Orphan Movie Insults Foster Families

Is "Orphan" Movie Fair to Those in Foster Care?

June 2, 2009

It can be a cold and cruel world for foster children. While some kids are fortunate enough to find warm, inviting homes and loving families, others spend most of their lives hopping from one home to another without the security of being able to settle down. Will flicks like Warner Brother's horror film, Orphan, scare potential parents from reaching out to take in tots?

The movie about a crazed foster child has previews that include the line: "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own." Sentiments like these in the trailer have people all up in arms — especially the parents and counselors of adopted children. Watch the trailer and see for yourself.

19 Comments

3 years

that is like not having a baby b/c you watched a horror film. dumb.

3 years

I am not an adoptee but I grew up in a foster home (my mom has several foster and adopted children) and I certainly agree that everyone should have the right to know their heritage. I know both my parents and all my grandparents and still find myself researching my geneology. I just want to know my heritage and what chain of events got me here where I am. I find nothing wrong with that! And truepurple, before we start running people (bio parents) let's consider for a second that not every child or parent has the same story! Sometimes love is the very thing that drives a parent to give their child to someone who is better suited...financially, emotionally or otherwise... To care for the child. Then there are the children who's parent died and have no other relative able to care for them. There's the ever popular scenario.... Young 13 year old child, who without parental guidance of thier own, finds themselves pregnant... Etc... Don't you think these children deserve to know their story? All my adopted siblings still see their bio parents at least 3-4 times a year. I'm glad they get the answers they need! Doesn't mean they love me or my mother any less. But I suppose it takes a certain level of understanding, acceptance and love to realize this. As far as the movie goes... It's not changing any stable mind. To all the adoptees.... I hope someday you all get your answers!

3 years

This blog is dumb. Go watch the movie before you diss it. The movie is about a 33 YEAR OLD INSANE WOMAN WHO HAS A GROWING PROBLEM MAKING HER LOOK LIKE A CHILD! So before all the foster ppl of he world start getting butt hurt and what not go check out what you're arguing over. To be honest I don't think Waner Brothers should have changed the stupid line in the trailer for all the cry babies.

3 years

How do you know it is satans daughter, Anonymous? Have you seen the movie? QuestionablyS, you may feel how ever you want. You can rage against the grass for being green and cry that people at grocery stores expect you to pay for your groceries, or what ever other random thing. Likewise, you can't tell me what PoV's I may or may not have. I am human, and the subject is pretty universal to being human. Where we come from? That's more a philosophical/religious question that noone can truly answer with any certainty. But I can tell you that genes don't tell you much about 'where we come from', really. They tell you even less about yourself. Or are you one of those people who believe that genetics rule their lives? Do you believe if a person has a violent gene, they can't help but be violent? Our entities of self originate from the forces of self will applied to the circumstances of our lives. Genes play little roll in this IMO. Biological parents that are not in our lives since birth, are not our parents at all. Those people that raised you and loved you, are your true and only parents. If you have that anchor in your life, feel blessed and don't complain that they don't want you to seek some random strangers that are "biological parents" as substitutes for the love and caring they have given you, as though it isn't sufficient. If you haven't gotten such love and caring, that is unfortunate. In which case a biological parent may give more, or not. So might a random person off the street.

3 years

Truepurple ... if you've never experienced what it's like to not know where you came from, then you can't have a pov about how an adoptee should feel. A person should have the right to know everything about themselves.

3 years

Only an idiot would boycott this film. The friggen child is SATAN's daughter. So unless you plan on adopting Satan's child or might be worried that you could possibly adopt Satan's child.. DON'T ADOPT. You're just crazy.

3 years

oh man, these kinds of questions get my blood runnin. its a f**king movie...i intend to adopt some day, and no movie is ever going to affect my decision. what will affect my decision is my career and financial standing. agree with the poster who said that if a horror movie discouraged someone from adopting, they shouldnt be adopting at all.

3 years

What difference does it make who your biological parents are? They are just some people who share some genes if they never raised you any. Your parents are the ones who raised you and loved you. Who wants their kid looking for other parents, as though the current parents aren't good enough.(now if the adopted family is abused that is another issue, but then that is the same issue if it is biological abusive parent) I have never understood why some people put so much weight into biological family. We make the connections, not genes. We shouldn't need the excuse of genes to connect to other people. BTW I have never experienced either side of this issue. But that doesn't mean my PoV is invalid. As far as the movie discouraging adoptions, it might. Jaws discouraged many people from swimming. You may say if they are that easily discouraged, they shouldn't be parents in the first place. The other side of that issue is though that fear is a pretty big motivator, I would think there are plenty of decent parents or better who still might be motivated by such fear.(I bet adopting a kid with his/her own issues is scary enough as it is. Which is probably why they are hard to place) Would you rather the kids they would adopt be stuck in orphanages instead? Anyway, if they don't adopt, they might end up having biological kids of their own,. either way they are parents. But don't we already have alot of kids that aren't babies waiting to be adopted? The less interested families for adopting, the lower the standard for those willing to adopt. If your curious, like turborider I was just looking for a spoiler. I never watch horror flicks, but sometimes read their spoilers when I am curious about their concept.

3 years

I can't find the spoiler anywhere. Where did you find it?

4 years

A lot of adoptive parents are angry about one line in this film: “It must be hard to love an adopted child like your own.” How pathetic that they chose to be angry about this movie line but are perfectly content that their adopted child’s birth certificate was permanently sealed from him/her with their permission! Yes, adoptees have to live their lives carrying around “amended” birth certificates and are NEVER allowed to see their original birth certificates containing their true names and the names of his/her true biological parents. Adopting parents get to have their names placed on the amended certificates as the birth parents! What lies!!!! These violations of a child’s rights does not concern the protestors because it works for them! It’s not their ethnicities, their heritages that are sealed. No, their newly purchased child will be forced to accept these lies are his/her truth. These self-righteous idiots own the copyrights to their adopted child's identity and could care less that it's FICTION that on the child's birth certificate. It’s downright disgraceful and pathetic what people choose to protest. I’m an adoptee. A lot of my friends are adoptees. We want “Orphan” t-shirts to wear proudly because getting angry over one-liners and not giving a hoot about our civil rights is laughable.

4 years

As an adoptee myself I really see this whole boycotting as silly. I can't believe adoptive parents get so up in arms about stuff like this but then won't stand beside and support adoptees as they try to change the laws to treat us equally and give us our birth certificates. mstrauss - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! I have had the same thoughts as Ester - many times during the course of my life. It's not uncommon. And I've also heard from some adoptive parents who say they actually don't love their adopted child as much as their bio kids. It happens. Adoption is not a win/win/win at all times. Chouette4u - I had been looking for a spoiler and if the one I had found is true, then yeah - this whole thing is even sillier then I originally thought. I just love how people are boycotting something they haven't even seen and therefore cannot truly judge.

Chouette4u 4 years

***semi-spoiler in case you actually care about the movie***OK I just read the spoiler for the movie, and when you know the whole plot and the "big reveal" at the end, this whole debate is totally moot.

Chouette4u 4 years

***semi-spoiler in case you actually care about the movie*** OK I just read the spoiler for the movie, and when you know the whole plot and the "big reveal" at the end, this whole debate is totally moot.

4 years

@smacks83 The point isn't if it sways potential adopters but rather biases the general population wrt to adoption. I already get tons of insensitive comments as an adoptive mother, and this kind of thing makes my heart break for what he'll hear as he grows up.

Smacks83 4 years

If it discourages potential adopters based on a movie, they probably shouldn't trying to adopt (if they are so easily swayed).

lickety split 4 years

i saw something really sad this weekend involving foster care. there was an older couple (60-ish) with 3 foster kids at the lake we were at. the parents were trying really hard to let the kids have a good time and the kids didn't like each other. specifically 2 of the kids disliked the third. i talked with the mom, really nice and patient, but it looked so hard. it never occurred to me that there would be issues between foster siblings.didn't watch the preview (don't like horror movies) but i think most people feel that being a parent is about more than blood lines. i wouldn't need to be the biological mother to feel like the child was mine.mstrauss; jaws keeps me out of the ocean. but otherwise NO!

lickety split 4 years

i saw something really sad this weekend involving foster care. there was an older couple (60-ish) with 3 foster kids at the lake we were at. the parents were trying really hard to let the kids have a good time and the kids didn't like each other. specifically 2 of the kids disliked the third. i talked with the mom, really nice and patient, but it looked so hard. it never occurred to me that there would be issues between foster siblings. didn't watch the preview (don't like horror movies) but i think most people feel that being a parent is about more than blood lines. i wouldn't need to be the biological mother to feel like the child was mine. mstrauss; jaws keeps me out of the ocean. but otherwise NO!

POPSUGAR Moms 4 years

I couldn't get through the preview — it was too scary.

mstrauss 4 years

I think this just look like any other horror film that scares the hell out of me. It's not like the parents are saying "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own." Esther herself says it, and I'm sure there are many adoptive children that feel the same way when they don't understand. This is just a movie and I can't imagine how it would scare any parent from adopting a child. Would you base your decisions in life on any other horror film?

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