The blog combining two passions most people could give a rat's ass about.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Despicable Movie

Despicable Me really pissed me off. Let me back up. I have a bit that I do about reality shows.
"There are all these reality shows based on elimination. They start with fourteen or so contestants, and every week one of them drops off. So I, have come up with the next great reality show- adoption. Fourteen kids one family!" 
This is the point in the bit where people roll their eyes and express how horrible I am. I continue
"Not only would this be great television drama, but you know those thirteen eliminated kids would get adopted by families watching the program in no time!"
And that is my horribly exploitative- yet backdoor altruistic-TV show idea. Every time I've done this bit someone will tell me how horrible I am for coming up with it (until they hear the last bit). But what is much worse to me is what Hollywood currently does with adoption.
I'll give a pass to Meet The Robinsons and Paulie Shore's Mocumentary Adopted, because they highlight the reality of adoption (and I couldn't make it through Adopted). But overall film makes it look as if all these kids are getting adopted and they have paid very little attention to what happens to the kids that don't get adopted. Oh and all the orphans are white.
Despicable Me is sort of a new low. Mostly because it was completely unnecessary. I was excited about the movie until I saw in the ads that the main character adopts three girls. I wasn't even going to rent it, but I have kids. Two evil geniuses having a gadget off would have been entertaining. A movie about an evil genius with a hundred minions adopting the only three kids in the orphanage is infuriating.
I understand that no one wants to see a downer movie (or finance one), but adoption was completely avoidable in this story. As a culture we don't talk a lot about adoption. And I think we should.
Why don't more of these "quiverful" families like the Duggars start adopting to pad their numbers? Does it specify in the bible where the "arrows" come from?
I know that part of the problem is the adoption process. It must be when we have scores of parents going to china to adopt because they don't want to deal with American agencies. Some of you might be trying to write it off as a racial issue, because white families might be more willing to adopt an Asian than a Black kid. This may play some part but I know it took my aunt and uncle quite a while before they could get my cousin Jacob. Though that was almost eighteen years ago.
It just strikes me as weird that my reality show idea is so obviously cruel to most people but no thought goes to how cruel it is to the kids not being adopted to watch these kids movies where everyone gets their mom and dad eventually,,,

2 comments:

  1. I actually like the point you made in this entry regarding the trivialization of adoption. However, I also took the movie's plot with a grain of salt and thought of it more as a schadenfreude-fest.

    Gru was initially adopting these for an evil scheme--ready to toss them aside like yesterday's refuse once he got the shrink ray. Only through some Hollywood "magic empathy-sympathy dust" did the kids grow on him.

    I realize on some days, I just wish I could indulge in my malice and selfishness and parallel park the way he did in front of the coffee shop. And then "freeze ray" the line of worthless humans in front of me to get my pastry and coffee with impunity and no consequence to my actions as an evil genius. Eh? No cops? I guess my level of evil is so high, I'm above being pursued by mere law enforcement...

    Deny me MY fluffy toy? Okay, I shall blow away your entire stand. NOW, did I hit the target? Good.

    But yeah...I do agree on the article and I am morbidly curious how such a reality show would turn out if and when it ever happens. I think the 13 eliminated kids would get adopted quickly by the audience...

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  2. Your description bothers of DM is even more disturbing because it teaches kids that bad/abusive adopted parents will change any time now so don't give up on them.
    Okay maybe I just didn't like the movie.

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