Adoption groups are dismayed over the new horror flick Orphan and are banding together in protest.
The premise of the film is this: a couple suffers the loss of their unborn baby and decides to renew their family by adopting a girl from a local orphanage. Unfortunately, the trailers hint, the
girl turns out to be a homicidal maniac.
And that, according to the adoption community, is not cool.
“We are concerned that in addition to its intended entertainment value, this film will have the unintended effect of skewing public opinion against children awaiting families both in the United
States and abroad,” said a letter from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute to Warner Bros CEO Barry Meyer.
The letter was cosigned by leaders of 11 adoption and child welfare groups who are concerned that the movie “may impede recruitment efforts by feeding into the unconscious fears of potential foster and adoptive families that orphaned children are psychotic and unable to heal from the wounds of abuse, neglect, and
abandonment.”
The group is urging a boycott of the movie, which features a much-criticized line, “It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own.”
Warner Bros spokesman Scott Rowe says that while the studio is taking the complaints seriously — they are considering adding a pro-adoption message to the end of the DVD form — people must
remember it is just a movie.
“It is not a depiction of any real-life events or situations and has never been portrayed as anything but an entirely fictional story,” he said. “We apologize if we appeared insensitive with the
initial trailer, as it’s never our intent to offend anyone with our products.”
But not all adoption groups agree with the boycott. Writes Marley Greiner, leader of the adoptee-rights group Bastard Nation, “The moral panic Orphan has induced is more entertaining than the film itself, which will pass into oblivion and DVD a month after release.”
“The ‘outrage’ is an opportunistic moment for drum banging and fund raising. What better way is there to make publicity and money for yourself than to create a victim where none exists?”
Oprhan opens in theaters July 24.
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