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How everyone got played by an anti-abortion movie

In today’s Big Story podcast, Unplanned opens in Canada this weekend. It’s a movie that’s not worth talking about … yet everyone is anyway. Why?

Using controversy and the spectre of censorship to sell a piece of media goes back decades. But in recent years, it’s a strategy that’s been perfected by a certain kind of evangelical film or book. There’s a firm playbook for it, and even though everyone from protesters to activists to entertainment companies and the media should know better by now, it still works. How do we give the anti-abortion movement the critical attention it deserves without playing into the hands of people monetizing outrage?

(Perhaps by giving up and talking about the Lion King remake instead? We’ll do that, too. Our guest has already seen it.)

GUEST: Norm Wilner, host of Someone Else’s Movie, senior film writer at NOW Toronto

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

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