A Recent NPR Commentary

July 31, 2002 Wednesday

HEADLINE: New children's movie, Country Bears, is giving parents of adoptive children second thoughts about letting them watch it

ANCHORS: ROBERT SIEGEL

BODY:
ROBERT SIEGEL, host: If you're looking for a movie for kids this weekend, there are lots of choices: The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, or perhaps The Powerpuff Girls movie. Well, commentator Adam Pertman has two adopted children, and because they are adopted, there is one kids' movie that he is not going to let them see this summer.

ADAM PERTMAN: I was sitting in a chilly theater with my kids a few days ago, waiting for the Scooby-Doo movie to begin when the demons of ignorance struck again. Their weapon was the trailer for a Disney film entitled Country Bears.

(Soundbite from Country Bears trailer)

Unidentified Boy #1: Hey, Beary, dinner's ready.

Unidentified Man: Beary Barrington was like any other boy.

PERTMAN: Mom, Dad and their two children were sitting around the kitchen table. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that one of the boys was a hairy beast while the rest of the family consisted of Homo sapiens.

(Soundbite from Country Bears trailer)

Unidentified Boy #2: Mom, am I adopted?

PERTMAN: The human brother could barely contain his laughter. His father looked like lightning had pierced his spinal column.

(Soundbite from Country Bears trailer)

Unidentified Woman: Of course not, honey.

(Soundbite of music)

PERTMAN: I am sure this movie's producers did not mean to complicate the lives of any parents. I'm equally sure they did not mean to wreak emotional havoc on any children. But I promise you that is what they already have done with this trailer, which is also showing as a TV commercial.

Many adopted children will cry when they hear those lines, just as a friend's son did as he watched a pair of fraudulent birth parents reclaim their purported offspring in Stuart Little, because adopted boys and girls are led to wonder whether their families are permanent and see their lives depicted as something to be ashamed of and ridiculed. Or they will ask excruciating questions or, worse, won't ask questions, but will internalize their doubts and insecurities.

No matter how secure adopted people feel, or how well they understand the supposed purpose of such scenes, they also learn that their families are frequently viewed as abnormal, as a cheap laugh, and that they can be perceived as commodities or rejects.

It's not just adoptees of all ages who are adversely affected by such negative portrayals. We adoptive parents also feel the sting and have to deal with the impact on our kids. Like when Cuba Gooding Jr. thinks the news is so bad when he discovers he's adopted in the movie Snow Dogs that he tries to kill himself. His parents shouldn't have lied in the first place, of course, but that discredited practice used to be routine, so at least it's accurate. And birth parents are regularly depicted as stupid, wicked or loose. In a recent episode of The Drew Carey Show, a horny bachelor described a home for unwed mothers as the place where the action is.

Most producers have learned that mocking blacks, stereotyping Jews and denigrating people because they are gay or divorced or Arab is a lousy way to make a buck. And that lesson should apply to adoption, too. Yes, there are many positive representations of adoption, but that doesn't excuse the ignorance and inaccuracies that cause frustration and pain for the tens of millions of Americans touched by adoption. Besides, raising kids is complicated enough without having to worry about whether to let them watch a G-rated movie trailer.

SIEGEL: Adam Pertman is the author of the book Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming America.

(Credits)

SIEGEL: I'm Robert Siegel.

STAMBERG: And I'm Susan Stamberg. You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

Adam Pertman, Executive Director
Adoption Nation Education Initiative
President, A/P Strategic Consulting
Author, "Adoption Nation"

apertman@peoplepc.com
www.adoptionnation.com
617-332-8944 (office)
617-763-0134 (cell)