Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Meet the Robinsons: Adoption Movie Guide
On a sepia-toned rainy night a woman, obscured by shadow and
hood and fearful of being seen, hugs her bundled infant one last time and
leaves him on the doorstep of the Sixth Street Orphanage. Twelve years later,
Lewis has sat through 124 adoption interviews, none of which resulted in his
adoption. He almost gives up hope. Through
the magic of Disney, Lewis travels twenty years into the future to meet the
loving family that will eventually be his. He returns to his regular life with
his hope restored. The movie ends as
Lewis is adopted by his new, lovably weird parents. 
How is This Relevant
to Adoption?
Lewis shares an orphanage room with Mike, and both boys sit
through interviews with prospective adoptive parents. Scenes from several of
Lewis’ interviews show him optimistically sharing his inventions with
prospective adoptive parents. None of them adopt him, and eventually Lewis
loses his optimism.
One scene
is loaded with adoption content. Lewis is sad after an unsuccessful interview.
Mildred follows him and affirms that the family’s choice is not Lewis’ fault.
Lewis responds that he’s almost 13, and that being a teenager makes being
adopted less likely. He feels as though
no one wants him – not even his birth mother.
Mildred suggests that his birth mother loved him, and may have wanted to
keep him, but couldn’t. Lewis latches on to this, and says, “My real mother is
the only person who ever wanted me.” His desire to belong somewhere fuels his
desire to find her, and his desire find her drives the movie. Lewis is
eventually adopted.
Strong Points
Mildred,
the orphanage director, is loving and positive. This is rare in movie
portrayals of orphanage directors! Mildred smiles lovingly at Lewis when she
first seems him, as an infant on her doorstep. Twelve years and 124 adoption
interviews later, Mildred still believes in Lewis and shows her belief in him.
Before an interview she tells him, “Go show them how special you are.”
The
movie highlights the benefit of persistence. Lewis is adopted, even after 124
unsuccessful adoption interviews. One of his inventions took over 900 tries,
but he finally got it right. His adoptive family celebrates failures for the
lessons learned, and his own motto is “Keep Moving Forward.”
Challenges
Lewis
declares that he is done with adoption interviews. “I won’t be rejected anymore!”
After meeting his future family, Lewis travels to the past and is given the
opportunity to meet his birth mother. Although he’s wanted to meet her for a
long time he chooses not to, saying that he already has a family. This scene
makes sense in the movie as a whole but it could be confusing to kids.
The
theme of the movie is, “Keep Moving Forward.” Lewis wants to find his birth
mother so that he can he belong somewhere. Once he learns that he will have a
family in the future, he decides he does not need to revisit the past. In that
sense, the scene is a positive one. Lewis does not need to undo his past
because he comes to believe that his future will be good. The scene is about
embracing the future. It isn’t saying anything about open or closed adoptions. Lewis’
choice is all about his faith that he’ll eventually have a family – and that
because of that, he doesn’t have to change history. It’s not about whether or
not he wants a relationship with his birth mother. Adoptees can move into the future and still
have openness with their birth family members – in fact, in many cases,
openness facilitates adoptees being able to embrace their present life.
Mike
grows up to become the villain. Lewis kept Mike up late one night, so he fell
asleep in a baseball game, made an error, was beaten up, and spent the next
twenty years alone, bitter, and blaming Lewis for his unhappiness. Mike tries
to ruin Lewis’ life, and expresses his belief that people should hold on to past
pains. This parallel’s Lewis’ dilemma. Do you cling to the pain in your past,
or move on into the future? Lewis scolds Mike, “I’m sorry your life was bad,
but don’t blame me. You messed it up yourself. You just focused on the bad
stuff when all you had to do was let go of the past and keep moving forward.” Lewis’ answer is positive, but a bit too
simple. A better answer is, “Don’t cling to your pain, but don’t ignore it.
Address it so that you can keep moving forward.”
In
one scene, Lewis travels 20-ish years into the future. His future family
invites him to stay, but when they learn who he is they tell him he must go
back. He is heartbroken. He quickly recovers once he understands that everything
will work out OK. This scene could be troubling for kids who have experienced
adoption disruptions.
Mildred
reminds Lewis to be pleasant and punctual. Mike suggests that Lewis won’t be
adopted because of his strange hobby. After one disastrous interview where his
invention malfunctions, Lewis hears the prospective adoptive parent say, “That
boy is definitely not right for us.” Mike loses the baseball game and scares
away prospective adopters with his fierce bitterness. Then history changes. Mike
makes the play in his baseball game. He is happy and seems to get adopted. Lewis’
family notices him because of his successful invention. A child could
mistakenly assume that the message is, “successful kids get adopted.”
Weak Points
Upon
first meeting Lewis, his future adoptive father says, “you don’t look like a
Lewis.” Name changes often happen in adoption, but here it feels
like the father is saying, “I like you, but your name doesn’t fit.”
A
scene where Lewis is kidnapped and bound could be traumatic for some children.
In another brief scene, members of Lewis’ future family fall victim to mind-control
and try to attack him.
Recommendations
There’s
a lot to like about Meet the Robinsons. It’s very positive. There are some areas
which could be troubling or at least confusing, so do make sure you know they’re
coming and be ready to talk through them with your kids. This movie should be
good viewing for the 6-12 age group.
Questions for Discussion after the movie
When
have you kept working on something when you wanted to give up? How did it turn
out?
When
has it been hard to keep hoping for something?
Which
people were the kindest to you, before you came to live with me?
What’s
a mistake you’ve made that you’ve learned from? Tell me how you Kept Moving
Forward!
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You might also like these Adoption Movie Guides:
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Great movie and a great review :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really cute movie. I love the time traveling aspect and your discussion questions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, both! MHM, it is really cute, and the time travel raises some questions that could be quite imaginative to explore.
ReplyDeleteThis is a movie my kids really like and one that allowed us to explore some adoption related themes as they came up in the movie.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up to Adoption Blog Hop!
Hi Sharla! I'm really struck by how easily some movies lend themselves to adoption conversations! Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for running the Adoption Blog Hop. That's an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie in my late 20s, and it struck a chord. I was abandoned at the age of three and know nothing of my birth parents. It was easy for me to fall victim to depression and a loss for something I didn't understand. The scene where you watched the mother leave her child at the door step brought me to tears. I never visualized how the scene played out in my own life. As I've grown, I absolutely agree with the movie's message. There is no happiness dwelling in the past. Who I am as a person lies in the life I choose. I spend too much of my life searching for completeness in the past. I am grateful that there is a movie that reminds me what really matters.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your story. I'm glad you took the time to share.
Delete