Another Unwanted Pregnancy Movie

I forgot in my post "Abortion in the Movies" to include "Waitress," a movie about a waitress (Keri Russell) impregnated by her repugnant husband somewhere in the deep south. She carries her baby to term, all the while baking brilliant pies and struggling to escape her suffocating marriage. "Waitress" is probably the most mature of the comedies I mentioned in its treatment of the pregnancy itself, with Keri Russell's character alternating between hostility and love for her little burden. What finally enables her to take control of her life is not, as in "Juno," finding true love, but rather finding profound joy in motherhood. Of course, she gets the cute northern gyno in the bargain. Unlike "Knocked Up," I thought the movie did a good job of conveying particular reasons why Keri Russell's character wouldn't have an abortion.

What was more interesting to me about "Waitress" was how heavily it relies on the North's stereotypical understanding of the South, particularly of southern men. What wouldn't seem credible if set anywhere else, such as all males being grubby and misogynistic, northern audiences can accept without reservation if it's in the South. And Keri Russell's character's knight in shining armor is a New England doctor who saves her from the trailer trash that all southern men are. To me, the southern setting was just an excuse to have northern actors drawl extravagantly and act sassier than would seem believable up North. Not that the South isn't sassy, however.