Adoption is trauma. It is. This is science. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen; it doesn’t mean it’s not a good thing. For most children, it is better to have parents than not.
But don’t kid yourselves. Adoption will beget trauma. It can happen sooner. It can happen later. It can happen at all times in-between. For some reason, adopted children have trouble getting beyond, “my birth parents didn’t want me.” Go figure. On top of that, some adoptive and foster families are abusive. These things are going to happen. Leave it to preachy Christians to ignore all of it and treat this entire embellished history of mass adoption in a small Texan town as a pure good. I won’t say “only Christians can be this behind the curve;” that statement describes a lot of groups that preach first, think later. But … most of those groups aren’t making “Rah! Rah! Go Jesus!” films.
The town is Possum Trot, Texas, population: ??? Whatever it is, it’s gonna double quickly. The Reverend and Donna Martin (Demetrius Grosse and Nina King) have two children who almost get their attention from time-to-time. Donna has 17 siblings and was raised in a shack, but nobody in this film seems to think this was irresponsible or led to systematic poverty or anything along these lines. In fact, mom views Donna’s two kids as “just getting started.” Naturally, when grandma dies at the ripe old age of … 50? (I’m sure having 18 children and living in a shack had nothing to do with it), Donna decides she needs more kids to neglect, so it’s time to adopt.
Donna has a special needs child who already isn’t getting the attention he needs. Adopting three more children does not make this better. The film gives us one (1) statistic: 70% of adopted children are victims of poverty related neglect, the other 30% have dangerous parents. And while it’s clear that the Rev and Donna are initially overwhelmed and clearly do not have their shit together, the Reverend concludes, “Jesus was born next to a pile of manure, and he turned out ok.”
Yeah, umm, here’s the thing: Jesus was a liberal pacifist who died at age 33 because he wanted all people to be happy, which is something the existing population found intolerable. Saying “Jesus turned out OK” is, unfortunately, a sad and perfect parallel to this one-sided tale. Sure, Jesus did just fine, just like how all these 77 adopted children that Possum Trot will turn out … just fine.
One of my favorite parts in this selected history is the moment when the Martins get so big-headed, they request the problem child. They get their wish with a girl who reacts to unfavorable situations by pretending she’s a cat. I’m sorry, the problem is that this girl responds to stress by pretending she’s a cat and this is your problem child. Snicker. Oh, that’s rich. Wow. Can you guys just not imagine problems? Is that part of being a devout Christian? Ok, hey, I got some imagination to spare; lemme try some on: your 12-year-old daughter has been raped by her uncle. Now she’s pregnant. But Christians like you won’t let her get an abortion beca
use, I dunno, that part is wrong. You also want to be sure the ostracized daughter and infant lack any government support, like welfare and food stamps. I could go on, but hey, my imagination is limited, too, especially in the matter of: “What do you think this kid and the baby you forced her to carry to term should do right now?” Is adoption the answer? Because that seems a weak and half-assed practical solution to a very ugly problem – one that has not been addressed properly in any form.
Don’t get me wrong. I WANTED to root for this film. I WANTED to root for this story. Sure, some form of “God is good” is dropped in, quite literally, every single scene (I started counting the God/Jesus direct references and stopped when I got to twenty). Adoption seems like a good thing; this entire community is making the lives of children better, is it not? Well … it is, sorta. I mean theoretically, the children’s lives are better, but in practice that’s not necessarily true, and certainly not for all of them. And by pretending this one-horse village can acquire 77 children without issues or damage or acknowledging that modern science says there are going to be big problems here sooner-or-later is not only silly, but a little irresponsible. Even in the best-case scenario, all these kids turn out to be Jesus freaks, like you. That isn’t the win you think it is.
Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot is a well-meaning, yet extremely one-dimensional film. It imagines a world in which everybody considers adoption and that turns out to be a boon for adults and children alike. Please do not misunderstand me; I WISH THIS WERE THE WORLD WE LIVED IN. I wish for all children, HELL, all people, to be fed, clothed and housed properly. But here’s the difference: I understand that this is ridiculous on the micro level because there are always those who fall through the cracks. And what you’re doing here is pretending the micro level is the only reasonable solution. Buddy, my God-lovin’/fearin’ Jesus freak, I wish to high Hell that were the case.
But it ain’t. And it’s not terribly realistic, either. God bless the people of Possum Trot, but this film needs Possum II: A Return to the Trots to tell us, objectively, how this experiment worked. Fingers crossed you guys did more good than harm.
There was once a mother named Donna
Who cited motherhood as her personal nirvana
So she adopted one child
Decided that choice was mild
And like a crackhead, “Get more?” She’s just gonna
Rated PG-13, 130 Minutes
Director: Joshua Weigel
Writer: Joshua Weigel, Rebekah Weigel
Genre: Godsquad
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Bottom liners
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Social scientists
