Slasher Films and Roe v. Wade

Self-righteous isn't righteous

Warning: Some mild spoilers for “X.”

Last week, news dropped of a leaked draft from the Supreme Court, showing the intention of conservative justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that protects a person’s constitutional right to an abortion. As I scrolled through social media, I saw a number of cis men lauding the decision, saying that women needed to be willing to accept the consequences of sex. 

Their comments made me think of my favorite horror movie so far this year, Ti West’s “X.”

The basic plot is that a group of young people are renting space at a farm to film an adult movie. While there, they interact with the elderly couple who owns the farm, and the two parties…don’t get along. 

There is a lot to love about this movie, but for the past week, I have been thinking about RJ, as played by Owen Campbell.

RJ is a young 20-something filmmaker. He constantly talks about how he doesn’t want the movie to be just any dirty movie, but something artistic. It is clear that he doesn’t think very highly of the people he’s working with, so he acts as though he is the only reason this film could be successful. He seems both thrilled and embarrassed to be filming pornography, so at every opportunity, he makes sure to talk about how artistic this movie will be. 

He also brings his young girlfriend along, using her to hold the boom oro pack up his gear when he’s done, all of the work that The Artist is too important to do. He talks down to her, constantly pointing out her naïveté. 

After the first day of shooting, the cast is relaxing and drinking. RJ asks if the cast members are uncomfortable with the swapping of partners that happens on screen and all of the actors agree that it’s just work. They want faithfulness in the real world, but when they’re working, they aren’t thinking about who belongs to whom. They see adult films as the great equalizer. Race, sexual orientation, gender expression - none of that matters when they’re working. RJ nods along, agreeing with them point for point.

And then, RJ’s girlfriend Lorraine (played brilliantly by Jenna Ortega) says that she wants to be in the movie. Suddenly RJ’s demeanor shifts. He laughs, and when she says that she’s serious, he says that she can’t do it. The more she insists, the more frantic he becomes until he storms out, with the producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), following behind. 

RJ tells Wayne that Lorraine isn’t like the others, she’s a “nice girl.” This time, instead of just his contribution to the film being loftier, he makes the statement that his girlfriend is better than the other people by her attachment to him. If she chooses to participate in the movie, she will no longer be “nice.” The movie is art when he has the power, but if his girlfriend’s involvement gives her power. This somehow taints him, and suddenly it’s just porn. 

In one of the most fascinating scenes in the movie, we see each of the couples asleep after the second day of filming, and when we get to Lorraine and RJ, he is missing. Instead, we find him sobbing in the shower.

Movies have some tropes that work well, and one of the most common is that if someone has been violated in some way, particularly sexually, we see them crying in the shower. Easy shorthand to show that someone has been through something traumatic.

Despite the fact that RJ willingly joined the crew for the film and agreed that sex work was separate from personal lives, he felt violated when his girlfriend decided that she wanted to exercise bodily autonomy by having sex on camera. He is so upset that he steals the van and attempts to leave everyone else behind so they can deal with the consequences of their sins.

I saw so much of RJ in the social media comments about the draft and in the overwhelmingly male legislators who are preparing truly draconian laws if Roe is indeed overturned. Men who complain that women should not have a say in how their bodies are used, but are happy to look (and more) when she is naked. Men who shame some “other” woman who doesn’t want to have a baby, but will pressure his own mistress to have an abortion if it will make his life more complicated. Men who feel violated because a woman can choose what to do with her body without his permission. 

And that brings me back to the “consequences” statement at the top. Most of these men will talk about murdering babies when they talk about abortion, but when they talk about women, those innocent babies become consequences. Men may be wrong to be promiscuous, but women, they are to be punished. Best case scenario, they are punished with a baby, but if death is a possibility, that’s still on her. She should have known better.

RJ confuses his self-righteousness for righteousness. It does not serve him well. 

If you see a fetus as a baby in one context and a consequence in another, you also may be conflating self-righteousness and righteousness. Ultimately, I don’t think that will serve you well, either.

It certainly won’t serve either the fetus or the person carrying it.