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If These Walls Could Talk

️Thu Apr 11 2024

If These Walls Could Talk (Film)

A 1996 American Anthology Film directed by Nancy Savoca and Cher, dealing with the subject of abortion. The film follows three different women living in the same house in three separate time periods over 44 years, and how their lives are impacted by abortion and reproductive rights in the United States.

The movie stars Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, Anne Heche, Cher, Shirley Knight, Catherine Keener, Jason London, C.C.H. Pounder, Hedy Burress, Joanna Gleason, Ian Bohen, Xander Berkeley and Jada Pinkett Smith, among others. It was written by Susan Nanus, I. Marlene King, Earl W. Wallace and Pamela Wallace; Savoca served as co-writer for each segment and directed the first two segments, while Cher directed the third.

The first segment takes place in 1952 and stars Demi Moore as a widowed nurse named Claire Donnelly, who seeks an abortion after getting pregnant by her brother-in-law; matters are complicated due to abortion being illegal.

The second segment takes place in 1974 and stars Sissy Spacek as Barbara Barrows, an older woman who plans to go back to college after putting her career on-hold to raise her and her husband’s children. However, she unexpectedly discovers she’s pregnant and contemplates abortion.

The third segment takes place in 1996 and stars Anne Heche as Christine Cullen, a college student who is abandoned by her older, married lover after he gets her pregnant. She seeks an abortion with the help of Dr Beth Thompson (played by Cher), but anti-abortion protests in her city make things difficult.

It aired on HBO on October 13, 1996. It was followed by If These Walls Could Talk 2 in 2000, which has a similar plot structure but deals with lesbian relationships rather than abortion.

Tropes for the film:

The '50s: The first segment takes place in 1952. As such, abortion is strictly illegal and an unmarried woman being pregnant carries a great deal of stigma, which poses a problem for protagonist Claire when she finds herself pregnant via her brother-in-law (her husband is dead).
The '70s: The second segment takes place in 1974. Abortion has very recently been legalised after the Roe v. Wade case in 1973, but is still pretty controversial.
The '90s: The third segment takes place in 1996. Abortion has now been legal for decades but there are some people who fiercely contest this.
Abortion Fallout Drama:
- Because abortion is illegal and highly stigmatised in 1952, Claire is forced to seek out a dodgy back-alley doctor to secretly perform the procedure and she ends up haemorrhaging and likely bleeding to death.
- Christine gets accosted outside an abortion clinic by anti-abortion protesters; they clash with pro-choice protesters, causing it to escalate to a riot. Immediately after the procedure a protester bursts into the operating room and shoots the abortion provider, Dr Thompson, in front of Christine.
Absurdly Elderly Mother: Barbara is in her 40s (Sissy Spacek was 47) when she learns she's pregnant for the fifth time, which comes as a complete shock to her and her husband. She says she thought she was "done" having children at this point in her life, with the implication she didn't even realise she could still get pregnant (her eldest child Linda is about 18 as she's heading off to college soon, her second-eldest is also a teenager and her two youngest look to be around 10, so there's a significant gap between the birth of her youngest child and her current pregnancy).
Absurdly Youthful Mother: The third story features two examples:
- Doreen, an anti-abortion protester, is around the same age as Christine (a college student implied to be in her early 20s, if not younger) and already has four children, so she must've first gotten pregnant very young.
- Subverted in one case; Dr Webb, who works at an abortion clinic, mentions that one of her patients was a twelve-year-old girl. She expresses incredulity that Patti thinks the girl shouldn't have had an abortion despite her being just a child herself.
Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: In the third story, the women's health clinic where abortions are performed constantly has anti-abortion protesters camped outside, loudly praying and harassing patients, trying to talk them out of getting abortions and decrying the clinic staff as murderers. Things later escalate into a full-blown riot, with the police being involved and some staff unable to get into work because of the barricade. One protester sneaks into the clinic by pretending to be supporting a patient and fatally shoots Dr Thompson.
Alliterative Name: Applies to two of the main protagonists: Barbara Barrows and Christine Cullen.
Ambiguous Ending: The second segment. Barbara tells Linda she intends to keep her pregnancy despite the fact it will make all their lives more difficult; she tries to reassure Linda that they will find a way to manage and that this is her decision to make, with Linda grudgingly accepting this, though it's left uncertain how Barbara and the rest of the family will cope with the situation and whether Barbara will truly be content with her choice.
Armour Piercing Response: Patti tries to argue about the morality of abortion with Dr Webb (both of whom are black women); when Patti says a twelve-year-old patient (also implied to be black) could’ve just given her baby up for adoption, Webb sarcastically remarks "You know what, you're living in a fantasy world. Because just the other day I was thinking about what a big demand there is for little black babies." Patti doesn’t have a response to that.
Artistic License – Biology: In-universe, Christine brings up that the anti-abortion protesters outside the health clinic told her that having an abortion would be physically painful to the fetus. Marcia, a nurse at the clinic, says that scientifically there's no evidence a 10-week old fetus can feel pain (it's unclear if all the protesters mistakenly believe otherwise, or if some of them are bending the facts to try and discourage women from getting abortions).
Back-Alley Doctor: The illicit abortionist in the first act looks and acts like he walked out of an audition for a Torture Technician. His equipment is pretty dirty and he ignores Claire's concerned inquiry into whether they're sterile. Once he finishes the job, he turns and walks away without a word as the concerned Claire is still lying on her back. In the next scene, Claire apparently dies from internal bleeding due to his apathy and incompetence.
Bloody Horror: One of the final scenes of the first segment is pretty disturbing, showing Claire collapsing in a pool of her own blood, with blood soaking her clothes and a trail of blood on the floor, clearly haemorrhaging from internal injuries after a shoddy abortion.
Broken Tears:
- After painfully trying and failing to end her pregnancy herself using a knitting needle, Claire breaks down sobbing and admits to her sister-in-law Becky that she's pregnant. Becky's lack of sympathy towards Claire and emotional rejection of her results in more broken sobbing.
- A drunken Christine begins crying hard and begging her friend Patti to help her, as she'd previously decided against an abortion but has realised she can't go through with the pregnancy. Patti was previously unsympathetic as she's against abortion, but upon seeing how distraught Christine is she comforts her and agrees to support her.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: In the first segment, set in 1952, the Donnellys mention that their relatives are renting out an apartment to a divorced woman, with some of the family acting scandalised by this and remarking that they "don't know what kind of people she'd be bringing home" (with the implication the tenant would be bringing home lots of men simply because she’s a divorcee).
Determined Doctor: Beth Thompson is determined to provide abortions to women who want them, even with anti-abortion activists constantly harassing her and picketing her clinic. She takes a moment to cry in private before a procedure because of the stress she's under; the fact she's wearing a bulletproof vest also shows she genuinely fears for her safety because of her job. When Christine asks why she continues to offer abortions in spite of all this, Thompson says she remembers what it was like when women didn't have the option for safe, legal abortions and that she's met many women who have told her they don't know what they would've done without her help, so that's why she does it.
Died in Your Arms Tonight: In the final scene, Christine pulls a dying Dr Thompson into her arms and pleads for someone to help while holding her.
Downer Ending:
- The first segment. Claire gets a botched abortion that leaves her bleeding out, with it being strongly implied she dies. And even if she doesn't die (which looks unlikely), it will almost certainly come out that she got an abortion, which will likely cause her to be ostracised by her friends and family, not to mention lose her job at the hospital.
- The third segment. Although Christine is safely able to have an abortion, Dr Thompson is shot in front of her immediately afterwards; Thompson dies and Christine (and the other clinic staff) will likely be traumatised by the incident.
Drowning My Sorrows:
- Claire is shown nursing a glass of alcohol alone at home, grieving for her husband and despairing over her unwanted pregnancy. On the night she conceived, she had gotten drunk in an attempt to cope with her husband's death and ended up sleeping with his brother.
- Christine is feeling conflicted over what to do with her pregnancy and alone in her struggles, prompting her to get wasted at a friend's birthday party; she later has a drunken breakdown in front of her friend Patti.
Dying Alone: This is implied to be Claire's fate; as she's bleeding out in her kitchen following her abortion, she calls the hospital to beg for help but struggles to stay coherent enough to communicate with the operator, passing out before she can tell the operator her address.
Family Versus Career: Barbara has recently started back at college and plans on taking a teacher's assistant position, after putting her education and career on hold for years to raise a family. However, her plans are upended when she learns she's pregnant; she states she previously dropped out of college nearly two decades ago when she got pregnant with her eldest child, Linda, and is upset at the thought of having to put her degree on hold again.
Foreshadowing:
- When Claire is having Thanksgiving dinner with her in-laws, her brother-in-law Kevin looks uncomfortable while she avoids looking at him, and they're both reluctant to agree to her father-in-law's suggestion Kevin drive her home. It's soon revealed that Kevin is the one who got Claire pregnant, they having impulsively slept together while mourning Steven (Claire's husband and Kevin's brother).
- When Dr Thompson arrives at her clinic amidst aggressive protests and begins preparing for Christine's abortion procedure, she's seen removing a bulletproof vest. A protestor slips into the clinic and shoots Thompson moments after Christine's procedure.
Friendly Enemy: In the third act, Dr. Beth Thompson at the abortion clinic engages in daily friendly conversations with several of the protestors who picket her clinic, trying to dissuade women from getting abortions. However, one protestor doesn't share those feelings, and proves it in the most dramatic way possible.
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: The film thoroughly defies and deconstructs this trope. All three of the main protagonists seriously contemplate getting an abortion after finding themselves pregnant in less-than-ideal circumstances and they're all presented sympathetically. The film explores the complex reasons as to why someone would want an abortion and emphasises that there should be safe, legal options for women when it comes to ending a pregnancy:
- Claire unintentionally got pregnant after sleeping with her brother-in-law while grieving for her recently-deceased husband, knows her in-laws (who are her only family and support) would probably shun her for having her brother-in-law's baby, would face a lot of prejudice from wider society for having a baby out of wedlock, and can't really afford to raise a child alone on a nurse's salary. She manages to get an abortion done by a back-alley doctor as she has no other options, which unfortunately leaves her seriously injured and likely kills her.
- Barbara is an older woman who already raised four children, putting her own aspirations on hold to support her family. Her husband has to work long hours and they struggle financially. Barbara is finally in a position to go back to college and pursue a career, which may improve the family's situation, only to find out she's pregnant again. Although Barbara considers abortion, she ultimately decides to keep the pregnancy and isn't portrayed as either a good or bad person over her decision.
- Christine is a young college student who was having an affair with her older, married professor; when she tells him she's pregnant, he washes his hands of the situation, dumping Christine and doing nothing to help her beyond offering her some money. She has an abortion but her life is endangered when an extremist anti-abortion protester breaks into the clinic, killing her doctor in the process. Christine is far more traumatised by this than by her abortion.
Happily Married: Although they don't get to spend much time together and don't always see eye-to-eye on everything, Barbara and John Barrows are mostly depicted as affectionate and supportive of each other. This underlines that even a woman in a loving, committed relationship may have reasons to consider an abortion (the other protagonists either weren't in a relationship or get broken up with).
Hope Spot: Claire is given the contact details of a woman who helps connect women with abortion providers. She says she knows a discreet clinic in Puerto Rico that offers safe abortions in a clean environment... but factoring in airfare and hotel reservations, it'll cost her $1000 (for context, this would equate to over $10,000 in the 2020s). Claire doesn't remotely have that kind of money and can't borrow it from anyone, either.
Hypocrite:
- One of the anti-abortion protesters in the third story is against abortion because he sees it as murder yet he ends up murdering Dr Thompson.
- When Christine tells Patti she's considering an abortion, Patti incredulously points out she "[doesn't] even believe in abortion" (her family are Irish Catholics), to which a frustrated Christine calls herself a hypocrite. It's indicated that it's less that Christine is a hypocrite and more that she never truly thought about the subject of abortions in-depth, nor imagined she would ever be in this position.
I Have This Friend: Used when the pregnant Claire asks a neighbor and a co-worker where "a friend" could get a safe abortion.
Knight Templar: In the third story, some of the anti-abortion protesters who regularly picket the abortion clinic genuinely believe they're doing the right thing as they think abortions are immoral. The women in particular do appear to care about Christine on some level and offer to help her, but they're still portrayed as misguided and crossing boundaries, such as pressuring Christine to tell them personal details such as her name and her reasons for being at the clinic. When Christine asks Marcia about the help they could offer her, Marcia says that realistically all they will do is give her baby supplies and find her temporary accommodation. The larger crowd of protesters at the end are much more aggressive, giving loud speeches decrying abortion and physically harassing patients and staff. One protester sneaks into the clinic and shoots Dr Thompson, screaming that she's a murderer; he then expresses concern that he might've shot Christine and insists he didn't intend to hurt her (while pointing a gun at a terrified Christine).
Lighter and Softer: The 1974 segment compared to the 1952 and 1996 segments. Although it still deals with serious subjects, it's not remotely as grim as the others and ends on a more tentatively positive note, whereas the 1952 and 1996 stories border on thriller territory in their content and end in tragedy.
Massive Numbered Siblings: Played for Drama in the second segment; Barbara already has four children and discovers she's pregnant again. She already has a hard enough time managing the daily chaos in her household while also studying at college. Her husband John works long hours as a police officer and money is tight, with John stating he'll have to hold off on retiring and they probably won't be able to pay for their eldest child's out-of-state college in order to accommodate a baby (which greatly upsets Linda when she overhears this). Consequently, Barbara considers getting an abortion but ultimately decides she'll keep the baby.
A Mistake Is Born: The news that Barbara is pregnant for the fifth time isn't positively received; Barbara bursts into tears on her way to college classes about it and her friend comforts her, her husband John looks as though part of him died inside when she tells him, and her eldest daughter Linda bluntly gives her information on how to get an abortion (after seeing her mother looking it up in textbooks). The pregnancy wasn't planned, with Barbara even stating she thought she was done having kids, and will likely have negative impacts on the Barrows family, including stretching their finances even further and likely meaning that Barbara will have to drop out of college again. When Linda overhears that her parents may no longer be able to help her attend an out-of-state college, she furiously confronts Barbara, saying she shouldn't have to pay for "[their] mistake". Linda also uses this as an argument for why her mother should have an abortion, saying it doesn't seem like Barbara wants the baby and that it would be worse for her to have a child who knows they're unwanted.
My Secret Pregnancy: Claire hides the fact she's pregnant because unwed mothers are considered a big taboo in the 1950s and it would likely cause her to be cut off by her in-laws considering her husband recently died (but not recently enough that she can pass off the baby as his). While it's not immediately obvious she's pregnant as she's still in her first trimester, it's getting harder for her to conceal this; while preparing to attend Thanksgiving celebrations at her in-laws' home, Claire has to use a safety pin to button her skirt because she's getting too big for it, pulling down the hem of her shirt to hide this rather than tucking it into her waistband as usual. When she tries to illicitly seek information about abortions, she usually never mentions being pregnant herself, instead saying she has "a friend" or "a patient" who is seeking one.
No Sympathy:
- Claire gets very little sympathy from most people she confides in regarding her pregnancy dilemma.
  - She'd first confided in her boss, Dr Kramer, in the hopes he could help her. Kramer is more concerned about how this will affect Claire's in-laws than Claire herself; he absolutely refuses to help her get an abortion (even when all she asks for is advice on medication dosages to induce a miscarriage) and says the best he can do is find someone out-of-state to adopt her child. When Claire says she can't go away for seven months due to the costs and not knowing what to tell people, Kramer simply replies that she "should've thought about that" before she got pregnant.
  - When Claire breaks down and confides in her sister-in-law Becky about her pregnancy, Becky just acts appalled that Claire got pregnant out of wedlock and only six months after her husband's death, completely ignoring Claire's tearful attempts to explain that she made a mistake in the depths of grief and has been trying to fix it. Becky flounces off, telling Claire she doesn't care what she does about the pregnancy so long as it doesn't bring shame upon the family.
  - Subverted in the case of nurse Jenny Ford. When Claire asks her for help getting "a patient" an abortion, Jenny is quick to shut her down, bluntly saying she can't risk her job and doesn't know how to help her. However, Jenny later quietly provides Claire with the contact information for a trusted woman who can help find an abortion provider and is a lot more gentle with her; the way she speaks to Claire also implies she knows it's actually Claire who needs the abortion.
  - Tom, the back-street abortionist Claire hires, shows no sympathy towards Claire's situation and next-to-no concern for her health, insisting he be paid upfront, getting the procedure done as quickly as possible and then taking off as soon as it's done without even checking if Claire is okay. He accuses her of wasting his time and basically tells her to shut up whenever she expresses concerns about her safety; when she's clearly in pain, he just snaps at her to stop moving because it'll just hurt more.
- Christine doesn't have it quite as bad as Claire, but also experiences a lack of sympathy from people she wants it from the most.
  - Her lover, Professor Harris, acts like her being pregnant is mostly an inconvenience for him and is more concerned about his wife finding out than the impact on Christine; he breaks off their relationship while unconvincingly telling Christine he cares about her and handing over some cash for an abortion; when an upset and angry Christine says she thought he'd be more supportive, Harris just says he's going to be late for his appointment and drives off.
  - Christine's best friend Patti becomes cold towards her when Christine brings up getting an abortion; she barely listens to Christine's reasons for wanting an abortion and says that if she goes ahead with it she'll be on her own. However, Patti eventually comes around and agrees to support Christine when she has a complete breakdown and pleads for her help, including driving Christine to the clinic and waiting for her until the procedure is done. Patti does make it clear to Dr Webb that she disapproves of abortion and doesn't have much sympathy for the patients seeking terminations, stubbornly insisting they have other options (much to the annoyance of Dr Webb).
One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Claire got pregnant after having a one-night stand with her brother-in-law, while they were both deeply mourning the death of Claire's husband.
Only in It for the Money: It's all but stated that Tom, the abortion doctor in the first segment, mostly cares about money more so than helping women; the first thing he says to Claire when he shows up at her house is whether she has the full amount to pay for his services, demands Claire give him the cash upfront and nearly walks out when she says she'll pay him after the procedure. He doesn't properly sterilise his instruments or the 'operating room' (Claire's kitchen) and has terrible bedside manner, showing little compassion or concern for Claire, and not even sticking around to check she's okay afterwards.
Outliving One's Offspring: Claire's parents-in-law outlive their son Steven; they're still supporting Claire, with her sister-in-law remarking that her mother feels that by helping Claire she hasn't fully lost Steven. This is one of the reasons Claire wants an abortion upon realising she's pregnant by their other son, Kevin, as she knows it will only further devastate them while they're already going through a rough time.
Parental Substitute: Claire mentions that her late husband's relatives are pretty much the only family she has; she calls her parents-in-law Mom and Dad. They in turn are clearly fond of her and do what they can to support her following her husband's death, including paying to have her house renovated; her mother-in-law reassures her they’re "still family". This puts added pressure on Claire to get an abortion because knows the news of her pregnancy will devastate the family and may cause them to cut her off, especially as it was her brother-in-law who got her pregnant.
Period Piece: The first two segments take place 44 and 22 years prior to the then-current time period of 1996.
Roadside Surgery: Claire has to have an abortion done at her home, on her kitchen table, as no hospital or medical clinic in her area would offer abortion procedures on account of it being illegal. Tom, the abortion provider she hires, brings his own surgical instruments but doesn't properly sterilise them and there's no pain relief, either. Consequently, Claire ends up haemorrhaging.
Self-Surgery: Claire grows so desperate to end her pregnancy she attempts to induce an abortion by inserting a knitting needle into her vagina, but she only succeeds in causing herself a lot of pain.
Sex for Solace: Claire slept with her brother-in-law a few months after her husband's death, as they were both deep in grief and sought comfort from each other. They both now regard it as a mistake and it doesn't get easier when Claire realises she's pregnant.
Slut-Shaming: Claire being pregnant out of wedlock, and by her brother-in-law to boot, is the reason she barely confides in anyone, as she knows she'll be looked down upon. Claire finally breaks down and tells her sister-in-law Becky that she's pregnant, saying she slept with someone in a moment of weakness because she was so lonely after her husband died (she doesn't reveal that it was Becky's other brother who got her pregnant). Becky is disgusted and keeps asking how Claire could do this to their family, saying their reputation will be on the line. Becky finally storms out, saying that if her mother finds out it will "kill her" and that as long as she doesn't learn of it, she doesn't "give a damn" what Claire does.
Surprise Pregnancy: Claire, Barbara and Christine all unexpectedly find themselves pregnant in difficult circumstances, which leads all of them to seriously consider getting an abortion.
Tagline: "There's one question only a woman can answer".
Teacher/Student Romance: Christine was having a relationship with her college professor, Jim Harris, who is decades older than her and married. Given the age difference and him being in a position of authority over her, it's not presented as a healthy situation for Christine, especially when she tells him she's pregnant; he is quick to end their relationship and just hands Christine some money for an abortion, leading her to realise he never really cared about her.
Teen Pregnancy: Implied to have been the case with Doreen, one of the anti-abortion protesters in the third story. She's around the same age as Christine (a college student implied to be in her early twenties) and already has four children, including a baby. One of the clinic staff mentions that Doreen is little more than a child herself. Doreen insists that Christine will naturally come to love her baby like she did with all hers, with the implication that many of her pregnancies — if not all of them — weren't planned. Christine is polite but doesn't seem too convinced.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Christine has hints of this. She feels unable to confide in her family about her situation, as her family are "strict Irish Catholics" and she's seen as the most reliable and well-behaved of her siblings. They certainly wouldn't be pleased that Christine got pregnant by her married professor and likely wouldn't support her getting an abortion. Nurse Marcia sympathetically remarks that this sounds like a lot of pressure for Christine to be under.
White Shirt of Death: At the end of the first segment, Claire is wearing a white dressing gown and white nightgown, which are drenched with her blood as she tries to call an ambulance following her medically-unsound abortion; it's strongly implied she dies.