This is a rare confession for a girl of the policy wonk persuasion but I have liked Mark Ruffalo ever since 13 Going On 30. Someone told me once I look like Jennifer Garner (not true) however, this allowed me to dream about a world where Mark Ruffalo and I get married and live in a very pretty house, somewhere, I believe, just outside New York City, see above.
So it’s sad that he so wholeheartedly misinterprets what his mother experienced with abortion.
I have a mother who was forced to illegally have an abortion in her state where abortion was illegal when she was a very young woman. It cost $600 cash. It was a traumatizing thing for her. It was shameful and sleazy and demeaning. When I heard the story I was aghast by the lowliness of a society that would make a woman do that. I could not understand its lack of humanity; today is no different.
Abortion, legal, illegal, is typically degrading and demeaning to women. (Broad strokes here, you always have a minority who claim it was the best thing ever and end up working for NARAL.) I know I can’t expect much from Hollywood, but I am sad about this one, for sure. It just may be that Mark and I can’t get married after all.
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Don’t worry, Andrea! You DO look like Jennifer Garner so there’s always Ben Affleck. I hear he’s Batman now.
Thanks Mary. Comforting. (And I’m glad to see fishing for compliments still works… :-))
Maybe I am missing something, but I interpreted Mr. Ruffalo’s comments as anti-abortion. Particularly, the comment about society’s “forcing ” his mother to have an abortion is ambiguous — was the procedure traumatizing because it was illegal at the time, or because abortion itself is sleazy and demeaning? I am not sure.
Brigid: If you read the full article, you will learn that he believes his mother’s experience was demeaning only because it was illegal.
Brigid: I didn’t mean to sound pedantic or rude with that last comment. I only meant that in full, the article conveys a totally different meaning than the portion I clipped.
Not at all … I should have read the entire article. I don’t understand why these people feel the need for confessionalism, even when on behalf of a family member. And, I wonder what Mr. Ruffalo’s Mom thinks of her son’s comments. Bottom line–Mr. Ruffalo should stick to acting!