Everyday Activist - Future Baby (MLJFF 2016)

Posted on Monday, November 14, 2016 at 11:30 AM

Future Baby (MLJFF 2016)

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

If you want to watch a great film about reproductive technologies and its possible impact on society, I suggest you watch Gattaca. Not only does the film make you think about the implications genetic selection may have, it stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law. Had it not been for that movie I wouldn’t have bothered watching Future Baby, because I feel that nature knows what it is doing. By interfering in this process, we skip over potential canaries in the coal mine. Rather than trying to figure out why so many women in developed countries have fertility issues, it’s way more profitable to give them hope with in vitro fertilization to create more people for the planet to support. Had Future Baby talked more about the issues around reproductive technology and less about the process I might have enjoyed it.

Probably one of the best documentaries I’ve watched was Tales From the Organ Trade, because it focused on a few people who were on both sides of the issue of organ transplants. When is tissue donation acceptable? When are the risks too much? Future Baby could have EASILY set up a similar story line, but instead we’re subjected to watching a lot people walking in various scenes for no discernible reason and countless labs and operating rooms. The one operating room scene that worked was when the surrogate mother had to give the baby boy up to the “parents”. No money in the world is worth that kind of pain. She didn’t even want to hold him.

Another issue with the film was that it didn’t talk about the risks that women undertake when they donate eggs both physical and psychological nor did it mention that many of these risks are deliberately hidden from donors. Because no donor registry exists, scientists can’t follow up what’s happening to donors in the long term. All it mentioned was that some women chose to donate eggs for the financial compensation. Surrogacy is done for the same reason. Poor women in Mexico become surrogates to make money. To make life a commodity where parts can just be ordered, combined and a final product delivered has implications for everyone.

Future Baby will screen on November 17th, 2016 at the John Dutton Theatre, Calgary Public Library as part of the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016.

The guest speaker will be Anna Zadunayski BA (UVic ‘98), LLB (UCalgary ‘02), MSc (UCalgary ‘12) She is a Calgary-based lawyer, ethicist, researcher, writer, lecturer and mother. A litigation and research lawyer by training, Anna left private practice in 2005 to pursue graduate training in Health Services Research in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine. Her MSc thesis was related to Legal and Ethical Implications of Newborn Screening for in utero Exposure to Drugs and Alcohol. Editor of the Alberta Medico-Legal Reporter from 2006 – 2013, Anna has reported numerous Canadian health law cases for a variety of stakeholders. Following a Residency in Clinical Ethics at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Anna became the first embedded Clinical Ethicist at Alberta Children’s Hospital and Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary in 2010. Anna lectures widely and presently offers independent health research, education and consultation services across various sectors. 

Calgary Showtimes: Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016 > | Future Baby >