The Last Child

     Last night I watched an old ABC Movie Of The Week from 1971 entitled "The Last Child." "The Last Child" is a drama about the future, sans the normal trappings of 1970s futuristic movies. This movie contained no universal outfit of silver jump suit and boots that other film makers of the genre thought would be the essence of future fashion. The people in "The Last Child" did not tele-transport or ride from place to place in hovercrafts. Nor did they use bizarre-looking telephones and communications devices. This was a movie that spent its energy on how people lived in the future not how they dressed, traveled or communicated. Those things were assumed to be the same as they were in the time in which the movie was produced
     "The Last Child" centered around a young couple who had lost their 14 day old baby a year prior and the wife was pregnant again. In this futuristic America couples are allowed only one child, even if that child dies. The young couple find themselves running from a government bureaucrat who wants to force the wife to have an abortion and is played by Ed Asner. Little did folks in the 1970s realize that the oppressive government character Mr. Asner played in this movie would be his actual persona in the year 2013.
     The young couple on the run receive some unexpected help from a retired Senator, who is also on the run in a way by receiving insulin from his doctor to treat his diabetes. In the future of "The Last Child", apparently they have Obamacare and no one over the age of 65 is allowed drugs or medical treatment, even a 70 year old venerable former Senator. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Ed Asner prevents the Senator's doctor from delivering the illegal insulin and the Senator dies shortly after. But not until he has helped the young couple escape to Canada with a signed letter from the Senator to an influential Canadian official who is an ally of the soon-to-be dead Senator. In the future of "The Last Child", as the Senator explains, Canada is less barbaric than America. Do not fear all you defenders of freedom because Ed Asner's character ends up meeting his fate in a fiery car crash.
     It is eerily prescience how this 40 year old movie foretold the coming of Obamacare and other Leftist edicts. At one point in the movie the Senator picks up the young couple in what looks to be a big Lincoln. When the young man compliments him on the car the Senator says, "Maybe the government will allow them to be built again someday." At another point in the movie when the young couple is discussing their unborn child with a government doctor who says it must be aborted, the young man screams, "Every life is precious." That sentiment is considered somewhat old fashion by today's Leftists and would never be part of anything produced by Hollywood except in the context of making fun of those who still believe in the sanctity of life. There are other Leftist realities of 2013 America spattered throughout this 1971 movie. One in particular is when the young wife has been taken to the hospital for her forced abortion (before her brother who works for the government gets her released) and she gets frustrated with a nurse who informs her that she must have a permit from some deputy of permits to allow for visits from her husband while she is admitted. The nurse turns to the agitated woman and says, "Now honey we want to be nice don't we?"
     Considering that "The Last Child" was produced by Leftists of the day, it is fascinating to watch the 180 degree shift that they have made in the last 40 years. The very over-bearing and oppressive government that they demonized then is the very one that they advocate for now. "The Last Child" is well worth the time invested to watch it and I have included a link at the bottom of this post.

The Last Child