Monday, July 28, 2014
Love Child Adoption Movie Review
The South Korean-American documentary Love Child debuts
tonight on HBO. The film covers the 2010 death in South Korea of three-month
old infant Sarang. Sarang’s parents were addicted to an online game, and played
it for many hours each night at an internet parlor. On the night of Sarang’s
death, her parents left her unattended for many hours.
How Does This Connect
to Adoption and Foster Care?
The film doesn’t cover adoption or foster care, but it makes
me raise a question, perhaps because of my role as a supervisor in foster care
and adoption. Sarang’s parents were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Their punishment was lessened because the court viewed their crime as a result
of their addiction. Sarang’s parents are pregnant again. They have promised not
to play any online games.
How much involvement should child protective services have
in the early life of this new child? I can certainly see the value of
monitoring this family to ensure that this new baby’s life does not become
endangered. What do you think? Should the government stay away, because the
family has expressed remorse and a desire to change? Should the child’s early
life be monitored? Should the child preemptively be placed in alternative care?
How do the rights of parents interact with the need of a child for dependable
safety, and whose job is it to evaluate safety in a situation like this?
Strong Points
The film tries to present a balanced view of Sarang’s
parents. They were negligent, but also remorseful; they made poor choices, but
did face real challenges. There is value in viewing someone roundly rather than
passing judgment on their character based on one observation, even when that
observation is very powerful.
Challenges
A photograph of Sarang’s corpse could be traumatizing to
some viewers, as could some of the details of the neglect she experienced.
Sarang’s parents were addicted to an internet game called
Prius. The plot of the game comes through the documentary, to some extent, and
it is also troubling. Players are granted a child to raise. Later, their child
chooses to die to save the player. Then, the player raises the child from the
dead, but this causes long-lasting grief in the world.
Weak Points
The film touches on online addiction, but doesn’t go
particularly deep into anything.
Recommendations
Love Child might be worth seeing in order to wrestle with
some of the questions I ask earlier in this review, but it might be traumatic
or saddening viewing for some. The film is best suited to adults instead of kids
and teenagers because of some of the subject matter, and it’s not particularly entertaining
or educational.
When to See It
Love Child airs on HBO at 9:00 tonight, on July 31 at 11:15
am and 6:00 pm, August 3 at 4:00 om, August 5 at 1:15 pm, and August 16 at 8:30
am.
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It appears a very touching movie.
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty powerful.
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