It was actually quite topical for its time. Eugenics were not frowned on as they are today, and many respected intellectuals were in favor of weeding out society's weaker members. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a harshly-worded statement in favor of eugenics in 1927's Buck vs. Bell opinion, with his famous "three generations of imbeciles are enough" line to justify forced sterilization of mentally disabled people, though in later years he was less stridently in favor of the policy.
It really wasn't until the Nazis took eugenics to the extreme that public opinion became more or less unanimous against the concept, and at trial, Nazi doctors defended their actions by saying they were only doing what the Americans had been doing, albeit on a larger scale.
Abortion and birth control were also hot topics in the 1910s and '20s. At the time, the two sides tended to be those in favor of birth control as a way to prevent abortions vs. those who felt abortions were totally acceptable. This film deals primarily with that divide, though the hero of the film is described as being a staunch supporter of eugenics.
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Popcorngal (4346)
a year ago
I am a firm believer of birth control and morning after pill as well. Never knew those topics were debated back then, but not surprised either.
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