Of Course 'Obvious Child' Did Well

You've probably heard something about this movie, and if you haven't, then, well, you're about to hear something. Obvious Childhad a strong opening amidst other smaller features this weekend. The movie about abortion that's not really about abortion by first time writer-director Gillian Robespierre starring the inimitable and hilarious Jenny Slate received a warm inaugural weekend from critics and viewers alike, as it raked in $81,000, which is strong for a small flick. But this means more than the fact that we have a star in Jenny Slate (which, by the way, is excellent news for women and comedy)— this means that we should get more movies like it.

I don't mean abortion movies. I mean movies like last year's Frances Ha, movies about women on the cusp of adulthood. Obvious Child's success — while, no, not at a The Fault in Our Stars level — is due to its realness. We need more movies about young women who are honest, confused, plucky, and in real-life situations.

Sure, the movie will get flak from people who roll their eyes at "another Girls type of story — a philandering artist in Brooklyn," but it's more than that. This in-between stage that is finally starting to get more treatment from Hollywood. Happy Christmas , starring Anna Kendrick, follows Kendrick as a not-quite-grown-up young woman, too. Let's not stop this trend. This is an important stage in many women's lives that often get the shifty eye from critics, but movies like Obvious Child are changing that.

So let's hear more stories about women who aren't quite sure what they want to be or do when they grow up (whatever "growing up" means, anymore). And let's discover more new emerging comedic female talent! Let's have more scripts about women by women. And let's address all of these issues honestly but without being didactic, and maybe, like Slate's character Donna does in the movie, be unafraid to throw in a joke about dirty underwear while talking about abortion.

This is why Obvious Child is doing so well — so hopefully, execs will take the cue, and we'll get more movies like this gem.

Image: A 24