Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Adoption Movie Guide: Choose Your Own Adventure Abominable Snowman
Did you ever read Choose Your Own Adventure books? A few
pages into the story, an unseen narrator asks you to make a decision – if you
choose to go with the stranger, turn to page 6; if you run away, turn to page
10. The choices you make lead to more choices, and each book usually had a
dozen or more endings, some pleasant, and some unpleasant.
“The Abominable Snowman” is a Choose Your Own Adventure
movie. Three siblings are called by Uncle Rudy, who is an adventurer. He asks
them to join him in Nepal to hunt for the Abominable Snowman, and the kids go.
Periodically throughout the film, the viewer is asked to decide between two
courses of action, registering their selection on the DVD remote. (The first
choice happens when, en route to Nepal, we learn that the plane may have a fuel
leak. Do you jump out with a parachute, or stay in the plane, hoping for a safe
landing?) There are eleven possible endings. The DVD case lists the movie as
being 80 minutes long, but my two stories averaged around 21 minutes. The first
story ended when I got swarmed by killer bees. The second story ended when I
rescued my uncle.
How is this Relevant
to Adoption?
The three North children, Crista, Benjamin, and Marco, have
a strong familial bond. They travel across the world to help their uncle. We do
not know where their parents are, and it’s easy to assume that their parents
are deceased, as the children ask in one ending whether their parents “would
have been proud” of what they accomplished? Also, it’s revealed early in the
movie that Marco was adopted from Guatemala. His adoption does not play into
the storyline, but it’s obvious that his siblings view him as fully part of the
family.
Strong Points
Time-limited choices require kids to be decisive. A mix of
positive and negative endings seems likely to reward wise choices and show the
consequences of foolish ones.
Marco, like his older
siblings, has strengths and weaknesses. Even though he is the youngest, his
siblings recognize his wisdom and affirm, “We should listen to you more often.”
I was surprised to see such a positive portrayal of
adoption. It’s part of life, he’s part of the family, and it’s not the only
thing that defines the Norths as a family, or Marco as a person.
Challenges
Kids might be surprised the first time they get a negative
ending, but the DVD does put a question mark after “The End” and encourages you
to try again. For what it’s worth, I got chased by bees after foolishly
wandering out of a safe building into the jungle, without waiting for Uncle
Rudy to meet up with us.
Parents might want to help kids understand that not every
choice is fully good or fully bad. Prior to making a decision, the viewer gets
to listen to characters giving their reasons for each choice. A choice may be
both wise and timid, both foolish and courageous.
Weak Points
Some parents might not appreciate their very young children
being exposed to some of the juvenile humor in the movie. Marco laughs at the
phrase “penguin butt.”
Recommendations
Most of the kids are quite young, and Marco is probably
around 6 years old. The film will probably appeal most to children around the
ages of 5-8, who will enjoy the novelty of deciding what the characters
do. Because this is a mix of active and
passive entertainment, it’s a great opportunity for parents to sit with their
kids, watch their kid make choices, affirm them, and talk about it afterwards. Why
not use this for a bedtime story? Eleven different endings means you could do
it once a week for a few months. Not a bad value for $4.89 new on Amazon.
I only saw two endings, so there might be some more
positives or negatives…
Questions for
Discussion After the Movie
When you made your choices, did you make up your own mind,
or listen to the other kids’ advice?
How could you tell whether someone was giving you good
advice or bad advice?
Of all the choices you made, which one was your best choice?
Which choice do you wish you could do over?
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Also think about checking out Adoption at the Movies on Facebook.
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