Note: This blog was written by my wife Dianne. – JHW
(LifeSiteNews) — Last night my husband and I decided to relax and watch a movie together. We chose Damsel, starring Millie Bobby Brown and released by Netflix on March 8. Damsel is a movie about a young woman from an ancient time and a faraway place who lives in desolation. She is the daughter of the king, but her land and people are suffering and impoverished. One day a royal entourage from a foreign land comes seeking a bride for their young prince. The families make the arrangements and the young princess travels with her own royal family to the foreign kingdom in the hopes of marrying this young prince. Arrangements are made, the wedding takes place, and she is then brought with her new groom to the dark mountain where the family will have a ceremony in reparation for their past sins.
The ceremony takes place in a cave high up in the mountains. As part of the ceremony the prince must carry his new bride across a hanging bridge that is suspended over a large dark cavern. He tells her to trust him, to hold on, and to even close her eyes and lean into him. Which she does. Then as they reach the middle of the bridge he whispers, “I’m sorry,” and to her absolute shock and horror he throws her over the bridge and into the seemingly endless cavern inhabited by a demonic-looking dragon. This scene is depicted in the trailer.
As a mother of eight children and a pro-life activist, this scene struck me as a vivid analogy for abortion. The young woman was trusting the prince to be her protector, her provider – just as the new baby is nestled safely in the womb of her mother. The princess had been summoned there to spend the rest of her life with him – as the new baby is now bound to journey with her mother. The princess was cradled in his strong arms and nuzzled safely into his upper body, much like a forming fetus. Then he whispers “I’m sorry” and forcefully removes her from his grasp and throws her over the bridge – exactly like the mother who apologizes to her baby before proceeding with the abortion.
The young princess’ life must be sacrificed for the sins that had been committed, not her sins but that of his family – the baby in the womb must die for the sins of the parents, for the convenience or the betterment of the parents. Then the royal family rationalizes why she had to be sacrificed, how her death will make all their lives better, even her own family. This rationalization falls flat when we see the potential destruction of the young princess’ life as she is being sacrificed – much like the rationalization of abortion falls flat when we consider the loss of the young human life.
I’m sure the producers of the movie Damsel have no idea that they have created a powerful pro-life film with an analogy that parallels so vividly the horror and reality of abortion in a way that no pro-life movie would ever, ever be “allowed” to get away with!
