Natalie Portman Dissed by Mike Huckabee for Being Pregnant and "Not Married"

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Natalie Finn - E! Online




Mike Huckabee talked about Natalie Portman on the radio this week, but it wasn't to congratulate her on the Oscar win.

The former Arkansas governor and possible GOP presidential candidate in 2012 instead rolled the celebrity dice and used Portman as an example of the "distorted image" Hollywood supposedly provides of single motherhood.

To be fair, conservative talk radio host Michael Medved brought up the "visibly pregnant" Black Swan star and the "problematic message" she's sending. But Huckabee, ever the politician, took the ball and ran with it...

"You know Michael," Huckabee replied, "one of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children,' and they're doing just fine.

"But there aren't really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie," he said.

"And I think it gives a distorted image that yes, not everybody hires nannies, and caretakers, and nurses. Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care. And that's the story that we're not seeing, and it's unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of [out-of-wedlock children]."

For the record, Portman and baby daddy Benjamin Millepied are engaged, and she's rocking the ring to prove it. (And most people's lives are going to lack Portman glamour regardless, whether they're married, single, childless or parents of 19 and counting.)

Couldn't he have just simply said he doesn't think out-of-wedlock pregnancy is a great idea?

"I hope it is not an encouragement to other 16-year-olds who think that is the best course of action. But at the same time I'm not going to condemn her," Huckabee said in December 2007 of Jamie Lynn Spears, who at the time was 16 and pregnant. (Which was apparently such a glamorous idea, MTV named a show after her.)

"There'll be plenty of people in line to [condemn her] and I always look for the shortest lines. I just hope that she will make another right decision, and that's to give that child all the love and kindness and care that she can."

We're willing to bet that Portman, with or without Millepied, is planning to tackle motherhood in exactly that fashion.

[Arkady Renko]

Hey, Mr. huckabee, in case you missed the news: this is the 21st century.

[redred]

well said, i have a kid yet not married works fine with me and my better half

[Arkady Renko]

and why wouldn't it? Just because I'm married myself doesn't mean I have any reason to look down on people who don't feel the need to get married. As long as they take care of themselves and don't rely on the welfare office, it's nobody's business but theirs.

[RBP]

well said, i have a kid yet not married works fine with me and my better half

But that's the point he makes.

Family structures are still important; whether you define that as marriage or cohabitation, children do better in dual parent homes vs single.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Hey, Mr. huckabee, in case you missed the news: this is the 21st century.

Exactly

But he's a bible thumper that feels the need to force his moral/religious beliefs on everyone

[RBP]

Meh - I think you're ignoring the message because you don't like the messenger.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I think it's none of the messengers business TBH

And no, I don't like Huckabee....he's a pompous ass

[Arkady Renko]

But that's the point he makes.

Family structures are still important; whether you define that as marriage or cohabitation, children do better in dual parent homes vs single.

but isn't Natalie Portman in a stable relationship with the father of her child?

[RBP]

but isn't Natalie Portman in a stable relationship with the father of her child?

Honestly I don't know anything about her and I wasn't even arguing that specific point. All I am saying is there is merit to a pro-traditional family perspective.

[Arkady Renko]

Honestly I don't know anything about her and I wasn't even arguing that specific point. All I am saying is there is merit to a pro-traditional family perspective.

Sure, that's something I totally agree with, but in my opinion it doesn't mater all that much if people are legally married. What matters is that they make a solid commitment to each other and their children. Think of all the divorces - is a stable unmarried couple any worse than a married couple that might just as well split up somewhere down the road?

[MrsM]

My husband (and 2 siblings) were raised by a single mother - all 3 finished university and are doing great. Single parents may mean that there is less money coming into the family, but you don't need lots of money to be happy. There are probably as many or more poor married couples with kids than single parents.

Also I agree with Arkady that married does not equal stable homes.

What I don't like about Huckabee is that like most from the religious right in the media - they tend to generalize groups of people into what their beliefs says is right and what they say is wrong.

I’m sure there are countless cases where married families are much more screwed up then single parent homes.

IMHO – he is an ass for saying that on record that and I would be concerned if he becomes president. He does not have the tact that a president needs to have without dividing the country or alienating itself from other countries.
[/rant]

[Arkady Renko]

mind you, there are probably millions of young single moms living on welfare because who don't have a proper education and no job training whatsoever, that IS a serious social problem. But I don't think any of these look at celebrities like Nathalie Portman and say: Hey, that's a great idea, ima gonna get knocked up and start a carreer as a welfare mom because this millionaire with a college degree isn't married to her kid's dad.

[Arkady Renko]

mind you, there are probably millions of young single moms living on welfare because who don't have a proper education and no job training whatsoever, that IS a serious social problem. But I don't think any of these look at celebrities like Nathalie Portman and say: Hey, that's a great idea, ima gonna get knocked up and start a carreer as a welfare mom because this millionaire with a Harvard degree isn't married to her kid's dad.