Sumith Prasad
Judd Apatow’s romantic comedy film ‘Knocked Up’ explores the aftermath of a relatable mistake. Ben Stone, a slacker who spends his days making a database of nude scenes, and Alison Scott, an entertainment journalist, have sex without birth control after celebrating the latter’s promotion. When Alison learns she is pregnant, the unborn baby brings together the two people and their worlds. The journalist finds an empathetic partner in the slacker, who realizes he must be responsible and ambitious to be a father. Apatow wrote the movie by drawing inspiration from reality. However, it doesn’t mean the narrative is completely based on a true story!
The Genesis of Knocked Up
‘Knocked Up’ is a film born from a conversation between Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, who plays Ben. The filmmaker was talking to the actor about the latter accidentally making a woman pregnant, which inspired the former to craft the romantic comedy’s narrative. “I was talking to Seth and said ‘I think you don’t need to be in a movie with special effects. You would be funny in everyday situations. You could just accidentally get a woman pregnant and it would be funny,’” Apatow told a fan on X (formerly Twitter) who asked him about the genesis point of his work. By then, the director had become a father, which influenced his writing of the movie.
Apatow drew inspiration from several events in his life with his wife Leslie Mann, who portrays Alison’s sister Debbie in the film, to write Ben and the entertainment journalist’s tale. These events occurred when Mann was pregnant with their first child, Maude Apatow. In a particular scene, Ben calls Alison’s gynecologist and lashes out at him for attending a bar mitzvah in another city while she is in labor. The filmmaker made a similar phone call when the actress was pregnant.
Likewise, the scene in which Alison asks Ben to get out of her car in the middle of the road while they are going to see their doctor is also based on a real-life incident. As the film depicts, Mann did kick Apatow out of her car in real life. Alison’s efforts to calm herself with a bath while her gynecologist is unavailable to look after her is based on what Mann did while she was in labor with Maude. These real-life-based scenes make the film more grounded and relatable, enhancing the connection between the viewers and the characters’ plight.
The Creation of Ben and Alison
Although Ben and Alison’s multiple experiences are based on the lives of Apatow and Mann, the two characters are not outrightly inspired by the filmmaker and actress. Apatow was never a slacker when he met Mann. The director met the actress while shooting the 1996 movie ‘The Cable Guy,’ which was co-produced by the former. By then, he had already established himself in the television industry as a writer, in addition to a feature film writing credit. Their daughter’s birth wasn’t why they ended up together since Maude was born several months after their marriage.
Apatow created Ben and Alison without any particular real-life counterparts. Their actions are universally relatable since accidental pregnancies are not extraordinary occurrences. According to a United Nations study, nearly half of all pregnancies, which are estimated to be around 121 million each year globally, are unintended. Therefore, traces of Ben and Alison can be found in several fathers and mothers. In the film, Alison hides her pregnancy from her superiors, fearing the consequences at her workplace, which is a concern, according to recent research, 23% of working women have.
Even though ‘Knocked Up’ is nearly fictional, Ben and Alison likely can be found in any country in the world in real life. Through the two characters, the film explores the most fundamental consequences of an unintended pregnancy, making their actions the expected responses of any two people in their position.
