Alexa Vega ... Gaby Rodriguez
Walter Perez ... Jorge
I have had this book on my nightstand for about a week, so when I saw that Lifetime was presenting the movie version, I figured it would be a better opportunity to open up a discussion with my daughter in regards to other people’s beliefs and opinions when a teen girl becomes pregnant.
I think I hit a nerve when I asked, “Which of your friends would accept you?” Right away, she knew who would walk out of her life and I think it did dawn on her how tenuous relationships can be when you do not live up to the expectations of others.
For her High School Senior Project, Gaby Rodriguez decided to conduct a social experiment into the thoughts and statements of both students and teachers when a well-liked promising student announces her pregnancy. The truth was, Gaby was not pregnant, she used a fake pregnancy belly and conducted herself the same way she always had. It was others that saw her differently and judged her. Being a child from a single mother who herself had a child at 15, being the sister of a girl that had a baby at 16 and a brother that had gotten his girlfriend pregnant at 17, put Gaby in a difficult position. The community expected her to fail and when she “showed up pregnant” no one was surprised.
What Gaby did not expect was the backlash from her friends and peers when the truth is revealed. Was the base of the anger that she lied to them or that Gaby revealed to them their true ugly selves?
This is a great movie to open up a discussion with your daughters. I am sure that the book went into more detail, but that is not what is important. Talking to our children and helping them to see the big picture is what our job as parents are all about.
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