As a parent, the premise behind this movie infuriates me.
Look at the poster...
Orphan
There's something wrong with Esther
I could write a post right now about how sick it makes me that in a country with a whopping 500,000 children sitting in the foster care system a movie like Orphan is made.
Here's the premise...
The tragic loss of their unborn child has devastated Kate and John, taking a toll on both their marriage and Kate's fragile psyche as she is plagued by nightmares and haunted by demons from her past. Struggling to regain some semblance of normalcy in their lives, the couple decides to adopt another child. At the local orphanage, both John and Kate find themselves strangely drawn to a young girl named Esther. Almost as soon as they welcome Esther into their home, however, an alarming series of events begins to unfold, leading Kate to believe that there's something wrong with Esther--this seemingly angelic little girl is not what she appears to be. Concerned for the safety of her family, Kate tries to get John and others to see past Esther's sweet facade. But her warnings go unheeded until it may be too late...for everyone.
Warner Bros. went so far as to have Esther, the adopted child say, "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own" in the movie's trailer.
After receiving numerous complaints from adoptive parents and foster care agencies, Warner Bros. changed the line to "I don't think mommy loves me."
Still...wince.
Are you sick to your stomach yet?
It's hard for me to even type this all up.
Makes me want to throw up and throw something at the people who thought it was okay to make this movie.
After feeling nauseous and angry, I can't help but think...
Is it safe to say that when a production company like Warner Bros. Movies decides to make a picture, they expect it to make money?
Would it also be safe to say, with that assumption, that movies are a product in a sense...that in order to sell a product, the person selling it tries to appeal to something in us, the buyer?
The climax of a scary movie never happens during the day at the crowded neighborhood swimming pool. That's not scary. Scary movies are set in the dark, at night, when people are alone...you know...scary movies play off of real fears that real people have. So do romance comedies. They appeal to something in us that wants to flirt, fall in love and say witty, scripted things to someone of the opposite sex.
Would Warner Bros. Movies make a movie that they thought would offend EVERYONE? Would they set out to make a movie they were predicting would "flop?"
This isn't a documentary. This isn't an art film. This is a film by Warner Bros. Movies. They make movies like Harry Potter and He's Just Not That Into You. I would describe Warner Bros. as probably fatally trendy. They like to appeal to the masses...
So the real question that sort of needs to sit in our laps for a little while, so we can feel it...look at it, and face it is...
Why would a movie that says, "If you adopt an older child it might be evil," "There will probably be something wrong with an adopted child", and "You won't be able to love that child like children that were birthed into your home" appeal to the masses?
Why would that product sell?
Yes, I think that Warner Bros. has done something horrifying here, with these images and ideas about orphans they will be selling to us on July 24 (however, apart from Christ, we're ALL like Warner Bros., willing to hurt people for the sake of greed or success).
What's equally horrifying may be the fact that this movie will sell.
What does this movie say about how we think about children...about adoption...about the 500,000 kids who have been abused and abandoned that are in the foster care system?
What does this movie say about believers...about how we understand the gospel and how we understand adoption? There was a time, before God moved in our hearts about adoption that I'm not sure if I would have paid much attention to this movie. Like I've said many times before, every fear I've ever had about adoption came down to a misunderstanding of the gospel. Holding the truth in my hands...my beautiful brown baby boy, I realize how deceived I was. I was an idiot. I can't believe I ever feared something God calls me to, and does Himself.
That's why this movie, and what it says about our country is a big deal to me.
This is a Warner Bros. problem, but it might be our problem too.
Additional reactions to the movie from newspaper articles to read...
Examiner in Dallas
Tampa Bay Online
One of these secular articles says:
There is currently a movement in the adoption community to protest this movie in the following ways:
- boycott the movie
- spread the word to others and ask them to also boycott the movie
- post a warning about the movie on adoption forums
- start a petition asking Warner Brothers to change some of the negative adoption lingo, such as "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own."
- contact the distributors (Warner Brothers), the producer (Dark Castle Entertainment), and the developer of the material (Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, who is also co-producing the film) and express your concern about the negative impact of the film on the cause of adoption
It may also be wise to talk to school-age adoptees about this movie before it is released to prepare them for the comments they may receive from other children, who have viewed the movie or promotional material. Giving these children ways to cope with the misconceptions suggested by this movie could help to minimize the social damage that may result.
I plan to do all of those things. I wasn't going to see the movie anyway, but I do want to draw awareness to these bad ideas about adoption.I also hope we ask some hard questions of ourselves...
Why would a movie like this not offend more people? Do we really think children are in orphanages because there's something wrong with them? Do we have any of these fears that this movie is preying upon, trying to take a real fear we have, and make money off of it by slapping it up on a big screen? Do we really think it would be harder to love an adopted child than it is to love "our own" biological children? Are we not adopting, and not fostering because we are afraid we won't have perfect children like our "own" perfect children?
If any of those things are true, we have a problem...a big one, and it's not just that we're adoption jerks.
As believers, if ANY of those things are true we may not really understand the gospel.
What I'm most afraid of, when thinking through the ideas of this movie is that as believers, we're not talking about adoption enough.
Whether we're going to actually adopt or not, I HOPE there are families in every church who have adopted, and isn't it our job as the church to love those families and those children enough to learn about adoption...learn the lingo...learn how to defend adoption and thus the gospel? I don't mean defend them by acting like idiots in the name of Jesus. I do mean defend them by seeing this movie advertised and because of our understanding of adoption, immediately know that's not right.
My fear is, adoption isn't talked about enough. My fear is, believers will walk past the huge posters at the movie theater on the way in to watch Ice Age, see words that say..."Orphan...something is wrong with Esther" and don't even know to be offended by what they read.
At one point I would have walked right past this poster at the movie theater because I knew nothing about adoption, and didn't even know anyone who had adopted or was adopted. That's concerning considering I grew up in church, and God says the only religion that's worth anything to Him is one in which widows and orphans are cared for and defended.
I'm sorry but....
I think this movie is saying something crappy about adoption and orphans, but I also think it's saying something crappy about us...God's people and His church.
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do good.Seek justice.Help the oppressed.Defend the cause of orphans.Fight for the rights of widows.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Due to some great, honest email feedback, I wrote a follow up to this post. You can read it here.
5 comments:
i blogged on this a few weeks ago. Makes me sick! as an adoptive mum i am outraged that they would think it is ok to make a film like this.
You spoke to the heart of this so well. I have wanted to write about this but each time it sickens me so that I cannot come up with the appropriate words to do so. The cruelty of exploiting children for a stupid, cheap horror flick makes me so angry ... and heartbroken for the children who will be affected by the selfishness and insensitivity of it all.
I'm with you on this too. I saw the preview and thought "oh great...that's really going to help people overcome their fears about adoption...."
I remember being told during orientation or something that I didn't have to be a commercial for adopting/fostering. But I kind of can't help thinking that a few commercials for the good might be a good thing. There are so many misconceptions....especially for something like this when you are right, people don't even know why they should be angry.
I think people are overreacting to this. The overlying message of this movie has nothing to do with adoption. That is just part of the plot. It is not advocating that adoption of any child is a bad thing.
The movie is about a couple who adopt an evil child. Which is supposed to be scary. And the child says things, since she is evil, that would be untrue and disturbing. Such as the line mentioned in the movie. Ala, possession in The Exorcist.
The child may or may not be possessed but the point is that there is evil in her and so she says horrible things. It has absolutely nothing to do with adoption except that that takes place as part of the story. You'd have to be pretty thick to really believe adoption of a child is a bad thing because of this movie.
I don't know who you are, Dan, but of course, if you read the post, I strongly disagree with you.
I don't really care what the plot of the movie is. It's hard to argue that the fact that this little girl is an orphan isn't the MAJOR THEME of the movie when the film is in fact called...
Orphan
Hmmm....
I don't know how many adopted people you know, but one thing most of them share is this struggle inside them...this fight they have with this question...
"Was there something wrong with me that made my mother place me for adoption?"
While I think this happens primarily in closed adoptions, where children don't know their full identity, I will say, that even people who come from healthy adoption situations still have admitted to dealing with the fear that somehow something about them personally caused their mother to choose not to parent them.
Of course there's nothing wrong with someone who is adopted.
So it makes me sick...literally sick that there are posters up right now, around my town...in addition to the movie trailers for this movie that pop up all over the place with "ORPHAN, There's something WRONG with Esther" written all over them.
What a disgusting thing to do to not only the children still waiting for homes, but also the people who have been adopted.
You'll have a hard time convincing these readers that people are overreacting to this movie.
Heather
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