"Orphan" Upsets Adoption Parents
"Orphan" may be the next Jaws
The new horror movie "Orphan" in making a large even before it hits the big screen. After a family loses their baby, they adopt nine year old Esther. Esther is not as quiet and innocent as she might seem. The mother, Kate, sees through the young girls facade, but when she tries to convince everyone else, no one can believe her. She may just be too late.
But the horror part of the movie is not what is upsetting parents. Adoptive parents are upset that adopting is portrayed differently than what it is really like. Katie Page Sander, Domestic Adoption Programs Coordinator for Hands Across the Water in Ann Arbor, MI, tells ParentDish.com that the damaging language isn't just limited to ticket buyers. "Orphan is kind of a loaded word", says Sander. It has "negative connotations." She worries that "Orphan" will enforce a false stereotype about adopting children.
The outcry against this movie was so strong, Warner Bros. removed a hurtful line from the trailer. "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own."
"I think that there's already so many myths and misunderstandings about adoption - especially adopting older children - and this [movie] just perpetuates those myths", Sanders said. "I get calls every day from families with outrageous concerns about children and birth families. And those are just the families who are still interested in adoption despite the myths. How many good families never make a call because the myths scare them off?"
It only takes a myth from a movie to scare people away. We learned that from "Jaws", "It", and "Chucky". Movies can help produce fears, and "Orphan" is no exception. If it scares away families from adopting, maybe making this movie wasn't the best choice.
