Tuesday, May 13, 2014
I Am Sam Adoption Movie Review
** Lots of spoilers ahead. **
Sam Dawson is a man with mental challenges. He manages to
work as a busboy at Starbucks, and finds joy in his life. He is easily taken
advantage of. On one occasion, he lets a young woman stay with him. They sleep
together, and she gets pregnant. She gives birth, but looks disdainfully at the
baby. On the way home from the hospital, she abandons Sam and the baby, and is
never heard from again. Sam raises his
daughter, Lucy, on his own with the help of a neighbor. However, Sam’s
intellect is equivalent to that of a seven-year-old, and Lucy quickly surpasses
him. Lucy and Sam love each other and are happy with each other, but school
professionals are concerned that Lucy’s progress is hindered by her desire to
protect Sam’s feelings. Sam is eventually arrested for an innocent mistake, but
the arrest springs child protective services into action. Lucy is removed from
Sam’s custody and placed with a foster family. Sam works to convince the judge
that he is a capable father, while Lucy’s foster family desires to adopt
her.
The day before court, the foster family and Sam meet
together. They decide to agree that Lucy should live with Sam, and also that
the foster family will support Sam.
The Adoption
Connection
Much of this story is set in the foster care adoption world.
Sam works hard in a confusing and overwhelming system to have the right to see
his daughter.
Positive Elements
Sam has a very supportive community. A neighbor teaches him
how to care for Lucy, and his friends provide some emotional and tangible
support for him. Eventually, even the foster family becomes a strong support.
The foster family decides to support Sam’s desire to have
Lucy returned to him, and they agree to be supportive to him in the
reunification. This is a best-case scenario for foster care – reunification
with ongoing support from a family that has come to love the child. I’ve been
able to see this happen before – a foster family that was simultaneously
willing to adopt a child placed with them – and also willing to support
reunification efforts and provide ongoing support to the reunified family. In
one case, a child was adopted by his grandparent; the cheering section at the
adoption was comprised of the former foster family, and they went on to be
regular babysitters for the child. I
love the collaborative relationship that develops by the end of the film. Even
before they decided to support reunification, the foster family had decided to
always allow Lucy the ability to see Sam.
Lucy is able to embrace her father’s uniqueness. Sam is able
to encourage Lucy to pursue her own uniqueness.
Sam is able to express one of his reasons for wanting to be
reunified with Lucy: Long term foster care is a bad idea “because the foster
parents don’t know her. I know her. Lucy belongs with me.”
The foster mother acknowledges that Sam loves Lucy.
Challenges
The foster family is portrayed as having an unrealistically
high level of power; they are able to choose whether to adopt Lucy or whether
to return her to Sam.
The film depicts some very heavily emotional moments that
could be difficult for some viewers. Lucy’s detention is very traumatic – she
is pulled out of her birthday party. Later, police rip Lucy away from an
embrace with Sam. Sam is reduced to tears
in court, and is manipulated into suggesting that he is not a good enough
father for Lucy. Lucy is furious at Sam for missing some expected visits.
Weak Points
The film never explores Lucy’s mother, and we never learn
how Lucy feels about being abandoned, except that she asks, once, whether her
mother will ever come back. Sam does try to find a motherly influence for Lucy.
The reunification is not clearly depicted; After watching
the film once, I wasn’t sure whether Lucy actually had been returned to Sam.
Some of the professionals (a social worker and especially a
psychologist) are portrayed as crueler than is realistic, but we are able to
understand that many of them believe they are acting in the cause of the
child’s best interest (see Beasts of the Southern Wild). The court cases are
also far more dramatic than most parental rights hearings. Viewers could be
confused into thinking that these brutally combatative court sessions are normal.
The foster parents are pretty oblivious; Lucy runs away from
their home on multiple occasions before they begin preventing her escape.
Fortunately, she always runs to Sam, and Sam always brings her back.
Recommendations
I Am Sam is powerful and heavy. There’s a lot that I liked
about the film. It probably is not a good fit for kids or teens because the
film centers. Birthparents may find it affirming to see the positive aspects of
Sam’s portrayal – he is positive and loving. Parents who have had children in
foster care may find it difficult to watch some of the court proceedings. Some
mean things are said. Adults
considering foster care adoption – or other forms of adoption – could use the
film as an invitataion to challenge their preconceptions of birth parents.
Questions for
Discussion
What makes someone a parent?
From the point of view of those arguing against
reunification, why was reunification undesirable for Lucy?
What did Lucy and Sam want?
What would have been the best outcome for this case?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment