Editing Citizen Ruth (section)

==Themes==
''Citizen Ruth'' is known for its explicit attack on the [[abortion debate]]. Through [[black comedy]] and [[satire]], the film spins the motif of women seeking abortions in "ways unprecedented in prior decades" of film.<ref>{{cite book|last=MacGibbon|first=Heather|title=Screening Choice: The Abortion Narrative in American Film|year=2009|publisher=VDM Publishing|location=[[Ann Arbor, Michigan]]|page=115|isbn=978-3639161205}}</ref> Most importantly, the film uses these methods of humor "to critique [[moral realism]] in the abortion debates."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Shapshay|editor-first1=Sandra|title=Bioethics at the Movies|year=2009|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|location=[[Baltimore, Maryland]]|isbn=978-0801890789|pages=32–33|first1=Al-Yasha |last1=Ilhamm|chapter=Reading ''Citizen Ruth'' Her Rights}}</ref> While the film's overt subject matter is abortion, director [[Alexander Payne]] has insisted that the film is more prominently about the human side of [[fanaticism]]. Elaborating on this, Payne said, "People become fanatics for highly personal reasons. I mean, it's more about them and their own psychosis than about that cause."<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Guthmann|first=Edward|title='Citizen's' Payne Plays Abortion for Laughs / Trying to sell 'Ruth' drove him out of Hollywood|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Citizen-s-Payne-Plays-Abortion-for-Laughs-2860837.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher=[[Hearst Corporation]]|access-date=October 15, 2013|date=January 7, 1997}}</ref> This point has been noted by critics, who reaffirm the common loss in sight made by [[extremists]] of the people and issues involved in such debates.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dreher|first=Rob|title=In Pro-life, Pro-choice Wars, 'Citizen Ruth' Just Pro-laughs|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1997-03-16/entertainment/9703120423_1_citizen-ruth-abortion-film|work=[[Sun-Sentinel]]|publisher=[[Tribune Company]]|access-date=October 15, 2013|date=March 16, 1997|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200212220223/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1997-03-16-9703120423-story.html |archive-date=2020-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Nicoletti|first=Karen|title=Citizen Ruth: Looking Back at Alexander Payne's Prescient Abortion Satire|url=http://movieline.com/2012/03/28/citizen-ruth-looking-back-at-alexander-paynes-prescient-abortion-satire/|work=[[Movieline]]|publisher=[[PMC (company)|Penske Media Corporation]]|access-date=October 15, 2013|date=March 28, 2012}}</ref>

A running joke in the movie is a "Success in Finance"-type tape produced by an [[Amway]]-type company.<ref>{{cite web |title=Revisiting ''Citizen Ruth'' |url=http://filmint.nu/revisiting-citizen-ruth/ |website=Film International |access-date=23 November 2023 |date=May 14, 2011}}</ref> Ruth takes the tape and studies it to determine what to do with her newfound money. It is never shown what she does with the money as the film abruptly ends.