Elizabeth Banks Says '17 Again' Glamorizes Teen Pr...


Elizabeth Banks Says '17 Again' Glamorizes Teen Pregnancy

Posted by SexiVixxEN 209 days ago
(Note: Possible spoilers ahead for 17 Again.)

Before all the spring movies get pushed completely out of the way by the summer blockbusters, here's a question for you: Did the star of High School Musical make a movie in favor of teen pregnancy? Conceding that she may be taking Zac Efron and 17 Again way too seriously, actress Elizabeth Banks (The Uninvited, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) writes in The Huffington Post: "The message of the movie seemed to be ... knocking up your high school sweetheart is A-OK! Especially if you give up that Syracuse scholarship to marry her! F College!"

Banks is careful to note that she really enjoyed the movie and everyone in it before expressing her concerns: "This movie pretty much glamorizes teenage parenting. ... The problem with this message is that, according to unreliable online sources and my own anecdotal evidence collected over my 3?-something years: this is crap. ... Seriously, this film is a fun ride. I just wish the flick had explicitly mentioned, just mentioned, that it might not be cool to have a kid when you're 18 so for G-D's sake, use birth control!"

Unlike Banks, I am not "inappropriately lustful" for Efron and have no great desire to see the movie. (Jette Kernion reviewed it for Cinematical.) But 17 Again has made a good deal of money, which obviously means a lot of you have seen it. So is Elizabeth Banks really taking the movie too seriously? Are comedies exempt from serious consideration? Do movies aimed specifically at teens have a greater responsibility to include information that reflects real-life consequences of the actions depicted?
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Comments


  • Lemure
    Yeah, and Transformers glamorises war between giant robots. Oh, and The Godfather glamorises mobsters...come to think of it doesn't Casablanca have a lot of drinking in it? These films should come with a warning! Won't somebody think of the children?!

    But seriously, who takes a film that stars Matthew Perry and Zac Efron seriously?
    posted by Lemure 208 days ago
  • sanjurosamurai
    elizabeth banks made a movie that glamourizes porn. porn is an industry that destroys thousands of lives and marriages, so if she is this sensitive then she should select her own film roles a little better.
    posted by sanjurosamurai 208 days ago
  • chuckthegirl
    No I don't agree that it "glamorizes" teen pregnancy. Unlike most teens, the two actually decided to take on their responsibilities, owning up to what they had done. Who says if they hadn't got pregnant that he would have regretted some of the choices he made? Many people do that. I'm in my mid-twenties and look back on my short life and wish I'd done things differently. Birth control is no guarantee that you won't get pregant either. I thought it was a great movie, although I admit Efron being in it had me wary of seeing it. But it was hilarious thanks to Thomas Lennon, he pulled it all together into a great film.
    posted by chuckthegirl 208 days ago
  • dreamgirlmis
    oh, i like this movie so much, and Zac, he is so handsome, he he he
    posted by dreamgirlmis 208 days ago
  • agaellen
    no i totally disagree....this movie does not glamorizes teen pregnancy..it is a case where his girlfriend is pregnant and he has do his responsibilities..to take care of his gf and the baby...you cannot run away from ur mistakes but to learn from them and on the other hand face the consequences....
    posted by agaellen 208 days ago
  • pirategirl25
    I disagree completely. The movie is all about a guy who marries his pregnant gf, gives up his potential scholarship and then regrets his life. I don't see how the message 'I got my girlfriend pregnant and now I have a crappy life' is glamourising teen pregnancy.
    posted by pirategirl25 209 days ago
  • polomint99
    i dont think it's glamorizing it, i think it's showing that if it happens you should run. the guys need to look after the girl.
    and it's not saying that if the girl gets pregnant then neither can go to college, that's just what he did.
    posted by polomint99 209 days ago