I just read a story about a new film called Doonby. Never heard of it before this morning until this headline from the Hollywood Reporter came across my computer: Woman at Center of Roe v. Wade Stars in Abortion-Themed Movie (Exclusive).

I knew that this would not be a story I would be happy about. It seems that Norma McCorvey, the Roe in Roe v. Wade who in her later years has become an vehement anti-abortion crusader has joined that cast of what I guess is an anti-abortion film called Doonby. No I so wish I didn’t have to write this story because now this film which would have probably come and gone gets some traction and it’s going to get all of us pro choicers all riled up. Which is exactly what they want to do. They want the controversy because maybe they will get a distribution deal. But blame the Hollywood Reporter and not me. I’m just following their lead.

This is a whole new phenomenon. Feature films that actually promote an overt political agenda. It’s not just a story about something that someone experienced (and even that would be circumspect.) But this looks to be a film made with a political agenda designed to become a part of the anti-abortion narrative. This is quite dangerous because you can hide behind the fact that it is fiction and “just a movie” while making a big political statement.

On the surface Doonby doesn’t look to be an anti-abortion movie Here’s the log line for the film: “Doonby is a small indie film about a drifter played by John Schneider who changes the life of the people he comes into contact with.” The film is written and directed by Peter Mackenzie, who is English, and I looked at all the other creatives and they are all men.

This is another things that makes me spit fire — a bunch of dudes preaching about abortion. And if I wasn’t pissed off enough the person who put up the $2 million for the film wishes to remain anonymous. It feels like one of the political groups which can raise as much money as they want to effect elections but can keep their donors private.

Here’s the description of the abortion plot:

A subplot in an upcoming film,a psychological thriller called Doonby, involves an unmarried woman during the 1960s who seeks a doctor to end her inconvenient pregnancy — and an elderly woman who tries to talk her out of it.

The role of the older woman is pivotal, and director Peter Mackenzie wanted to cast someone with the gravitas to deliver anti-abortion dialogue without being preachy. So last year, over lunch at a restaurant in tiny Smithville, Texas, he persuaded one of the most controversial living Americans to play the role, despite the fact she had never acted before. Her name: Norma McCorvey — aka Jane Roe, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade.

While the cast and the director told The World (a Christian publication) that this is not your typical faith-based film, I’m not buying it. This is a faith based film so more overtly faith based than the other recent ones targeted at the faith community like Soul Surfer and Secretariat. And let’s be honest. These are not “faith based films.” They are Christian films. There are many other faiths in our world and I have never seen a film about Judaism or Buddhism called a “faith based film.”

Articles like the one in the Hollywood Reporter are done with a clear agenda. There is no way a film like Doonby would get any traction without throwing this Roe v. Wade bomb out to the world.

I’ll be watching this very carefully.