Infamous pro-abortion activist Lena Dunham is back on television with her new rom-com Too Much (streaming on Netflix), and, unsurprisingly, the series is basically a not-so-subtle ad for abortion. In fact, Dunham openly admitted to consulting with abortion giant Planned Parenthood on the show and told The Hollywood Reporter (THR) she’s on a mission to “normalize” abortion.
Dunham gushed to THR:
As an artist, I’m proud … that we get to be part of showing people all over the world a healthy woman making a super self actualized choice to get reproductive care [from] a really true, loving abortion provider, because those people are heroes…So to be able to represent that was really, really important to me.
There’s absolutely nothing “loving” or heroic about preying on vulnerable pregnant women and ending the life of an innocent, unborn child.
Dunham also wanted to push her abortion propaganda hard in light of Roe v. Wade being overturned. She tells THR she wants to brainwash young viewers into seeing abortion as a “very normal health (procedure),” and Planned Parenthood as “a loving, safe place”:
It was also important to me to show our support for Planned Parenthood at this really pivotal moment, and while we know that television may not always change the dial on politics, what we can do is normalize very normal health procedures like abortion for our audience and especially let young people who may be watching and want to get care at Planned Parenthood know what a loving, safe place it is.
Too Much centers around expat Jessica Salmon (Megan Stalter), who heads to London for work after her relationship implodes in America. She flashes back to that relationship throughout the series, including when she found herself pregnant after sleeping with someone other than her boyfriend.
Instead of offering support, her boss and ex-brother-in-law Jameson (Andrew Rannell) goes on an anti-parenting rant that makes motherhood sound like a death sentence:
Jameson: Because you have to know it’s going to change your life. Like, really change it. And you’re not going to sleep through the night ever again. And you can't do drugs. And you can't go on weekends with people you barely know. And you're really gonna have to lean on Zev. Like, really trust him. You're gonna have to be on the same page, the same sentence, on the same word, on the same letter, even. And you know, it's not just fun times at the park and bubble baths. It's actually… it's a lot of work. It's kids constantly asking you what they're gonna eat next and telling you how bored they are. And you know, you're just… there's just feces literally everywhere.
Tell us you’ve never experienced the joys of parenthood without telling us you’ve never experienced the joys of parenthood, Dunham. The writers left out all the good parts, which far outweigh the hard ones. The love you experience when you hold your baby for the first time in your arms is indescribable, and that love makes any hardship 100 percent worth it.
When Jessica announces her pregnancy to her emotionally abusive boyfriend Zev (Michael Zegen), he sadly encourages her to have an abortion:
Jessica: I think that we should talk. Because I don't think that it's working out the way that we want it to.
Zev: I knew it.
Jessica: What?
Zev: I knew I'd be spending Hanukkah alone.
Jessica: Well, do you still love me? At all?
Zev: I don't know.
Jessica: Okay, well, um… I'm pregnant, so I guess I'll go get an abortion or something, if you don't.
Zev: Yeah, that's probably the right idea.
Jessica: God. You make me feel fucking crazy. Like, I'm just, like, drowning in an ocean, waving my arms around for help, and you're just standing there, smiling at me. Like, you don't even know what's going on. You don't even see how lonely you've made me feel. You're one of those guys who thinks that he wants a strong woman, who loves all the bright, big things about her, but you fucking don't. I used to feel so special about me. And I really don't. You just want to beat me into submission. Maybe not with your fists, but with your words and your lack of love. It just feels like a bunch of little paper cuts. But imagine your whole body covered in paper cuts.
If Dunham is trying to “normalize” abortion with these scenes, color us confused. Because this seems absolutely tragic, this poor girl is being emotionally abused and belittled by her boyfriend, and the solution is to punish the child? That baby didn’t do anything wrong. And if it’s love she’s looking for, that baby will love her as its mother more than she could ever fathom.
And what kind of feminist is Dunham if she’s sending the message that the best thing for this pregnant mother is to end the life of her child simply because her man doesn’t love her? True feminism lifts women up, reminding them they’re capable of accomplishing their goals no matter what. Sadly, far too many women face this kind of pressure to choose abortion in real life, leaving them feeling like they have no alternative.
After more discussion, the scene ends with one last, abusive jab from Zev, then goes straight into the “loving” abortion procedure:
Zev: Or maybe it's because at the root of it all, you really are just a f*cking c*nt.
Nurse: Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Here we go. Now, I need you to count backwards from ten for me. All right, Jessica?
Jessica: Mm-hmm. Ten, nine, eight, seven… Six…
Nurse: Hey, it's okay. Jessica, lie back. You did just fine. Everything went perfectly well.
Jessica: No, wait. Wait. I need to go get my dog, though. I need to go get Cutesie.
Nurse: I know. I know.
Jessica: I'm so… Please. I don't know where she is. She doesn't even know her way.
Nurse: Okay. just let it all out, honey.
Jessica: She doesn't know where I am.
Did Dunham mean to be symbolic with Jessica worried about her dog being lost just as she lost her baby? “I don’t know where she is. She doesn’t even know her way.” Because that is completely heart-wrenching and not something that should ever be normalized. Dunham’s vision of feminism feels like a betrayal- celebrating the termination of life as a badge of liberation while ignoring the profound love and strength motherhood can bring.
Too Much paints a grim picture: a world where women are told they can’t have both a successful life and a child and where emotionally abusive boyfriends and fearmongering bosses push vulnerable women toward a choice that’s anything but empowering.
Thankfully, the show failed to make the top 10 in the U.S. on Netflix during its debut week and only hit the number 10 spot globally for just one week, despite Hollywood’s echo chamber giving it rave reviews.
