Several of my Twitter "tweeps" alerted me to a new slasher movie that's being released by Warner Brothers Pictures July 24. In Orphan, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt an older child from a local orphanage.
They meet with the orphanage director, who warns them, "Adopting an older child is not an easy decision."
Almost as soon as they welcome Esther (Isabelle Fuhrmann) into their home, 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.
In a movie trailer strongly reminiscent of the 1976 horror flick, Carrie, we learn that Esther was in a mental hospital before being adopted, and that the orphanage has never heard of her.
During one scene in the trailer, Esther states, ""It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own."
Sigh.
My own (adopted) children are axe murderers — aren't yours? All adopted children have something wrong with them, just by virtue of being adopted. Right?
Apparently, the misguided Hollywood screenwriters think so. And they see an adoption-themed horror movie as the perfect means to play on the public's fears about adopted children… and make millions in the process.
In a blog post by Cathy Doheny at CharolotteExaminer.com, she suggests that people in the adoption community boycott the movie (which is Rated R, so who'd bring their kids to it, anyway?); tell others to boycott the movie, post warnings about the movie on adoption forums; and petition Warner Brothers to change the negative adoption lingo.
She also recommends preparing school-aged adopted children about the movie, so they'll have ways to cope with the misconceptions about adoption suggested by this movie.
Cathy also says:
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.
Apparently, Warner Brothers responded to angry e-mails, saying:
We "would like to inform you that we are changing the marketing materials related to this film on a forward-going basis.
"The Orphan" is a work of fiction, and we apologize if we appeared
insensitive in advertising the film, as it's never our intent to offend
anyone with our products."
No changes have been made to the trailer, however.
The adoption community is continuing to put pressure on Warner Brothers, and the movement has gone viral, with a new Facebook group, I am Boycotting Warner Bros.' "Orphan" Movie.
As of this moment in time, the group has 906 members (including me). Won't you consider joining us?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Is any thinking person really going to conclude from this movie that all adoptive kids are psychopaths? I really doubt it. More likely that the email and Facebook campaigns will convince people that all adoptive parents are overly sensitive whiners. Which, of course, is also not true… 8^)
You should take a look at the entire letter from Warner Brothers. They are actually doing the right thing for once. The trailer will only appear before one film, but beyond that it will be all new marketing without that line.
Bill,
As you point out, anyone with a brain knows that the vast majority of adopted kids are not psychopaths. The concern among the adoption community is that Hollywood producers are intentionally perpetuating a myth about adopted people that damages (or at least skews) the public’s perception of adoption.
If the public wants to get bent out of shape about overly-sensitive adoptive parents, so be it. For decades, people connected with adoption have put up with negative stereotypes. Finally, the power of the Internet allows the community to become more cohesive, and to make their collective voices heard.
Lisa,
It’s good to hear that Warner Brothers is listening — and promises to take action. Now we need to hold them to that promise.
The moderator of the Facebook Group, “I am Boycotting Warner Bros.’ “Orphan” Movie” heard from Scott Rowe, Sr. Vice President of Corporate Communication at Warner Bros.
She writes:
You will be happy to know that they have changed their marketing materials and have removed the offending statement “It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own” from all future trailers.
A few items of note:
•The current trailer (with the offending statement) will still be used during the previews of the horror film “Drag Me to Hell,” which opens this week-end. Unfortunately, on such short notice, there was nothing that can be done about this.
•The next movie that the trailer will be shown at is “The Hangover,” which comes out June 15th. By this time, the current trailer will be replaced with the new trailer (sans statement).
•They will swap out the trailers for all television advertising. They have not yet begun advertising for this film yet, so there should be no worries of children seeing it.
•The current trailer is still on the Web site, but they are working to rectify that immediately and Scott has spoken with the Warner Bros. Web team about this again this afternoon.
•Because the film is Rated-R, it will only be shown as a trailer for other Rated-R films. The trailer will also only be shown on television after 10 p.m. (i.e. not during times when young children would be expected to watch).
As I am sure many of you have assumed, there is a hook to the film that ultimately removes the child/orphan stigma, which is neither here nor there as it relates to current public positioning of the film — and that issue is no more.
The producers and distributor took your concerns to heart and have made the changes in the public-facing marketing materials that we had hoped.
I would like to add that Scott mentioned that Warner Bros. employees get death threats for things as trivial as changing the release date of the new Harry Potter film. “Yet, the adoption community, who are protecting their children and who have every right to be angry, has been nothing but respectful,” he said.
-Bethann Buddenbaum & Jill Henry (Group moderators)
Actually we are, at least that’s how the government treats us by sealing our records. Esther rocks! But not as much as Rhoda.
overly sensitive adoptive parents are no different than any other overly sensitive group of people. someone says something offensive to them and there is a boycott. which people have a right to do in a free society. but movies we do not like are also part of a free society. the public is not stupid enough to allow a child actress to form their opinions of adoption. no, really, they are not that stupid. please move on from the american mindset of everyone is a victim and MY victimhood requires a cohesive voice that must be heard. yes, to be heard is a human need. on the other hand, not everyone needs to feel your pain or take up arms with you. no, there are a lot of people who will not be “joining you” on this current crusade. blessings to all of you who have adopted. that is truly meant. but stop the soapbox. do you really feel the need to make this an issue? or is this serving some other purpose. 15 minutes of fame? jumping on the victim bandwagon? are you or your children really suffering persecution and loss of rights because of this movie or it’s trailer? don’t watch the movie. keep away from the trailer. but stop trying to control what other people are watching. we can watch what we want and form opinions on our own. we all will be offended at some point in our lives by other people’s freedoms. every single one of us. as someone said, build a bridge and get over it. no one has taken anything away from you with either the trailer or the movie. you are not that weak or that helpless and neither are your children.