Whenever I rewatch a movie like Knocked Up (2008), I feel I should explain why I ever saw it in the first place.  I do this because I actually practice my Faith sincerely these days, whereas in 2008 I was only partially serious about it.  That is why it is often referred to as a “faith journey,” though there are plenty of parallels to a non-Christian sense of the term.  After all, there is the old cliché that life is a journey.  As overused as that statement is, it is nonetheless true.  Unless you are incapable of growth (of the emotional and/or spiritual kind), who you are at one time in your life will likely be different than another point.  Put more cinematically, the more I have opened myself to God, the less I find Judd Apatow’s humor funny.  However, that is not to say that watching this particular movie is without some merit.  You do have to wade through a bit of crap to find the useful nuggets.  As usual, such films are not intended to reveal God’s plan for us, at least not by those who make them.  To that end, I am a bit shocked that, unlike Juno (2007), there was not (from what I can tell) some kind of backlash against the type of label I am about to give Knocked Up.  The movie is a pro-life movie, but presented in an unexpected manner.  Because God is infinite and can work through everyone if we allow Him, this should not be a surprise.

It is Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) who is about to be Knocked Up.  As a title like that might suggest, the pregnancy is not planned.  Instead, she is a single woman working behind the camera for the E! Network.  Jack (Alan Tudyk), her boss and an executive with the company, call her into his office to inform her that they have decided to promote her to an on-camera role.  When she gets back to the room she rents from her sister and brother-in-law, Debbie (Leslie Mann) and Pete (Paul Rudd), Debbie wants to go out with Allison to celebrate.  It is at the club where they go that Allison meets Ben Stone (Seth Rogen).  We have already been introduced to Ben.  He lives in a small house in a different part of Los Angeles (read as less affluent) with his four friends.  When they are not smoking weed and playing ridiculous games, they are working on a website that catalogs where in movies female nudity is shown.  So much for Christian modesty.  Because Debbie is a mother, a minor family matter calls her away from the revelry, leaving Allison and Ben to pass the time getting quite drunk.  As these things often go in films, they end up at her place where they have sex.  I will go ahead and say this now: saving it for sacramental marriage is the way to go.  Because this is a comedy, Ben mistakes Alison’s instructions on the use of prophylactics as not wanting to use one.  In the morning, unaware that this has happened, Ben is open about his lack of a job or money, and the fact that he is in the country illegally from Canada.  Allison parts ways at the diner where they have breakfast intending to never again see him.  Eight weeks pass and she is settling into her new job when, while interviewing James Franco (as himself), she throws up.  Cinema logic tells you that this means she is pregnant, which, of course, is the case.  Upon more home pregnancy tests than are necessary, she finds a way to contact Ben to let him know.  They have a brief argument over the mechanics of their one-night stand, with him trying to tell himself that her being with child is not true.  Their trip to the gynecologist proves otherwise.  The next question to answer is: what should they do.  Debbie and their mother (Joanna Kerns) recommend abortion.  Thank God, Allison chooses life.  She gives the news of this decision to Ben shortly thereafter.  To his credit, despite the disruption to his juvenile plans, he is supportive of her decision.  She, too, deserves recognition for being willing to see a different side of him as they attempt to start to get to know one another as an expecting couple.  He goes around with her to all the doctors’ appointments and displays excitement for reading the myriad of baby books in preparation for the baby’s arrival.  She overlooks his slovenly home, drug use, and poor career choices, even participating in watching films with him despite the eventual revelation that a website like theirs already exists.  There are tensions, though, and it is not solely due to their evident differences in lifestyles.  Part of the problem is Debbie and Pete.  They are well into their marriage and bicker like two people who have become a little too used one another.  Pete has been feeling a little trapped, so he has been sneaking off, not to cheat on Debbie, but to participate in a fantasy baseball league.  Allison, Ben, and Debbie follow Pete to where he takes part in this activity, which puts a strain on Debbie and Pete’s marriage.  Honesty is Godliness, or at least that should be how the saying goes.  When Ben is not totally on Allison’s side in discussing Debbie and Pete’s situation, it leads to a huge fight and a break up in the gynecologist’s office.  Separately, Allison and Debbie, and Ben and Pete, go for a night on the town.  The former are barred from entering a club and wallow in their age-appropriate misery, while the latter go to Las Vegas and take mushrooms while watching a Cirque du Soleil show.  The clarity they are granted lead to Debbie and Pete reconciling, but the same cannot be said for Allison and Ben.  Ben is initially irked, but decides to move out of his friend’s place and get a real job.  He also reads the baby books.  This comes in handy when a panicked Allison calls him when their intended birth doctor proves unreachable.  Ben calmly steps in, and his handling of the chaos proves to Allison that he has changed.  As such, they decide to get back together, and we end with a montage of them raising their daughter.

During the end credits of Knocked Up, we get to images next to the scrolling names.  They are photographs of cast and crewmembers either as infants, or with their own children.  Not to sound too strenuous here, but I am not sure how anyone can view these pictures and not understand the sanctity of life.  Their mothers said yes.  Every human life God creates is precious, no matter its stage of development or how many cells it currently comprises.  The movie is not meant to be pro-life, to be clear.  Instead, the pregnancy is intended as a vehicle for the comedy.  How funny would it be, in other words, for these two to have a baby?  While watching it, however, I knew I had to be careful with how I review this one. I often get the feeling that when I talk about the Faith in regards to movies I draw a hard line between what is acceptable behavior and what is not.  That I do so is made all the more troubling because I am, thankfully, not God.  As Ben demonstrates, we cannot fully comprehend another person’s soul.  To be sure, God would rather we not do drugs, drink to excess, engage in pre-marital sex, or view pornography.  These activities can be much more damaging to the soul than people realize, and we cannot take this fact for granted.  I often experience this in a small way in my life whenever somebody who does not practice the Faith does or says something they think I might find objectionable.  They almost always immediately apologize to me as if they have sinned against me rather than God.  Those moments, like this movie, tell me that people want to do better, but are allowing that damage to increase and take a hold of them.  There is always a way back to God, and we need to remember this fact when dealing with people who struggle with these issues.  We should also model Christ and pray for them.

While it is important to pray for the kinds of people discussed in the previous paragraph, seeing the onslaught of some of the depravity in Knocked Up is difficult.  I had forgotten most of what is in it, unfortunately.  I do think there is value in the lessons to be found in it, but I can do without a lot of the imagery.  Be cautious with this one.