Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Spectre Adoption Movie Review - James Bond as a Foster Kid
James Bond has been benched – and now, the entire Double-0
program is about to be retired. C, a government official, believes that the spy
program that employs James Bond is outdated. He attempts to replace the program
with an international, global surveillance network. Not one to stay sidelined,
Bond investigates Spectre, a villainous organization who may have connections
to the global surveillance network. Bond is surprised to find that Spectre also
has connections to him.
The Adoption
Connection
BIG SPOILER ALERT –
James Bond’s parents died when Bond was twelve years old. He
was placed into foster care with a man. The man had a son, and his son felt
displaced by Bond. He uses the analogy of a cuckoo bird hatching in another
birds’ nest and forcing out the “true” offspring of the bird. Out of his anger
at feeling displaced, Bond’s foster brother killed his father and faked his own
death. His former foster brother has now returned under a new identity as the
head of a terrorist organization. He lures Bond to himself, and attempts to extract
revenge on Bond for displacing him; he intends to torture and then murder Bond. - END SPOILER
Bond goes over some details of his childhood losses with a
psychologist.
Strong Points
Several characters show bravery.
Challenges
Bond does go over some of the details of his childhood
losses with a psychologist, but he seems disinterested in the process. The psychologist
eventually sleeps with Bond, which is very much against the ethics of therapy.
Weak Points
*SPOILER ALERT One of the main storylines of the film involves the former
foster brother of James Bond trying to murder Bond. It is an important
consideration for foster parents to make sure that no children feel displaced
by becoming a foster family, and an equally important consideration to ensure
that foster children do not feel out of place. While there can be hurt feelings
between the biological children and the foster (or adoptive) children of a
family, it could be upsetting or troubling for some viewers to watch a film
where one tries to torture and murder the other. The villain explains that he
killed his father. “James lost his parents when he was young. My father raised
him and soothed the wounds of the poor little blue-eyed orphan, and asked me to
treat him as a brother – my little brother. They formed quite an attachment… [I
was forced out of my father’s love by James] so my father’s life had to end.” END SPOILER *
A character commits suicide nearly on screen.
A character is forced to watch a video of her father
committing suicide.
A disturbing scene of torture is shown.
Recommendations
The amount of violence in this one make it best suited to
teenagers and older, but teens and adults might be surprised and troubled by
the negative foster care / adoption connection in the film. This film could
trigger some insecurities that foster kids, or adopted kids and teens, may have
about their acceptance into their new families. It’s probably a good one to
skip for most foster and adoptive families.
Questions for
Discussion
Have you ever felt displaced or out of place throughout the
foster care / adoption experience?
It would have been difficult for James’ foster brother to
tell his father how he was feeling – how might his father have helped to start
the conversation?
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