A 1996 dramedy directed by Alexander Payne under Miramax, starring Laura Dern in the title role. The film is about an insolvent junkie who gets pregnant (again!) from a one night stand. Since Ruth has had four other children removed from her custody, she faces a lengthy prison sentence if she conceives another baby. While in jail for being wasted in public from huffing spray paint fumes, Ruth meets a group of pro-life protesters. They take Ruth under their wing to help Ruth keep her baby. Drama arises when Ruth encounters her baby-daddy, and some pro-choice advocates.
This film demonstrates the following tropes:
- Addled Addict: Ruth is addicted to the petrol-based fumes of aerosol cans. She is found in an alley in a catatonic state by police, who identify her, and arrest her for being wasted in public. While in the city jail, Ruth gets a handful of pro-life protesters as cellmates. They take pity on Ruth, and discover that she's pregnant. Ruth shrewdly withholds some critical details, though: she's had four other children removed from her custody for being an unfit mother, and her current baby's father is a slumball john named Ricky.
- Anti-Hero: Ruth is the protagonist, and the story follows her train-wreck life. She's a criminal, a junkie, a mendicant, a leech ... she's always looking out for Number One, and will do whatever it takes to keep herself alive and stoned.
- Awkward Stoplight Moment: While Stoops is being driven to an obstetrician by her kindly pro-life mentor, Ruth sees the rolling wreck of her baby-daddy's car pull up alongside. She tries to avoid being seen, but Ricky recognizes her nonetheless. Ruth is worried that her sponsor would have second thoughts about harboring Ruth, knowing a slumball fathered her child, and that she has a history of substance abuse.
- Convenient Miscarriage: Ruth miscarries while under the aegis of her pro-life mentor. She keeps this a secret.
- Culture Clash: A gaggle of pro-choice protesters gather outside the clinic where Ruth has been taken by her sponsor, creating a shouting match between them and the pro-life advocates harboring Ruth.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: There are two factions competing for Ruth's allegiance, the Pro-Lifers who want Ruth to bring her baby to term, and the Pro-Choicers who want Ruth to have unfettered autonomy over her uterus. Neither side is depicted as right or wrong, just vocal and passionate.
- Hypocrite: The Pro-Life family that initially takes Ruth in bitterly casts her out after they catch her huffing on one occasion, but when they learn that a seemingly Pro-Life ally that has taken her in is actually Pro-Choice, they are adamant on getting Ruth back on their side.
- It's All About Me: Ruth Stoops's Mission Statement in a nutshell. Everyone else is exploitable or expendable.
- Karma Houdini: Ruth is an amoral wastrel who escapes all consequences at the end of the film. Off she goes without so much as a "thank you" or a backward glance.
- Nominal Hero: Ruth only supports whatever cause is convenient for her and her goals.
- One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Ruth conceived her latest baby after bedding a john named Ricky. He throws her out of his apartment the next morning.
- The Unapologetic: By herself, Ruth seems to care nothing about her ne'er-do-well lifestyle and street rat morality. She will act sorrowful about her mistakes when there's a sympathetic (read: gullible) ear listening.
- Womanchild: Ruth
