Adoption is trauma. That’s something that never gets discussed in the endless Roe v. Wade battles. There is no such thing as easy adoption. There are simply grades of difficulty. Adoption is traumatic for birth mother (or birth parents), adoption is traumatic for the adoptive parents, adoption is traumatic for foster parents or interim nannies, and adoption is often pure Hell on the child. Do not kid yourself otherwise.
This blog has already taken on China’s One Child Only policy in One Child Nation. As I recall, it was a lousy idea. It’s a still a lousy idea. I see where it comes from, but my feeling right now is it only works if every human is on the same page, which is something you will never, ever get. Found explores a different kind of policy victim: the children parents were forced to abandon because of One Child Only.
Meet Lily, Chloe, and Sadie. They’re as American as Rachel Maddow and MAGA hats. All of them were adopted from a specific province in China, and –it turns out- they’re all cousins. Go figure. How do they know they’re cousins? As teens, Chloe, Lily, and Sadie all recognized they aren’t Caucasian and the universe of accessibility finally has the tools to know a little more. Discovering relatives through technology is among of the best things about the world we live in. Seeing Chloe go through a Bat Mitzvah gives one a double-take; traumatic as it is, adoption is also among the best things about the world we live in.
What is the origin of these girls? That’s what the movie wants to find out. It can trace them back to orphanages, but no further. You have to realize what’s at stake here: during the One Child policy, Chinese parents would incur a cost-prohibitive fine for having a second child – something like a year of family wages, maybe more. If you can
afford that, yikes, more power to you. And yet, parents did not want abortions. Nobody actually wants an abortion (another thing that rarely gets discussed in Roe v. Wade). So many parents instead opted for birth and abandonment.
How is that a benefit to anybody?
In a way, Found is exactly what a documentary ought to be: take some (ordinary) people we don’t know, provide some context for why they should get our attention, and tell us about their lives. Check, check, and check. Heck, throw in a selfie and subtle government shaming and you got yourself a film. Found is better than that. The stories of the girls are simple, but moving. They want to know who they are and feel that knowing the circumstances of their adoption will help.
I found Found a tad frustrating, however. I wanted more closure than the film offered. I think the producers either ran out of money or ran out of patience. My wife assures me that the way this film plays out is exactly right; these girls are a microcosm of an unfathomably large issue – one that doesn’t get solved with pat endings and isn’t neatly arranged in, dare I say? Hollywood endings. In that manner, this film does conclude perfectly – but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want these girls to find the sunset with their name on it. I will have to settle for knowing that at least they Found each other.
Some lives are born to be scarred
And perhaps think there was no regard
It’s more than a shame
Society is to blame
When the best option is to discard
Rated PG, 97 Minutes
Director: Amanda Lipitz
Writer: Chairman Mao (well … Chairman Deng Ziaoping at least)
Genre: The results of bad politics
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Orphans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Chinese family planning officials
