One Child Nation

Yes, this film makes a clear case for the serious consequences that happen when paternalistic societies fail to value and provide equal rights for women. Whether it's rabid anti-choice proponents in America who clearly feel that individual women should be denied the right to make reproductive decisions for themselves, or Chinese communist authorities who perpetuate the party line to force abortions and sterilization, the losers are always women and all of society. We all need to learn this lesson and this film makes this point in a devastating and personal way.

I don't like Communist China and many of its policies, including one child policy. I have the same overall view as the documentary. However, to make a more powerful documentary, they should have applied more scientific storytelling method and interviewed people from broader range of background. Moreover, the film should have involved less of her family and relatives to make it more objective.

As a documentary it was very informative with insight from many that went through, enforced, and were victims of the one child policy. The film however did not take a bipartisan informative stance, which would allow viewers to form their own opinions. The filmmaker used a nations tragedy to promote her own ideas. The documentary focused on the tragedy of families having their babies killed, which the filmmaker managed to turn into a statement about how awful it was for Chinese women to not have a choice in the killing of their babies. She went further and said that the decision should be left to the mother. In other words, a dead baby under a bridge (as depicted in the film) is awful if the mother had no choice in the decision, however if it was her choice, a dead baby under a bridge is acceptable.

To me, the One-Child policy made sense when I was younger and didn't know any better. Fix overpopulation and hearken Malthus by limiting household size. Easy, right? This wasn't America after all; individual liberties are fewer in Communist China...because...isn't it for the good of the collective and not the individual? To my understanding, most of the Chinese were just banding together and willingly sacrificing for their country.

The movie paints an entirely different picture. Yes, there were those believed they were rightful functioning as an extension of the Red policy. Yet, almost every single person that Wang interviews had to preface recollections of the forced sterilizations and abortions with four haunting words: "I had no choice."

This movie investigates the intersect between acting willfully for your country and its opposite: being forced to do what are considered "necessary evils" for the longevity of the country.

Wang is skeptical that any of this suffering needed to happen to begin with. She provides a counter-narrative to the Communist state, wondering if the mountains of abandoned girl babies were left to die in vain. In retrospect, the policy's dubious reasons point more towards a mindless allegiance to leadership than any saving grace from starvation. That's how the movie is presented, at least.

Definitely worth the watch.

The documentary on China's One-Child Nation leaves you numb and forces you to think to what extent humans can go for their desires. China has been able to control its population to a large extent which would've had a huge impact on its economy and maybe it wouldn't have been here today where it is but at what cost? It's a difficult question and makes you speechless.

The movie is very insightful and brings the topic to the discussion which wasn't the case. It's truly a must-watch.