MovieChat Forums > Locke (2014) Discussion > The movie sums up the popular opinion in...

The movie sums up the popular opinion in society that makes me so angry

posted 10 years ago by CombinationOfCharacters
120 replies | jump to latest

Man and woman have consensual no strings sex. Woman ends up pregnant. Woman gets to choose whether or not to keep the baby, no one would judge her if she chose an abortion from a hook up with a virtual stranger. Man has no choice and in order to look like a good person must potentially give up his whole life in order to accept his 'responsibility'.

Why is it that a woman gets this choice and a man gets no choice as to whether he wants a baby? Why should he and everyone around him have their lives tone apart because she made that decision? It happens so often and makes me really angry.

Opinions? FYI I am a woman (in case that has a bearing on how this post comes across)

[–] VanHammersly42 10 years ago

He did have a choice. That was the whole point of the film.

[–] snakeye808 10 years ago

Ivan has no choice as to whether Bethan keeps the child, and I believe he makes this clear to his wife when he reiterates that SHE (Bethan) has chosen to have the baby. The only choice he seems to have is whether he wants to forfeit his job, family and home to be a part of the child's life. Either way Bethan was having the baby and Ivan would be forking over the cash to raise the child.

Besides, this very interesting thread is supposed to be about why pregnancies work this way in real life, as opposed to Ivan's situation in particular.

[–] MiroOz7 10 years ago

I'd never imagine to see a post like this by a woman.. actually i doubt that :)

[–] trendhouse-uab 9 years ago

Why? You think all women are selfish *beep* Nah man, there are quite a few good ones left.

[–] RustyShackleford-Gribble 10 years ago

Its a great point and this thread is full of well reasoned arguments which is nice to see. A point that has yet to be raised is that of the feelings of the child when a woman decides to keep a child in this situation. If the father has no interest in having a child then that child will always feel the rejection of an absent father. My own parents were married but my father left when I was 3 due to not wanting the responsibility among other issues and 32 years later I cannot have a relationship due to abandonment issues. I wonder if a child as in the situation in the movie would have the same abandonment issues because the woman selfishly decided to go ahead with a pregnancy only wanted by one parent. Unless both parents want a child an abortion should take place in my opinion.

[–] canada22 10 years ago

Since the consequences are known the choices are clear -use birth control.

[–] canada22 10 years ago

Since the consequences are known the choices are clear -use birth control.

[–] tigerbos 10 years ago

Man is married. Should have never had sex with anyone other than his wife to begin with. The end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-09OhQPiIg#t=85

[–] dgates64 10 years ago

"...Why is it that a woman gets this choice and a man gets no choice as to whether he wants a baby?..."

Um, men DO have a choice. You can chose NOT to screw them in the first place.

Actions have consequences. See how easy that was?

[–] Sandor_Szavost 10 years ago

But the thing is that women get two chances to choose to have the baby; first, when they have sex and, second, when they decide to keep the baby or kill it. Men only get one chance to make the decision; when they have sex. I guess women have the luxury to act foolishly the first time because they can "fix" it later. Men don't get a second chance.

[–] dgates64 10 years ago

I see what you're saying.

[–] trendhouse-uab 9 years ago

Telling people not to have sex if they don't want children make you soun like some bible thumper from 19th century.

[–] dgates64 9 years ago

I'm not even religious. So much for your statement. You've obviously got issues with women. Your post history confirms that.

[–] trendhouse-uab 9 years ago

I said you use the same logic a religious bible thumper would use, not that you are one. Lol I'm married and my wife has even stronger opinion on this than I do, so nice try to use a pathetic ad hominem when somebody calls you out on your *beep*

[–] kay_rock 10 years ago

People tend to debate this issue in the abstract, because that's the only easy way to do it. Honestly, if men were the ones to bear the children the debate would be identical. It takes two to make a baby but only one to bear it, so we, as a society, have chosen to give the prerogative to the one who gestates.

As an alternative, we could just take a newborn and hand it to the father and say that it's now his child and his choice: kill it, keep it, or give it away. Suddenly it's not a just a concept (pun intended). But we outsiders would still hold the same ridiculous judgments. We'll revile the ones who kill, sneer at the ones who keep (and demand that the mother participate either physically or financially), and silently judge the ones who give it away.

It's an unwinnable situation, except for those who sit in moral judgment, who get to be superior no matter what.

Of course, there's a third alternative: take away the shame and societal discrimination of pregnancy for BOTH participants (including the determination of outsiders as to when pregnancy is ok and when it's a shameful sin). That kind of crazy idea would never happen, though.

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