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Primetime Show Reviews
"The
Pregnancy Project"
review by Suzanne
Premieres Saturday, January 28 8pm et/pt on Lifetime
 This
is a very interesting movie. It's based on a true story (and a book) about a
girl who pretends to be pregnant in high school to see how people treat
her. She doesn't think that it will affect her much, but it does, much to
her dismay. Her basic idea is that people treat pregnant teens badly, when
instead they should be helping them. I agree with that idea - no one
should treat teen girls badly, especially if they're pregnant. However, it
does make sense that other teens would do that. For one thing, teens make fun of
anyone who is different. If this girl had been rich and suddenly become poor
(and dressed poor), or if she had suddenly started smoking, or dressing like a
goth person...any time of change would have probably given the kids in school
something to gossip about and perhaps to treat her badly for. That's the way it
can be in high school. And with a pregnant teen, they are all feeling
threatened themselves because they know that it could be them in that position,
and it scares them. People lash out when they're scared. No one wants to
be reminded of their greatest fear.
In the movie, the girl goes on and on at the end about
stereotypes that people use to see her or other pregnant girls,
such as "you're stupid if you get pregnant in high school". Well, part of
that is true. You may not be stupid to GET pregnant (accidents happen), although
I'm guessing that 99% of the time, it's lack of birth control or ignorance that
causes teens to get pregnant, not faulty birth control. However, I have to
agree to decide to have or keep the baby, when abortion is readily available, is
stupid. You shouldn't ruin your life over one mistake. I know a lot
of people may disagree with me on this point, but that is my opinion. And
some of the other things they said, like her life was over, she couldn't get
into college, etc. They may not be 100% true for all pregnant teens, but the
statistics do show that it's obviously hard for a single teen mom to graduate
from high school, let alone go to college. A lot of stereotypes do come
from truth.
Still, it's stupid to say these things to a girl who's already
pregnant - they should be saying it to girls who are not yet pregnant. By the
time she's pregnant and far along, it's too late. But still, it is
understandable that people - both students and adults - would react this way,
with the remarks they made in the movie. I wish they'd had someone to point
these things out and could address this. One thing I did learn that I
thought was shocking was that most foster kids come from pregnant teens. I guess
that makes sense. I wonder if it's true. I was a foster kid, and I did not come
from a pregnant teen. Neither did most of the other foster kids I knew. Most of
us came from families with alcoholism, drug use, and abuse.
Faking her pregnancy in her senior year was a very unusual and
brave thing for this girl to do, and I'm sure it was a very powerful message to
her fellow students when she finally revealed the truth. In the movie, it
was very interesting. The acting in the movie, by the way, is very good,
and it seems very real. Alexa Vega, who's most known for the "Spy Kids" movies,
plays the girl, Gaby. Judy Reyes stars as her mother. It's interesting that Gaby
is Latina and the other kids in the school don't seem to be, yet race doesn't
come up all that much.
I will have to read the book, which they also sent me, to see if
it's different from the movie or if I agree with it more or not. That will
have to wait for a future review.
Tune in to this interesting movie and see for yourself. I may
not completely agree with what Gaby was saying, but the movie itself is
entertaining and educational. Every teen should probably watch it.
More Info:
LIFETIME TACKLES TEEN PREGNANCY AND STEREOTYPING WITH ORIGINAL
MOVIE THE PREGNANCY PROJECT
Inspired by High School Student who Pretended to be Pregnant for Senior Class
Project, Movie to Premiere on January 28
LOS ANGELES, CA (December 14, 2011) – On the heels of its successful 2010 movie
The Pregnancy Pact, Lifetime will again take a hard look at how the nation views
teenage pregnancy with The Pregnancy Project, an original movie based on the
true story of Gaby Rodriguez, the 18-year-old Washington state high school
student who pretended to be pregnant in an effort to explore conventional
stereotypes and the treatment of pregnant teens. Alexa Vega (Spy Kids,
Lifetime’s Odd Girl Out) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs, Lifetime’s Little Girl Lost:
The Delimar Vera Story) star in the film, which will make its world premiere on
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 8:00PM ET/PT.
In The Pregnancy Project, Gaby Rodriguez (Vega) is the brave 18-year-old high
school student who forces her school and community to confront its prejudices
and preconceptions about teen pregnancy -- and makes national headlines in the
process. The story begins with Gaby deciding that her senior project will be on
stereotyping, which she decides to experience firsthand. Confiding in her mother
Juana (Reyes), her boyfriend Jorge (Walter Perez) and a handful of others, Gaby
begins her social experiment in which she tells her friends, family and teachers
that she is pregnant. While her fake baby bump continues to grow over the next
six-and-a-half months, Gaby carefully records how she is treated and what is
being said about her – for better and for worse -- both in and out of school.
With her project’s findings conclusive, Gaby emotionally addresses her fellow
students and their teachers about stereotyping and teen pregnancy during a
special school assembly and then shocks them by ripping off her padded “baby
bump,” revealing she was never pregnant at all and teaching them a valuable
lesson.
The Pregnancy Project is executive produced by Barbara Lieberman (Lifetime’s The
19th Wife and Murder in the Hamptons), Tom Patricia (Lifetime’s Dawn Anna and
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story), Sharlene Martin and Anne Bremner.
Norman Buckley (Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars) directed the screenplay by
Teena Booth (Lifetime’s The Pregnancy Pact and Lifetime Movie Network’s Natalee
Holloway). The movie is based on the book The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir (Simon
& Schuster) by Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer.
Alexa Vega is best known for her role as “CarmenCortez” in the box-office hits
Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and Spy
Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D. Additional film credits include From
Prada to Nada, Mother’s Day, Repo! The Genetic Opera, State’s Evidence,
Sleepover, The Deep End of the Ocean, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Glimmer Man and
Twister. Vega’s television credits include the series The Middle, Ruby & the
Rockits and Ghost Whisperer, as well as the movies Odd Girl Out for Lifetime,
Follow the Stars Home for CBS and Run the Wild Fields for Showtime.
Judy Reyes, best known for her leading role as the sassy, no-nonsense nurse
Carla Espinosa on the EmmyÒ Award-nominated comedy Scrubs, was recently on the
silver screen alongside Esai Morales in the film Gun Hill Road. She landed her
first major acting role in the independent feature Jack and His Friends,
opposite Sam Rockwell, followed by roles in Dirty, Went to Coney Island on a
Mission From God, Be Back at Five, King of the Jungle and Glow Ropes: The Rise
and Fall of a Bar Mitzvah Emcee. Reyes’ additional television credits include a
star turn in the Lifetime Movie Network film, Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera
Story. She also had a recurring role as Tina on the acclaimed HBO series Oz and
has appeared in The Sopranos, Third Watch, NYPD Blue and Law & Order, among
others.
ABOUT LIFETIME
Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment
and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting
women and their families. Lifetime Television®, Lifetime Movie Network®,
Lifetime Real Women® and Lifetime Digital™ are part of Lifetime Entertainment
Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of
the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.
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