Sunday, May 31, 2009

On Normals... Again Or why I'm boycotting The Orphan

Ranting ahead.

I am tired. I am absolutely sick and tired. I am absolutely sick and tired of anyone "different" having to be a villian, a hero, an inspiration, or a "There but for the Grace of G-d go I"

I am a lesbian; I do not wear flannel. I do want children. I do not hate men.

I am a woman; I do not wear high heels, I do not wear makeup.

I have Cerebral Palsy; I am not a hero. I am not a caution against premature birth. I am a person getting through every day. Just like you.

--

What sparked all this? Well, the lovely Chatelaine of Tubaville joined a cause, you see, to boycott a movie. Ms. Tuba isn't hysterical, so I checked it out.

Turns out, Warner Bros' new flick entitled "Orphan" was the one on the boycott block. And I can absolutely see why.

"There's something wrong with Esther" one tagline reads. And who is Esther? For the majority of the movie she's an older adoptee- in some clips she even appears to exhibit Radish behaviours. Raging, triangulation. Lather, rinse repeat, you all know this story better than me.

But instead of an eye opening flick like Martian Child (see this! if you haven't, see this NOW) "Orphan" degenerates into a slasher film. With a 9 year old villian who's spent time in hospital for behaviours

This isn't okay by me.

I posted the link to my f a c e b o o k page, and immediately got responses. But not the responses I'd hoped. I was told "But they changed the tagline."

Yeah. From "I don't think Mommy likes me very much; it must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own" to just "I don't think Mommy likes me very much." Grrrrrrrreat change there, Warner. Or "There's something wrong with Esther." Even better- SO politically aware. There's something wrong with kiddos available for adoption now, ESPECIALLY traumatized ones.

I was also told "People don't go to horror films for info." No, maybe not, but NO ONE is going to convince me, ever, that people don't get info from the media. Absorbing it without even realising it, sometimes.

And my personal favourite?

"Oh, doesn't matter- She isn't even a kid in the end, she's some kinda demon thing."

Demon?

DEMON?

This makes it *okay?!*

--

Not by me. And it's getting less and less okay as time goes on.

2 comments:

Dancing on the Edge said...

Wow! I'm not sure what else to say, but WOW.

Dia por Dia said...

Everything really is political whether politics are involved or not! I decided to delurk first :-)
I visit often but haven't commented before. I do enjoy your "ramblings."
Best,
Dia