Educational Media Reviews Online

14 year old high school freshman Samantha Hernandez wrote this story about choosing abstinence in a community with a high rate of teen pregnancy. The film opens with Samantha lying on bed. A group of girls are calling to her in the background, and then the scene moves into a baby crying at a christening. At first, it seems that Samantha may be pregnant, but the audience soon learns that Samantha, who plays herself in the film, is not the one to worry about. She addresses the camera directly, telling the audience that she knows about babies from her female cousins, and she’s sure she doesn’t want to have one herself. The bulk of the film centers around her cousin Emilio’s christening party, where, in an extremely funny scene, her male cousins practice their pickup lines. This is followed by girls talking about their perceptions of the guys. The contrast between the boys’ transparent come-ons and the girls’ belief in their sincerity effectively highlights the different feelings and expectations teenage boys and girls often have in relationships. Toward the end of the film, Samantha tells us that she just found out that her best friend is pregnant, news that depresses and disappoints her. As Samantha holds her new baby cousin, the camera cuts to a number of teenage mothers who talk about what happened to them when they became pregnant: their fears, the boyfriends who suddenly disappeared, their angry parents.

This film is more documentary and character study than story, and it covers a dizzying array of people and ideas in eight minutes. The resulting film feels scattered, and it’s hard for the viewer to find something to grab on to: other than the overriding theme that abstinence is a good choice, a message that perhaps teens aren’t hearing enough. The film deals with real issues and decisions that teens face in a relatively non-threatening manner. Recommended for use with junior and senor high school students.