Kelly Loves Tony Response

A question that arose from the film was the issue of high teen pregnancy rates in low income, minority communities, specifically amongst the Laos population. In the movie, Kelly's pregnancy isn't projected to audiences as a monumental event, even though, in a white person focused story, it would probably be the central focus of the girls narrative. In the article that was read this week, a question of whether our reactions to this overlooking is an American made opinion. We expect the story of an unintended pregnancy to be the basis of the issue, teens having babies still a taboo concept. The author of the article describes the reaction towards pregnancy in the Laotian people, setting it up as a sort of rite of passage for women, a symbol of status. She then criticizes our Western reactions towards, the idea that this ruins a young girls life a Middle-class manufactured concept. While I do agree that Americans are very judgmental of pregnant teenagers, and due to this judgment, create stereotypes and concepts about these women that essentially set them up for failure in the future, it is not incorrect to say that having a baby at such a young age can take a lot of effort. The woman will have to take time off to fully take care of their child, which will definitely slow them down from accomplishing future goals at the originally scheduled time.