Wednesday Weirdness: Life Imitating the Movie ‘Orphan’
Welcome to Wednesday Weirdness, a recurring theme where we post something truly weird and wacky in adoption or child welfare.
Today’s installment is one of those life-imitating-“art” kinds of stories. And by “art”, we mean it sounds like the movie “Orphan” that many adoptive parent groups and agencies completely freaked out over in 2009, even though the movie really had nothing to do with real orphans. “Orphan” was a horror movie in which a 33-year-old adult from a mental institution pretends to be a 9-year-old child from an orphanage and goes on a terror rampage. Ester was really “a grown woman, named Veera Klammer, and is actually 33-years-old” “Ester wears the ribbons around her neck and wrists to cover up the scars from her straitjacket” as the synopsis reads. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/synopsis
Frankly, we think the movie is more of a recrimination on adoption agency due diligence and manufacturing of paper records. But many adoption groups fell for the agency campaign hook, line and sinker because of that “orphan” term and the misplaced sensitivities that some orphans may actually have mental health issues. I highly doubt people considering adoption would walk away from a horror movie thinking that they too could accidentally adopt a 33-year-old psychotic woman. But let’s get real here. The manufacturing of paper records in several countries has resulted in listing children as pre-pubescent when they really were post-pubescent and sexual predatory behavior has followed that has caused disruptions and permanent damage to families. Additionally, two other things that adoption agencies were trying to deflect with their campaign are the estimated 35% of children that are internationally adopted that have mental health issues and that there are cases of abuse by adoptive and foster parents. Our How Could You? Hall of Shame archive already has 15 cases in the 23 days that we have been in operation.
This real-life story is as equally bizarre as the movie.
[Daily Mail 1/17/11 by Daily Mail Reporter]
A 20-year-old Afghan refugee hid in a boat and arrived in Dover. He lied about his age, saying that he was 15 years old. Child Services placed him with a foster family that included young children, even though social workers voiced concerns.
“After just one day in their care he threatened to take the young daughter of the family to Iran, said judge, Mr Justice Ouseley.
His behaviour was so disturbed that he had to be forcibly removed from the home by three police officers – one of whom he assaulted – and brought under control using leg restraints and handcuffs.
He was swiftly admitted to the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Whitchurch Hospital where he was diagnosed as ‘floridly psychotic’, expressing beliefs that he was God.”
Hollywood better not read about this one…it could become the “Orphan 2” sequel and we will have to endure another hand-wringing adoption industry campaign against a horror movie.
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