Friday, July 31, 2009

Of Hollywood, Orphans, and Us    [Jedd Medefind]

One of history’s most cherished orphan stories is that of Esther, the brave adopted girl who became queen of Persia and rescued the Jewish people from annihilation. This summer, moviegoers may have that image displaced by another orphan of the same name — this one appearing as a psychotic child who wreaks havoc on the family that adopts her.

The Warner Bros. movie Orphan, which opens this weekend, has elicited outrage from many orphan advocates, and understandably so. The last thing orphans need is major motion picture that adds them to the lineup of creepy horror villains. A story like Orphan isn’t helpful to how they view themselves . . . or how other kids on the playground talk about them. But instead of merely criticizing Warner Bros., we should use the film as an invitation to talk seriously about responsibility — both Hollywood’s and ours.

Let’s be frank. It is widely perceived that kids in need of families carry serious baggage, and that inviting one any closer than arm’s length might be dangerous. And it’s true that most of these children have been through a lot. Their journeys as orphans begin with tragedy and often get no better from there. People deserve to know that loving an orphan can require sacrifice, difficulty, and time — just like any meaningful undertaking.

The hard data, however, reveal a deeper reality. For example, an expansive 1994 study by the Search Institute in the U.S. comparing adopted teens with other teens found that adopted teens actually scored higher on indicators of well-being such as school performance, friendships, volunteerism, self-esteem, and optimism. Adopted teens scored lower on indicators of high-risk behavior such as depression, alcohol use, vandalism, and police trouble. Many subsequent studies point in the same direction. To put it simply, the data show what we already knew intuitively: Love transforms lives.

 

So while we have every reason to try to stimulate Hollywood’s conscience, the decision that matters most is in our hands: Will we extend love to kids who may have no one else in the world? Certainly, not every individual can foster or adopt. But there are countless ways we can open our lives to orphans — from mentoring, to helping adoptive families with housework or babysitting through a church-based support group, to volunteering at an orphan-serving non-profit.

The bottom line is this: If we’re willing, we can turn the outcome of a movie like Orphan on its head. We need not see it only as yet another malignant story that subtly sours public perception of orphans. We can receive it instead as a helpful tap on the ear, a nudge pushing us beyond indifference. Whether or not Hollywood will ever grasp its responsibility is far less important than whether we’ll grasp ours. If we do, lives will be changed — both orphans’ and our own.

— Jedd Medefind served in the White House as special assistant to Pres. George W. Bush and acting director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He is president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, the coalition behind the Orphans Deserve Better campaign.

07/31 12:03 PMShare