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!
