While an abortion storyline might be shocking in another rom com, it works in Obvious Child because so much of Donna’s comedy material is toilet humor. By the time Donna ends up pregnant, the film has already shown itself to be raunchy and raw. Interestingly, the big choice Donna has to make is not about whether to have the abortion, but about whether or not to tell Max that she got pregnant in the first place, which is an interesting conundrum, as they had sex, but are not emotionally intimate enough for her to share the consequences.

This film could never have been made in years past, not only because the topic would have been too taboo, but also because many other important films and TV shows needed to pave the way first. Incredibly awkward and raunchy comedy has been made popular by the likes of The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And Obvious Child also comes along in the wake of New Girl's and Girls' success, which, like Obvious Child, respectively moved the female character that has traditionally been the “quirky friend” to the position of romantic lead, and brought the brilliant, uncensored New York millennial female to the screen for the first time. Obvious Child brings together some of the best bits from these influences and creates a new breed of awkwardness, raunch, and adorkability.

It makes sense that a female comedian would be the one to carry this issue to the rom com screen. In Bossypants, Tina Fey’s autobiography, she recounts a moment when Jimmy Fallon told Amy Poehler that her joke was “not cute! I don’t like it.” And Amy responded “I don’t f@#%ing care if you like it.” Obvious Child is right in line with Tina Fey’s advice from that same chapter: “do your thing. Don’t care if they like it.” But as is often the case when women take bold risks in comedy, the audience is loving it.

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Obvious Child: Why America Is Finally Ready for the First Pro-Choice Rom Com