Educational Media Reviews Online

Hush-A-Bye-Baby is a poignant film dealing with the issues of teenage sex , pregnancy and abortion. It is a curious little film, because it is at once humorous, serious and filled with irony, all which effectively convey the filmmaker's perspicuous grasp of the teachings of the Catholic church with regard to premarital sex and abortion.

Set in a small town in Ireland amid the halls of a coed catholic high school, the audience is immediately struck by the fever pitch of raging hormones of both sexes. The boys in the locker room use expletives to convey their desires. The girls dance around and giggle about their naughty ideas and flirt with the priest. In one of the first scenes, the struggle between religion and human sexuality is cemented. While in the girls' locker room, one trollips around promiscuously while another chides her for her un-catholic like behavior. Later in the film, the latter is shown dressing up as a nun in front of her mirror.

The main character of the film is Garetti, a fifteen year old girl who does well in school and has been pinned with all her parents' hope for a bright future. However, Garetti falls in love with a boy at school and her first attempt at sexual intercourse is interrupted by the school priest's knocking on her front door. Later, she finds out that she is pregnant only to find out her boyfriend has been arrested by the Irish Republican Army. She struggles with the idea of carrying the baby to term or seeking an illegal abortion. Images of a blood stained Virgin Mary haunt her in her dreams as she keeps her pregnancy a secret from all but her closest friend. Garetti is torn between her religion and the reality of a dead-end life with a baby at the age of fifteen. She is facing a moral dilemma in the very flawed world of humans while seeking spiritual perfection to please God. The final scene of the film portrays a terrified Garetti waking screaming from another nightmare of a blood stained Virgin Mary and her own bulging stomach aching and bursting with a baby. The scene closes with her parents rushing to her room and staring into her terrified eyes.

This video has a strong message; premarital sex is a sin and so is abortion. However, it is open to interpretation. The fire and brimstone Catholic teachings may be seen as stifling and unrealistic, yet it may be interpreted as a guidebook to good and moral behavior towards sex, children and family for practicing Catholics. Plain and simply, the film depicts frightening consequences for actions that go against the spiritual teachings of the church. The video and audio qualities are good, except that the subtitles are too low for the television screen and half of the words can't be seen. The heavy Irish Brogue makes it difficult to understand what's being said and at times it seems as if it is an entirely different language than English. With parental consent, because of the language content, this video would be appreciated by catholic high school students or those in some form of religious education. If the message is to dissuade Catholic high school boys and girls from engaging in premarital sex, then it is an effective teaching tool. It might not be appreciated or understood in a mainstream collection due to the specific references to Catholicism. Overall rating: Recommended