We have long come to believe that the most political movie genre, aside from actual films about politics, is horror, with its tendency to reflect society’s collective fears and anxieties of the moment.
The reality is that, despite the calls of some respected filmmakers to keep arts and politics separate from each other, pretty much all films tend to make some statement, even if they don’t intend to. This is especially true for certain topics that are considered controversial or divisive, even if they really, really shouldn’t be.
The representation of one such topic on screen becomes the topic of a new documentary with a telling title, Hollywood Does Abortion. Directed by Janet Goldwater, Barbara Attie, and Mike Attie, the film combines excerpts from films and TV shows, news segments, as well as commentary from experts, film critics, and content creators, to present a panorama of sorts of how the topic of abortion has been depicted throughout the last 50 years or so, ever since the memorable Maude’s Dilemma episode in 1972. Spoiler: it’s not all that great.
The film starts somewhat chronologically, naturally following the Maude reference with Dirty Dancing (1987), whose screenwriter, Eleanor Bergstein, appears on screen to talk about how the choice to make the abortion storyline so deeply engraved in the film was intentional, since that made it impossible to be removed when a potential sponsor inevitably made such a request. While talking about the 80s, the handling of an abortion in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) also gets an honorable mention, as it shows the heroine in question calmly and safely practicing her choice and moving on.
The doc then abandons the strict linear structure for the sake of trying to embrace the chaos of political climate changes, from the conservative, pro-life agenda to the seemingly progressive, but still inherently flawed “safe, legal, and rare” rhetoric. While the authors of the doc touch tangentially on the propagandist films, their main focus remains on more mainstream representation, the kind that not only reflects the mentality of the time but also, more importantly, tends to shape it.
Ironically, given that the film invokes clips from many very well-known works, like Juno, Knocked Up, Law & Order, and many more, it might be best to go into Hollywood Does Abortion without the thorough knowledge of the scope the film ends up presenting. It’s sufficiently telling that, when put together, the tropes that have become so familiar over time paint a rather disheartening picture of stigma often prevailing even in well-intended narratives.
There is another film in the Spotlight Documentary section at Tribeca that is making a similar point. Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders addresses the controversial nature of William Friedkin’s infamous 1980 movie, which, according to its authors, was supposed to represent the queer community and ended up being heavily criticized by said community for the way they chose to do it.
Hollywood Does Abortion is full of examples of films that seemingly strive to add nuance to their handling of abortion on screen, but still fall down the rabbit hole of voicing obligatory justifications for having the procedure (age, lack of financial means, and so forth) or presenting it as a life-altering event, saddled with emotional or physical trauma, guilt, and sometimes regret. While the doc freely gives out different kinds of examples (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Unpregnant, Obvious Child) too, what makes it truly powerful and impactful is not presenting one straight line of progressively evolving representation, but exposing the lack of one.
The film enjoyed its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. Visit the film’s page at the festival’s official site for more information.
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