Movies » The Chronicles of Munchkin Land

Life As We Know It

Oct 192010

When I first saw the trailer-commercials on TV for Life As We Know It, I thought it looked cute. I adore Katherine Heigl, and Josh Duhamel is easy on the eyes as well, so it went on my Must See With Friends list. Then I paid more attention to commercials and saw the social worker. I groaned. Audibly. Adoption? No thanks. I wrote it off the list. I didn’t do any more research. I have been adoption-ed out movie and book wise. I wasn’t going to see it.

Over coffee with my friends last Friday, we discussed what movie we were going to see this past weekend. When I mentioned the movie and my reservations, they informed me that it was a case of the parents dying and their friends being named as guardians. Oh. Hmm. Okay. Maybe.

I decided to get over myself and go out with my friends. I’m so glad that I did.

It was one of those weepy-laughter movies. And the laughter wasn’t just the, oh-tee-hee, kind. It was the kind that came from your belly. The kind that made your eyes water. I actually snorted, really loudly. In public. That’s how funny it was. Of course, there were weepy moments. I mean, the baby’s parents die. They were the guardian’s best friends. And then they get the baby and, shocking, the baby is rather inconsolable.

Personally, even though I was trying to enjoy the movie at face value and not get all adoption-ista on it, I enjoyed the scenes in which the Social Worker showed up unannounced. I wonder how many other adoptive parents have scrambled around after a night of pot-brownie-eating or slapped said brownie out of the social worker’s hand. I chuckled. But it’s true: adoptive parents, even the ones who became ones on purpose and not because of a tragic accident, are human. We were able to see that this social worker missed their humanness — and that happens sometimes. Adoptive parents are not perfect (nor should they be, but they are sold that way to expectant mothers considering relinquishment) and neither are the social workers who process their home studies. There simply are no guarantees.

Heavy moment of necessary adoption reform aside, it really was a great movie. Katherine Heigl was absolutely outstanding — funny, believable and, really, just the perfect actress for this particular movie.

Why We Aren’t Seeing Desipicable Me

Movies 9 Responses »

Jul 112010

The movie Despicable Me has an adoption theme. Apparently it handles it in a “good” way, though I hesitate calling it good when we teach our children that you need someone or something else to make you act like a good human being. Anyway, we’re not seeing it, whether or not the message is good.

Here’s why.

My oldest is struggling enough with some of his feelings after our most recent visit. We’re working through it, and I’ll share some of that with you when I get over myself. I don’t think adding some adoption related drama on top of the ordeal is exactly necessary right now. Especially considering the children who are adopted by the initially-mean-dude are orphans.

My kids haven’t yet had the word orphan introduced to them. They’re aware that the Munchkin was adopted and that she grew in my belly like they did. Watching this movie, I have no doubt my oldest would ask me to define orphan, and then he’d ask, “But you were alive so why is the Munchkin with Dee?” Now that’s a question and a half. There’s been far too much death in our family this year, and I’m not quite sure I’m ready for him to realize that parents are mortal. Grandparents, aunts and uncles … and most recently, beloved aunt-dogs… but not mommies and daddies.

I’ve been informed that I should be grateful for movies that address the topic in a way that isn’t overtly negative. But, really, we’re just not in a place right now where we can watch such a movie. In fact, I’m a big scrooge and my children haven’t even seen Up, though we were given it as a gift at some point. Though that one has no adoption related specificities, I’m not interested in the infertility/miscarriage line right now.

It’s not that I don’t discuss these topics with my children. I do. You know I do. I also know where they are emotionally and how they respond to bits of information. Now? Is not the time. I do hope that the movie is actually a good one, and we can add it to our library in the distant future. For now, we stick with Toy Story. (Though, they broke out a Christmas movie after we got home from bike riding today. Christmas? Kids.)

As a note: you can tell me if you saw it, you can tell me if you liked it or not… and we’re still not going to see it right now. Though, be kind and keep your comments relatively spoiler free for those who might still be waiting to see the movie.

Older Entries Newer Entries