Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Adoption Movie Guide: The Croods
Eep is a prehistoric teenager with modern problems. Her
father wants to protect her, but she views his protection as smothering. She introduces
the movie by saying, “With every day comes a new beginning- a hope that things
will be better. But not for me.” She explains that – to keep her safe – her
father has her spend much of her life in a cave.
What Does This Have
To Do With Adoption?
Grug and his family are cavepeople. Their world is dangerous.
They’ve witnessed horrible things. Grug has responded by sheltering his family behind
a wall (actually, within a cave) so that they can’t be hurt by the outside
world. Many children in foster care, and many children in adoptive families
have also created an emotional wall to protect their feelings from anticipated
hurts. Grug’s wall was forcibly removed, and that might be meaningful to some
viewers. As Grug learns to look for a better future, children may also be able
to lower their walls and hope for better experiences. The movie encourages viewers
to not hide and not fear the future.
Grug is overly-cautious with his daughter; some writers have
theorized that adoptive parents are often extra-careful because they’ve waited
so long to be parents and because they feel judged by the system and their peers.
Strong Points
There’s plenty to like in this movie:
Grug is a strong and selfless father who obviously puts his
family’s needs over his own. He is the last to enter the cave, the last to eat
at a meal, and the one to ensure others are safe, even at risk to himself. He
does not complain about this, but seems to view it as a natural part of life as
a father. His selflessness as a father is a rarity in movies; it stands in sharp contrast to the selfishness of Gru in Despicable Me.
Grug’s family has a strong cohesive identity. The
difficulties of prehistoric life make them bond together. They defend each
other, hunt together, and they travel together.
Grug is affirmed for “keeping us all alive.” Although he has
struggled to express emotions, Grug invents the hug to show Eep that he loves
her. Grug and Eep are also eventually able to verbally express their love for
each other.
Grug’s wife encourages him to be patient with Eep as she
works through her feelings.
Eep is a strong female character. Although she is less-than-cautious
at times, she’s not without wisdom.
When a new acquaintance tries to get her to
leave with him, she replies, “I don’t even know you.”
Eep defends her new friend from her family, but also defends
her family from her new friend’s judgments.
Eep’s new friend, Guy, encourages her to believe that the
future will not be frightening.
Grug says that everything is dangerous. There might be a
lesson here for parents, kind of in line with The Boy
Who Cried Wolf… If you
caution your kids away from too many things, your words might start to bear
less weight.
Challenges
There is a bit of a challenge with regard to the message the
movie sends.Grug’s selflessness is shown, but not really mentioned. The turning point of the movie is that old-fashioned, sensible, and cautious Grug becomes wise enough to relinquish his leadership to a young man with innovative ideas. Grug is selfless, but the focus of the movie is that Eep is right, and Grug needs to change his old-fashioned overly-cautious ways. I find myself wishing that the film also made room for Eep to more fully acknowledge her father’s goodness; as it is, the movie seems to come alongside tweens and say, “You’re right. Your parents are a bit slow.” Parents might also not appreciate the movie’s message that Eep’s more-or-less boyfriend is smarter than her father. At least, that’s one way that the movie can be interpreted.
Another interpretation (This might be the only review to
come up with two interpretations for The Croods…) is that the turning point of
the movie is Grug moving away from a fear-based way of life (He originally
counsels his family, “never don’t be afraid,”) and into an expectant, hopeful approach
into the future. This interpretation is helpful, especially for kids in foster
or adoptive families. Many kids respond to grief or loss by being afraid and
putting up walls. As Grug moves from fear to hope, kids might also be
encouraged to let go of fear and embrace the future.
And here’s the challenge: The first interpretation comes if
a viewer identifies with Eep. The second comes if the viewer identifies with
Grug. But kids watching the film might be more likely to identify with the
teenager than the parent.
Weak Points
A pivotal moment in the film occurs when Eep sneaks out of
her house at night. This actually helps bring about the film’s happy ending. As
a foster care social worker, I often worked with kids who were “runaway
threats.” This film presents running away in a positive light.
There were some scenes that I thought might be frightening to
very young viewers, but in a theater full of young kids, I didn’t hear any
crying. Some loudly whispered pleas to go to the potty, yes. But mostly,
laughter. The potentially scary scenes: Characters are chased by animals; their
neighbors are eaten by creatures (albeit humorously.) A swarm of locust-like birds
completely skeletonize a whale-like creature. The mother-in-law tries to eat
another person. A character pulls a knife on another. One character’s pet falls
off a cliff, and we’re temporarily unsure of what happens to him. For a while,
we are led to believe that Grug has died, sacrificing his life for the rest of
his family. The family mourns his loss together. It’s a particularly sad
moment, but after about 30 seconds, we learn that he’s all right.
Grug has a difficult relationship with his mother-in-law.
Although he protects her, he also appears to be gladdened by the thought of her
dying.
A character mentions being traded to her new husband.
Recommendation
 |
| Adoption at the Movies' Addison Cooper visits The Croods |
There is a lot of good to draw from The Croods. Families can
watch it with young foster or adoptive children – the film will probably appeal
most of all to kids between the ages of 5 and 12. The movie should be helpful to
start discussions about a fearful or pessimistic view of the future, the “walls”
that we sometimes build up, and the right role of a father.
Questions to talk
about together after the movie:
Why did Grug want his family to live in a cave? In what ways
do people today sometimes make caves for themselves?
What’s good about living in a cave? What do you miss out on
by living in a cave?
Grug wasn’t ready to leave his cave right away. His cave
kind of got taken from him. Have you ever felt like your cave was taken away?
Do you feel like you live in a cave sometimes?
What makes Grug a good dad? What parts of him aren’t so
great?
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If you're an adult, then you might find this movie to be just ok, but it's more than likely your kids will like it, so it might be a good way to get out of the house. Nice review Addison.
ReplyDeleteHey Dan! Thanks for the comment. I liked your review of the Croods, too. I can definitely see how kids could leave the movie feeling closer to their parents, and any movie that can do that is probably a good investment. I also like your "Rental!!" rating scheme :)
DeleteYou write such great reviews. This sounds really cute and I love the way you compare the cave walls to emotional walls.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jody! I think that connection was just there, waiting to be made :)
Delete