THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN
RYAN: Former TV talk show host, Ricki Lake, is breaking beyond the boundaries of television and making her first foray into film producing with “The Business of Being Born.”
CAROLINE: This is a very inspiring documentary about pregnancy in the United States and natural childbirth. It’s not only informative, but it also made me cry.
RYAN: OK, I didn’t cry, but I’ll have you know that I’m so impressed with Ricki Lake, not only because she looked amazing on the red carpet at the film’s premiere that we attended last night, but also because she’s a veritable Michael Moore. In the same way that his films address what’s wrong in our country, she’s doing that for the birthing process.
CAROLINE: She’s not as much of a blowhard as Michael Moore, but she’s definitely shedding light on some really interesting statistics about natural childbirth, home deliveries and infant mortality rates in the U.S. versus other countries. It’s a real eye opener.
RYAN: And you may think that g’men like me wouldn’t be interested in the topic, but the film is very compelling. We all know people who are pregnant who would love to watch this. It lets them know that there are options other than the traditional hospital birth.
CAROLINE: This movie is getting a small release in a few major cities, but if it’s playing in your town you should definitely catch it. It covers a topic that not many people talk about publicly. All the Hollywood celebs, for example, have C-sections. And as someone in the film points out, if a star did a home birth, we’d hear a lot more about this topic.
RYAN: It’s interesting and a little bit icky to know that Ricki Lake did a home birth and you actually get to see it in the movie.
CAROLINE: There are several babies being born in this movie. It’s no joke. It’s up close and personal with nipples and vajayjay and you just have to get over it.
RYAN: Bottom line?
CAROLINE: It’s a great film and I was really inspired by it. Though I’m not planning on procreating any time soon, it definitely gave me something to think about. I would recommend it to anyone, whether or not you’re planning on having kids.
RYAN: I don’t normally love documentaries unless they’re entertaining, compelling, edgy and have a little bit of star power, and this film has all of that. I definitely recommend it.