Another Adoption Post -- Despicable Me

A while back, Lil Sweetie and I went to see "Despicable Me".  I was surprised that adoption was part of the storyline.  Surprised because I hadn't already heard the adoption blogosphere outraged over the portrayal of adoption.  (Then again, I haven't really been paying much attention to the adoption blogosphere these days.) 

In case you haven't seen the movie, there are three little girls who live in an orphanage under terrible conditions.  (I probably shouldn't admit that Lil Sweetie and I got a big laugh out of the "Box of Shame.")  The main character Gru, an evil dude, adopts the three girls to further a scheme against his arch nemisis, Vector.  When Gru begins to love the girls, his assistant Dr. Nefario has the three girls sent back to the orphanage.

Although that it is a terrible depiction of adoption, quite frankly, I loved the movie for its humor and sweetness (all things turn out right in the end).  But of course I was worried about what Lil Sweetie's thoughts were. 

In the car on the way home, we were discussing the movie, laughing over our favorite parts, and I told Lil Sweetie that one thing bothered me about the movie, which was that adoption doesn't really work like that--once you become a family through adoption, it's forever.  No take-backs.  Lil Sweetie said, "Yeah, but Gru didn't send the girls back, that other guy did."  I was struck by her willingness to put the blame off on Dr. Nefario.  (It's true that Gru was very glum about the whole affair, although he did nothing to stop it.)  After a little more discussion, I was even more struck by Lil Sweetie's recognition that the story we had just seen was not HER story; that the adoption depicted had nothing to do with the way our family was created.  It made me wonder if perhaps we adoptive parents aren't giving our kids enough credit when get up in arms over every fictional account of adoption?