Hollywood Movie Insights III
by Rachel MacNair
This is the third in a series of short reviews of different movies. For the others, see:
Hollywood Movie Insights I (The Giver, The Whistleblower, and The Ides of March)
Hollywood Movie Insights II (Never Look Away, The Report, and Dark Waters)
She Said
Opposing sexual abuse because it’s horrific without needing to take anything else into account is a position taken by most people. But rape has an additional potential lethal consequence: it makes the killing of the unborn child conceived that way much more likely, and more likely to be seen by many as a justified exception. But if the rape never happens, then neither does the abortion. So part of the practice of pro-life ethics is to prevent rape and the associated forms of sexual abuse.
Therefore, a well-done movie focused on prevention by investigation and media exposure is a positive from our perspective. She Said is such a move. The connection is never made – abortion isn’t mentioned at all – but we don’t need connections made explicit to know they’re there.
The portrayal of young mothers handling children (with their husbands) and also professional responsibilities shows that having children is no career-blocker.
As an additional positive feature, one of the reporters is pregnant early in the story. It’s a nice touch to have a few seconds of a sonogram showing a delightful bouncing unborn child.
Cabrini
Set in the late 1800s in New York City, at a time when bigotry against Italian Americans was intense, Cabrini shows examples of how racism and living-in-the-sewer-level poverty can be lethal.
But what it’s about is a woman determined to help solve those problems. Mother Cabrini is a nun who sets up an orphanage and a higher-quality hospital, against great odds. But she isn’t merely doing charity – she knows she has to work on social justice and social institutions as well. She has courage, sound strategic thinking, powerful compassion, and an ability to reach people’s consciences.
My Dead Friend Zoe
In My Dead Friend Zoe, two women were veterans of Afghanistan. Merit is still alive, going to a court-ordered therapy group. Zoe interacts with Merit as a hallucination others don’t see. As Merit deals with family problems, we know throughout that Zoe is dead. Cheerfully so.
Spoiler alert: Until the end, we don’t know how Zoe died. Some will assume we’ll be told what combat incident killed her. Actually, she got home and shot herself. This goes with the dark truth: more soldiers die by suicide than by combat. The movie’s conclusion is the need for more therapy available to veterans.
This is certainly true. Veterans have already gone through war and desperately need the help. But not putting people into wars in the first place would be far more effective.
Snow White (2025 Disney live-action version)
The theory behind the effectiveness of nonviolent action – an alternative to war as a way of opposing tyranny – is that power comes not from the sword but from the cooperation of the people. Tyrants use fear to get that cooperation, as did the Evil Queen in Snow White. But people see authority as more legitimate when it takes a kind approach.
In this version, after the true-love kiss had aroused Snow White from the poisoned apple, the queen went back to the palace and Snow White went there to confront her. She elicited the support of the people before the face-to-face contact. When the queen ordered guards to kill her on the spot, Snow White called the men by name and reminded them of their former occupations and families. Noncooperation ensued.
This is reminiscent of the scene in the live-action version of Disney’s Aladdin when Jasmine also courageously appealed to the guards to not carry out the usurper’s demands.
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See a full list of the movie reviews on our blog on our list of all posts under
Movie, Television, and Documentary Reviews
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