Thursday, July 9, 2009

Orphans Deserve Better

Those that know me know that I DO NOT like freaky movies and I just stay clear of them. But when I heard what kind of negative impact the new movie "Orphan" was going to have on the millions of orphans world-wide, I decided to act.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. ~ Psalm 82:3-4

I encourage you to sign the online petition with me. Below is what the petition says so you have an idea of what I'm talking about. Hollywood has it's own version of perverse reality and I don't want it to distort and sell-short the true reality of the orphans in our world.

http://orphansdeservebetter.com/
Mr. Barry Meyer, Chairman and CEO
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Dear Mr. Meyer,

We desire to express together—respectfully but firmly—that the portrayal of orphans conveyed by the Warner Brothers film Orphan is both misleading and unhelpful to the millions of children growing up without families today.

The film delivers a distorted picture of the difficulty and pain these children often carry. It also sells short the great love they so often return to those who reach out to them with care and compassion.

We assume you did not intend this, and we recognize that the film could be described as merely a far-fetched thriller. But the power of such a film to subtly shape attitudes and perspectives remains. In that regard, the movie Orphan does no favors to the many children who share its name.

For the sake of the world’s more than 140 million orphans, people deserve to know better. They should have an honest understanding of the deep needs orphans face—as well as the satisfaction and beauty that can be found in embracing orphans as a mentor or adoptive family, foster parent or nonprofit volunteer.

We urge you to take steps to help convey this message robustly, just as its opposite was conveyed through the film—perhaps as a message following the film. In addition, given that the profits from this film will likely come at some expense to orphans, we encourage you to contribute a portion of those profits to aid orphans across America and around the world.

We respectfully await your response.

Signed,
Tara Balcom

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