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Shrill is a new Hulu series which spotlights the tribulations of a fat woman in a society which values the slender. That’s nothing new, however. There have been TV series such as This is Us, and movies like Shallow Hal which show us how overweight women struggle socially.
What makes Shrill so different is that we see its main character, Annie, played by Aidy Bryant, get an abortion. Not only that, but the abortion happens in the first 20 minutes of the first episode of Season One. Plus, the viewer actually gets to see Annie in the procedure room with her best friend by her side. I sense an agenda here, don’t you?
Does Annie demonstrate any regret, or even sadness about the abortion? Not a bit. In fact, here’s what she told her best friend, Fran, a few days later:
“I got myself into this huge f*cking mess, but I made a decision, only for me, for myself, and I got myself out of it. I don’t know, I feel very f*cking powerful right now.”
Because killing your helpless unborn baby makes you so “f*ucking powerful.”
But the scene disturbed many viewers, including this woman who said she was “pro-choice:”
What I don’t like about Shrill full on going there with the abortion plot is that 1 of the reasons why u should be pro-choice is that an abortion isn’t something any woman is going to get nonchalantly w/o agonizing over the decision. But Aidy’s like so happy & chill about it???
— Taylor Berry (@sewnfruit) March 18, 2019
Another woman was appalled at how Shrill treats abortion as “a super normal part of life.”
Because, as Shrill’s writer Lindy West says:
“It’s a super normal part of life.”
Abortion.
It's a super normal part of life.
Dismembering an unborn child: a super normal part of life.
Ending an inconvenient life: a super normal part of life. 2/?— Carolyn (@ccarolson) March 21, 2019
Of course the feminist website Bustle cheered the scene, saying that it “debunks so many common misconceptions” about abortion:
“That newfound feeling of freedom and agency following an abortion is something that hasn’t really been featured in mainstream pop culture, and it feels like a meaningful perspective to explore.”
The Lily called the scene “unsentimental.” It also gave a shoutout for the “empowerment” that the abortion gives Annie:
“If her abortion marks a turning point, it’s only because of what Annie does next: She takes charge of her life, confronting her faltering relationship and standing up to her dismissive boss. . .”
It’s no surprise that Shrill jumped feet first into abortion in its very first episode, and that’s because its creator, Lindy West, is a co-founder of the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign.
Here’s West discussing Shrill while casually mentioning her own abortion:
Did you get West’s comment about “a lot of stuff that we couldn’t put in the show?” Because it was “too brutal” and “too dark?”
So fat-shaming is worse than abortion. And killing an unborn baby isn’t “brutal” and “dark.”
But guess who helped the writers of Shrill with that abortion scene? Points for you if you said Planned Parenthood. Lindy West said they shared an early draft with PP. Gotta get details down — even to what an abortionist might say to the woman killing her child having the procedure. Of course PP happily cooperated:
“It was really helpful in making sure that scene is not sensationalized at all.”
Let’s face it — an abortion is pretty damn sensationalized for an unborn baby, but never mind.
Credit: suparna sinha @ flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Another woman who really, really loves the abortion storyline in Shrill, along with abortion in general, is Amelia Bonow. That’s because Bonow co-founded #ShoutYourAbortion with Lindy West.
Here’s her fist bump for Shrill. And yes, Bonow’s little Twitter badge heart reads “Abortion is Normal.” She even has the word “abortion” tattooed on her lower lip. Classy.
Get #Shrill with @ShoutYrAbortion! #AbortionIsNormal #ShoutYourAbortion pic.twitter.com/VV6c1hCPvX
— Amelia Bonow (@ameliabonow) March 18, 2019
With this episode, Shrill has hit a new low in television. Even HBO’s raunchy Sex and the City never blatantly showed an abortion, and in fact, in one episode, a character changed her mind.
And then there’s Hulu, the video service showing this dreck.
Interestingly, Hulu has a new ad campaign, which you’ve probably seen. The punchline is “Never Get Hulu.”
“Listen carefully. This is important. Never Get Hulu. With Live TV + tons of shows and movies, it’ll ruin TV for you forever.”
Never get Hulu. Truer words have rarely been spoken in a marketing campaign. With Shrill, Hulu may have indeed ruined TV forever.
Featured image: cropped from internets_dairy @flickr. CC by 2.0.
Welcome, Instapundit readers!
Scott says: Thanks Kim, I was considering getting Hulu, but this has just changed my mind… on a separate note, WHAT THE ACTUAL F@*K is that first picture??? She’s so damn ugly, with that skin-head haircut, she’s living proof that with enough alcohol, apparently some men will screw anything… Now I need eye and brain bleach!
Thunderbottom says: Scott, you got that right. A guy would either have to be desperately horny (plenty of those around) or would have to hate his penis. These new shows on cable seem to have these people, ugly on the inside and out, as their main protagonists. Any woman who would express admiration for a character like Annie would be one I’d give a wide berth.
Jim says: To put it bluntly, not on a very dark night with the lights out and a large bag over her head!
CaptDMO says: Safe, but rare.
Sure.
Let’s start with letting folks REALLY “own” their decisions.
No national health, no “help” from orgs. that get ANY fungible taxes. no “buyers remorse” claims.
Same with “self esteem” procedures.
Julie Pascal says: Safe, legal, and rare.
And sometimes feminists will still get really mad at you and insist, very loudly, that NO woman would ever ever get an abortion lightly.
And I wonder what planet they’re living on where that’s true because it’s always *always* been about doing everything possible so that anyone who ever got an abortion won’t feel the least bit bad about it. No, “I really felt like I had to, but I didn’t like it.” Nothing like that. No, “I agonized over this because obviously abortions are bad, but it was the best of bad choices.” Nothing like that.
Nope… its “lets have a party, I did something powerful, with something that didn’t even matter AT ALL, yay, me!”
Scott says: If society decides that abortion HAS to be legal, how about it includes mandatory sterilization???
Matt MacArthur says: Just cancelled Hulu after reading about this.
I don’t know, I feel very f*cking powerful right now.
Aussie says: Please remember that Socialists do not care about taking life.It does not matter if it is a embryo, baby,child, man or woman.
Socialists kill, thats what they do.
Heaps of Countries than can vouch for Socialist murderous tendencies.
Now you know why an embryo has absolutely no significance to them.It saves Socialists from having to use a bullet.
There is no converting them, or even debating them, they are gone to humanity.
Doug says: I feel more empathy towards the cattle rancher who went through all the effort to artificially inseminate xir.
NC Nora says: Thanks for reminding me to cancel my Hulu subscription.
Bornthnxmom says: So a young impressionable woman who feels powerless, might get the idea that a pregnancy with the plan to get an abortion, will help her feel powerful at the end of it all.
Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
Bandit says: There’s not enough liquor to hop on that
Pyrthroes says: If “Woke” W is proportional to deep, dreamless Sleep S, we obtain W = Constant K x S, where K is Idiocy-cubed (I^3).
Of course we know that fat dykes don’t do math. Maybe a soupon of Lewis Carroll from “Sylvie and Bruno” (1889) would be apropos:
“He thought he saw a banker’s clerk descending from a bus;
He looked again, and found it was a hippopotamus.
‘If this should stay to dine,’ he said, ‘There won’t be much for us.'”
Pat says: In what world would I think a fat lesbian would need an abortion?
Zenman says: The fat shaming on this post is decidedly un-Christian to me.
There is plenty to complain about with this series, attacking the gal for her looks shouldn’t be one of them.
Scott says: How about her attitude, her ugly ass haircut, and her piss-poor wardrobe?? Those are all choices does that make them fair game?
Zenman says: If you want to appear petty sure…
18 Comments