The Business of Being Born has been called "the best birth movie ever made" by Ina May Gaskin, has been viewed by X viewers, and has helped to inspire a movement of women who see birth as a potentially natural, healthy, and beautiful experience (SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2, SOURCE 3). The movie draws on important revelation tropes - painting the dominant practices and establishment figures as (to some extent) self-interested and dangerous bullies, identifying prophets who offer a re-interpretation of the standard narrative, demonstrating the possibility of a new order of nature, truth, and love.
I think its a great film, and I've watched it at least 9x in the last three years. And even though I'm aware of the limitations of complex story-telling in films intended for large audiences, and I'm teaching a course partly to help people see that simple narratives "Can't Be That Simple" I felt a little stunned by the realization that a significant medical cover-up may have been perpetuated in a film devoted to uncovering the lies of the medical model of birth.
OUTLINE
SUMMARIZING THE KEY ISSUE -
SCENE 1 Growth on track
SCENE 2 Ricki "you look so small"
SCENE 3 Emergency C-Section
SCENE 4 Cover-up
SCENE 5 Narcissistic Nurse Midwife
ANALYSIS
why scene 4 is a cover up
RAISING QUESTIONS & Addressing them
raising questions - significance, filmmaker intent, midwife response, mother's perspective, OB perspective, public point of view
Conclusion
DId the filmmakers make the right decision artistically/ethically/politically?
What does this dilemma teach us about birthing? About studying complex issues? About trust, evidence, and life?
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