriam (Claire Capek), and the two spend much of the film talking about what to do about Oli’s pregnancy. Somewhat out of the picture is the father of the baby, Toby (Elisha Henig), whose parents forbid him from seeing Oli. It’s in this isolation that Oli begins to reflect on things she used to hold true.
courtesy of American Baby
American Baby hurts itself through its assembly of the narrative. It jumps backward and forward through time rather than progressing in a linear fashion. When we first meet Oli, she’s already quite pregnant. It’s an incredibly constructed sequence that invites the audience into the two worlds that are at odds within Oli. As she stands in her room before school, a radio plays in the background and an announcer says that Russia has invaded Ukraine. Her interest is piqued because that’s where her mother grew up, but it’s also far from her reality as a teenage girl no one wants to speak to anymore. The non-linear presentation takes some of the wind out of the sails of Oli’s personal journey. When we already see how the isolation has impacted her, it makes the development of Oli’s ostracism expected rather than a surprise. Watching the close-knit community turn on Oli and her mother would have packed much more of a punch.
courtesy of American Baby
Toward the end of the film, Oli, in tears, fails to understand how the religion she was raised in could treat her like this. She was taught to be kind to her neighbors, to look out for the community, and to lead with love. Oli learns, though, that when push comes to shove, the religious teachings don’t mean much to her neighbors. Through tears, she says, “Some people are too busy worrying about the next life to be happy or kind to one another in this one.” It’s a succinct line that speaks to the heart of what American Baby wants to impart. We can’t teach abstinence-only lessons in school, be shocked when teenagers act like teenagers, then turn our backs on them.
While the viewer may not agree with what Oli ultimately decides to do, it’s not hard to see how she came to that conclusion. Years of repression, misinformation, and isolation pushed her to an ending that’s logical for a girl who grew up in this small town. The film doesn’t make the case that Oli’s choice is necessarily the smartest one, but it does explain how she got there. American Baby seeks to foster a space for conversation about the choices, both hard and easy, that come with pregnancy.
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