There are far better movie reviewers than I, so I will leave a full review of the movie to the experts at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441912/
What I want to write about is a single scene in the movie in which Sarah, the angry, cynical fellow pilgrim, confesses to Tom (Martin Sheen), the source of her angst.
The scene is set in which Tom drops something and when both he and Sarah reach for it, a tussle starts and Sarah hauls back and violently punches Tom. It was shocking and confusing.
But later Sarah explains she was in a bad marriage, with an abusive husband. She was pregnant with a baby girl, and she terminated so her husband wouldn't have two of them to beat up. "Sometimes I hear my baby cry, which is funny since she never got to take her first breath." The scene was heart wrenching.
But the most amazing thing was Tom's response: "I'm sorry about your baby." I was stunned! That is something that is just never ever said to a post abortive woman.
We don't normally get sympathy for our loss, because of our "choice". Many of us abort our children out of fear, ignorance of alternatives and yes, as in my case, complete selfishness. But what we don't get is much empathy for our regret. To me this is a scene I've longed to have play out in real life. Acknowledgement and sorrow of who was truly lost to me and maybe, just maybe if you can....a little empathy for my sorrow and regret.
The movie was great, and I highly recommend it. Beautiful scenery, complex relationships and pilgrims trying to find their way through a world that is difficult for most of us pilgrims.
