Adoption Representation in Film

Welcome back!

 

I’m joined by guest Lauren, a fellow adoptee, to discuss adoption narratives and parent separation narratives in mainstream film/TV.

 

*This episode was recorded in 2021. There is a moment when events are mentioned, we are talking about events from Feb-Mar 2021, not 2022*

 

Follow Lauren and get her book, Inconvenient Daughter:

Website: https://theljsharks.com/ 

Instagram: @theljsharks 

 

You can find the podcast online:

Website: www.wonderfulworldofdisneyvillains.com 

Instagram: @wwofdisvillains

 

Timestamps:

01:14 - Movie Onward (having the agency to choose to meet vs not meet your biological parent)

05:14 - Adoption narratives in mainstream movies (i.e. the movie Elf, MCU character Loki, etc.)

07:45 - TV show Once Upon a Time (open adoption and co-parenting)

10:30 - Harry Potter (guardianship, adoption paperwork, etc.)

14:22 - Movie Instant Family (foster family narratives and instant family/forever family mindset)

19:55 - Musicals (Annie, Les Miserables, etc.)

21:50 - Secrets in adoption (secret affair/adoption narrative for drama in media)

26:12 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

30:46 - Transracial adoption vs domestic adoption in TV shows (i.e. Modern Family, This is Us, Glee, the Flash, etc.)

40:26 - Trans-species adoption in Disney

42:40 - Using adoption/parent separation to move the plot forward instead of as the plot itself

46:57 - Ending

 

If you want to learn more about Lauren’s adoption story and my own adoption story listen to the Janchi Show podcast! 

Lauren’s guest appearance on Episode 23

My guest appearance on Episode 28