Thursday, May 1, 2014
Belle Movie Review / Adoption Movie Guide
In 1769 England, Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice and highest
judge in all of England must rule on a case which threatens to disrupt the
nation’s vast slave-based economy. Bound by the codes of the aristocracy, Lord
Mansfield is also raising two of his nieces, Elizabeth and Dido. Dido’s
inclusion in his household has caused a scandal because Dido is the mixed-race
daughter of Mansfield’s nephew and a slave. All of England waits as Mansfield prepares
to rule on what is legal and on what is right. Throughout the film, Elizabeth
and Dido grow from children into young women. Elizabeth is without inheritance;
Dido is thought by some aristocrats to
be of undesirable bloodline. Will they be able to accept each other? Each longs
for marriage; will they be able to find love despite the judgmental and
constricting bonds of their society?
How Does This Relate to Adoption?
Dido’s father and mother were never married; Dido lived with
her mother until her mother died. Shortly after her mother’s death, Dido’s
father found her and promised, “I am here to take you to a good life.” He
brought her to his uncle’s manor before leaving for many years to captain a
ship. At his uncle’s manor, he affirmed her as his daughter and asserted that
she was born into the right of living there. Although some in the house
objected, “She is black,” her father asserts, “She is my blood.” The family’s
protestations stop when her father reveals that he has given her his last name.
He explains, “I am not ashamed.” Before leaving, Dido’s father tells her, “Know
that you are loved, just as I loved your mother.” Dido and Elizabeth are both
raised by Lord Mansfield and his family. At one point, Lord Mansfield confesses
to his wife that he loves Dido “as though she was created of you and me.”
Positive Points
Even as he wrestles with the legal issues set before him and
struggles with the societal norms imposed on all aristocracy, Lord Mansfield’s
love for Dido is obvious. Ultimately, he overrules societal norms and allows
Dido to marry a man who respects and embraces all aspects of her identity and
Mansfield also condemns the slave traders’ position as both illegal and morally
wrong, “Nothing may support slavery. It is not legal, neither is it right. Let
justice be done.”
One aristocrat takes a fancy to Dido, saying that he can
forgive her bloodline. Dido ultimately rejects him saying that she wants a
husband who does not see forgiveness of her heritage as necessary. She does not
apologize for her race, heritage, or paternal history. Later, a young man without
prospects confesses his love for Dido and affirms that she is beautiful and her
mother must also have been beautiful.
Mansfield and another character are committed to justice,
and both develop the understanding that some laws are unjust. Mansfield
ultimately lives by the motto, “Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall.”
One character honestly states, “The world is a devastating
place.”
Challenges
The racism inherent in this society is not difficult to see. One
character manhandles Dido. Her family upholds societal customs which do not
allow her to eat with the family at dinner parties. The impact of this racism
on Dido is evident. In one scene, she stares in a mirror, pulling at her skin.
Dido grew up without knowing her father, save for their
several-hour interaction which brought her to the Mansfield estate. As a young
woman, she learns of his death, and only comments that she had wished to better
know him.
Dido and Elizabeth both go without knowing their fathers.
When Elizbaeth’s suitor also abandons her, she asks, “Why do men always leave
and never come back?”
Multiracial adoptive families may find the Mansfields’ experience
of prejudice familiar. This could be jarring and painful or the opportunity to
open conversation about each member of the family’s experience of prejudice. It
could also be both, at the same time.
Recommendations
I think I found a gem with this one. Belle is a thoughtful
and challenging film that looks at parental, adoptive, and romantic love and
the interplay between those loves and societal classism and racism. I found
this to be one of the most powerful films I’ve reviewed so far. I give the film
a high recommendation for teens and adults.
Please think about seeing it. Belle opens tomorrow, May 2 in the US and a few weeks later in Europe.
Questions for
Discussion
One character remarked, “Society disregards even one of its
own when it can.” What is it about human nature that makes us so quick to
differentiate and exclude? How have you experienced this in your own life – as
the excluded? As the excluder? How can we work against this?
Is it laws or social expectations that most strongly impact
how we interact with each other? What changes would you make, if you could? Can
you?
Which unjust laws have been overturned? Which still exist?
Might the unavailability of original birth records to adoptees be something
which is legal but not right? How can we change that law?
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